Misplaced Pages

#985014

97-569: They were originally called the Proprietary Party, changed their name to the Gentlemen's Party in the 1740s, and reverted to the Proprietary Party in the 1750s. The Paxton Boys' March on Philadelphia was preventing from entering by a delegation of Philadelphians with the promise that the legislature would discuss their complaints; however, this did not happen, and the party took advantage of publicizing it in 1764. The party opposed

194-481: A Placeman for the party in the position of Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. George Thomas, a Proprietary governor, led a Quaker assembly. Andrew Hamilton , of the party, abdicated from the assembly in 1739. Isaac Norris and Hamilton had an enmity. This abdication led to increased determination on William Allen 's part to attain power in the assembly. On October 1, 1742, Election Day in Pennsylvania,

291-683: A battle in Fairfield , the Pequots sued for peace. Connecticut's original Charter in 1662 granted it all the land to the "South Sea"—that is, to the Pacific Ocean. The Hartford Treaty with the Dutch was signed on September 19, 1650, but never ratified by the British, stated the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from Greenwich Bay for a distance of 20 miles (32 km), "provided

388-402: A charter from Charles   II which united the settlements of Connecticut. Historically significant colonial settlements included Windsor (1633), Wethersfield (1634), Saybrook (1635), Hartford (1636), New Haven (1638), Fairfield (1639), Guilford (1639), Milford (1639), Stratford (1639), Farmington (1640), Stamford (1641), and New London (1646). The Pequot War marked

485-946: A database of U.S. customs records maintained online by the Mystic Seaport Museum , the largest being the 180-ton Patient Mary launched in New Haven in 1763. Connecticut's first lighthouse was constructed in 1760 at the mouth of the Thames River with the New London Harbor Lighthouse . Connecticut designated four delegates to the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence : Samuel Huntington , Roger Sherman , William Williams , and Oliver Wolcott . Connecticut's legislature authorized

582-538: A delegation to meet with the Paxton Boys. On February 7, after a day of negotiations, they agreed to disperse and to submit their grievances in writing. Two documents were submitted. The Declaration justified the killing of the Conestoga, criticized the government's failure to establish a scalp bounty, and accused the government of favoring the indigenous population over the colonists. The Remonstrance repeated

679-553: A further expansion of industry, and an emphasis on increasing food production on the farms. Thousands of state, local, and volunteer groups mobilized for the war effort and were coordinated by the Connecticut State Council of Defense. Manufacturers wrestled with manpower shortages; Waterbury's American Brass and Manufacturing Company was running at half capacity, so the federal government agreed to furlough soldiers to work there. In 1919, J. Henry Roraback started

776-621: A major fire. Heavy rainfall caused the Connecticut River to flood downtown Hartford and East Hartford. An estimated 50,000 trees fell onto roadways. The advent of lend-lease in support of Britain helped lift Connecticut from the Great Depression, with the state a major production center for weaponry and supplies used in World War   II . Connecticut manufactured 4.1% of total U.S. military armaments produced during

873-563: A major role in supplying the Union forces with weapons and supplies during the Civil War . The state furnished 55,000 men, formed into thirty full regiments of infantry, including two in the U.S. Colored Troops , with several Connecticut men becoming generals. The Navy attracted 250 officers and 2,100 men, and Glastonbury native Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy. James H. Ward of Hartford

970-666: A manufacturing center for arms, hardware, and timepieces, Connecticut, as with the rest of the region, had transitioned into an economy based on the financial, insurance, and real estate sectors; many multinational firms providing such services can be found concentrated in the state capital of Hartford and along the Gold Coast in Fairfield County . The name Connecticut is derived from the Mohegan-Pequot word that has been translated as "long tidal river" and "upon

1067-512: A physical fight over voting occurred between the Quakers and the Proprietary Party, each respectively represented by Isaac Norris and William Allen in the election for the Inspector of Elections . The Philadelphia County Courthouse was the only place to vote. Quakers arrived first and blocked Proprietary voters. Many more votes for Norris were cast (by physically standing near him), but, before

SECTION 10

#1732790062986

1164-623: A pro-slavery position and included many Copperheads willing to let the South secede. The intensely fought 1863 election for governor was narrowly won by the Republicans. Connecticut's extensive industry, dense population, flat terrain, and wealth encouraged the construction of railroads starting in 1839. By 1840, 102 miles (164 km) of line were in operation, growing to 402 miles (647 km) in 1850 and 601 miles (967 km) in 1860. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , called

1261-587: A reward was issued, none of the Paxton Boys were ever held accountable for the Conestoga Massacre. The reluctance of the Pennsylvania government to prosecute the perpetrators resulted in a climate in which it became acceptable to murder Indigenous people. Benjamin Franklin wrote, "the Spirit of killing all Indians, Friends and Foes, spread amazingly thro' the whole Country." The most notorious incident

1358-489: A tomahawk. In this manner lay the whole of them, men, women and children, spread about the prison yard: shot—scalped—hacked—and cut to pieces. Following this second attack, Governor John Penn offered a substantial reward for the capture of the ringleaders involved in the massacre, but none were ever identified. Many of the residents of Lancaster County expressed sympathy towards the Paxton Boys, so no arrests occurred. In Philadelphia, however, many people were outraged about

1455-466: The "Long Island Express" passed just west of New Haven and devastated the Connecticut shoreline between Old Saybrook and Stonington from the full force of wind and waves, even though they had partial protection by Long Island. The hurricane caused extensive damage to infrastructure, homes, and businesses. In New London, a 500-foot (150 m) sailing ship was driven into a warehouse complex, causing

1552-742: The Connecticut Light & Power Co. which became the state's dominant electric utility. In 1925, Frederick Rentschler spurred the creation of Pratt & Whitney in Hartford to develop engines for aircraft; the company became an important military supplier in World War   II and one of the three major manufacturers of jet engines in the world. On September 21, 1938, the most destructive storm in New England history struck eastern Connecticut, killing hundreds of people. The eye of

1649-679: The Hudson River Valley. Some of the men were veterans of the winter encampment at Valley Forge , Pennsylvania , the previous winter. Soldiers at the Redding camp endured supply shortages, cold temperatures, and significant snow, with some historians dubbing the encampment "Connecticut's Valley Forge". The state was also the launching site for a number of raids against Long Island orchestrated by Samuel Holden Parsons and Benjamin Tallmadge , and provided soldiers and material for

1746-497: The New Haven or "The Consolidated", became the dominant Connecticut railroad company after 1872. J. P. Morgan began financing the major New England railroads in the 1890s, dividing territory so that they would not compete. The New Haven purchased 50 smaller companies, including steamship lines, and built a network of light rails (electrified trolleys) that provided inter-urban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912,

1843-806: The New Haven Colony ; both merged into the former by 1664. Connecticut's official nickname, the "Constitution State", refers to the Fundamental Orders adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, which is considered by some to be the first written constitution in Western history. As one of the Thirteen Colonies that rejected British rule during the American Revolution , Connecticut was influential in

1940-583: The Pennamite-Yankee War . Ogden arrived in the valley in January 1769 and established a fort which became known as Fort Ogden. In February, the settlers from Connecticut arrived, followed a few months later by a second group led by John Durkee. As a counter to Fort Ogden, the newcomers constructed fortified houses surrounded by a stockade which they named Fort Durkee. In November, however, Ogden captured Fort Durkee and expelled or arrested most of

2037-638: The Seneca returned to their traditional homeland in the lower Susquehanna River valley. They established a village north of the Conestoga River near the confluence with the Susquehanna River, where they later were joined by several Seneca families. By 1697, the village had an estimated population of 132. Most inhabitants were of Susquehannock and Seneca heritage, but some Cayuga and Oneida were also present. Collectively they became known as

SECTION 20

#1732790062986

2134-652: The Stamp Act of 1765 , allying themselves with Benjamin Franklin 's opposition to the Act and placing themselves in leadership positions. They later opposed Franklin's appointment to the position of Colonial Agent in London . The Proprietary Party primarily focused on supporting the Penns, in political and property rights. They also wanted military defense for the province, including the drafting of indentured servants , as well as

2231-597: The Susquehanna River and Delaware River named Westmoreland County . This resulted in the brief Pennamite-Yankee Wars with Pennsylvania . Yale College was established in 1701, providing Connecticut with an important institution to educate clergy and civil leaders. The Congregational church dominated religious life in the colony and, by extension, town affairs in many parts. With more than 600 miles (970 km) of coastline including along its navigable rivers, Connecticut developed during its colonial years

2328-563: The Susquehanna River in Cumberland County . Many of these settlers were squatters encroaching on Indigenous territory. As a result, the Lenape and Shawnee targeted their scattered farms during Pontiac's War. Reverend John Elder , who was the parson at Paxtang , was a dominant Presbyterian figure on the Pennsylvania frontier. He was known as the "Fighting Parson" and kept his rifle in the pulpit when he delivered his sermons. In

2425-504: The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service that would evolve into the U.S. Coast Guard, President Washington assigned Jonathan Maltbie as one of seven masters to enforce customs regulations, with Maltbie monitoring the southern New England coast with a 48-foot cutter sloop named Argus . In 1786, Connecticut ceded territory to the U.S. government that became part of the Northwest Territory . The state retained land extending across

2522-607: The " Knowledge Corridor ". Due to its geography, Connecticut has maintained a strong maritime tradition; the United States Coast Guard Academy is located in New London by the Thames River . The state is also associated with the aerospace industry through major companies Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky Aircraft headquartered in East Hartford and Stratford , respectively. Historically

2619-620: The 1636 murder of an English privateer and his crew, followed by the murder of a trader, colonists raided a Pequot village on Block Island . The Pequots laid siege to Saybrook Colony's garrison that autumn, then raided Wethersfield in the spring of 1637. Organizing a band of militia and allies from the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes, colonists declared war and attacked a Pequot village on the Mystic River . Death toll estimates range between 300-700 Pequots. After suffering another major loss at

2716-557: The 1730s due to the influx of European settlers. By this time Seneca had become the dominant language, with only a few Conestoga still able to speak the "ancient tongue." The population shrank as some families migrated west to the Ohio Country or returned north to the Iroquois homeland. In 1718, Provincial Secretary James Logan ordered a 16,000-acre tract of land that encompassed the village surveyed. Known as Conestoga Manor,

2813-627: The 19th century. During the war, the British launched raids in Stonington and Essex and blockaded vessels in the Thames River. Derby native Isaac Hull became Connecticut's best-known naval figure to win renown during the conflict, as captain of the USS ; Constitution . The British blockade during the War of 1812 hurt exports and bolstered the influence of Federalists who opposed

2910-547: The 19th century. In 1875, the first telephone exchange in the world was established in New Haven. When World War I broke out in 1914, Connecticut became a major supplier of weaponry to the U.S. military; by 1918, 80% of the state's industries were producing goods for the war effort. Remington Arms in Bridgeport produced half the small-arms cartridges used by the U.S. Army, with other major suppliers including Winchester in New Haven and Colt in Hartford. Connecticut

3007-547: The Black Boys, led by James Smith . In March 1765 at Sideling Hill , Smith and his followers attacked a pack train moving goods intended for the Native trade to Fort Pitt . Included among the blankets, shirts, beads, and liquor were "war goods" such as vermillion , lead, tomahawks, and scalping knives. The attackers burned the goods, and because they had blackened their faces to disguise their identities, they became known as

Proprietary Party - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-483: The Black Boys. Another attack followed in May on a pack train transporting goods for the garrison at Fort Pitt. When British soldiers from Fort Loudoun went to investigate, they were fired upon but suffered no casualties. Fort Loudoun was later besieged when the British commander refused to return confiscated weapons. Much like the Paxton Boys, none of the Black Boys were ever indicted. The Wyoming Valley , located along

3201-557: The British got word of Continental Army supplies in Danbury , and they landed an expeditionary force of some 2,000 troops in Westport . This force then marched to Danbury and destroyed homes and much of the depot. Continental Army troops and militia led by General David Wooster and General Benedict Arnold engaged them on their return march at Ridgefield in 1777. For the winter of 1778–79, General George Washington decided to split

3298-576: The Conestoga were colluding with the Lenape and Shawnee who were attacking Pennsylvania's frontier settlements. According to historian Kevin Kenny, the Paxton Boys were Pennsylvania 's most aggressive colonists. In February 1763, the Paxton Boys marched on Philadelphia with the intent of murdering the Moravian Lenape and Mohican who had been moved to that city for their protection. However,

3395-509: The Conestoga with less than 500 acres. The Conestoga remained neutral during the Seven Years' War and Pontiac's War . Although they had lived peacefully with their colonial neighbors for decades, they were no longer able to support their families by hunting for fear of being mistaken for hostile warriors. They bartered brooms and baskets, fished, and tended their gardens, but increasingly they depended on gifts of clothing and rations from

3492-594: The Conestoga. From this group William Penn acquired a deed for the Susquehannock's traditional territory in 1700. A treaty in 1701 confirmed the ownership transfer but also recognized the right of the Conestoga to continue to live on and use the land. Conestoga Town became a small but noteworthy Indigenous settlement. A major fur-trading center in the early 18th century, it was the site of many negotiations and treaties between colonial governments and various Indigenous groups. Its importance, however, declined in

3589-570: The Connecticut settlers. Meanwhile the Susquehanna Company began offering land to disaffected Pennsylvanians. In December 1769, Lazurus Stewart agreed to bring the Paxton Boys to the Wyoming Valley in exchange for land. Two months later, Stewart accompanied by Susquehanna Company agent Zebulon Butler and about forty of the Paxton Boys set out for the Wyoming Valley. They captured and razed Fort Ogden, plundered and destroyed

3686-500: The Continental Army into three divisions encircling New York City , where British General Sir Henry Clinton had taken up winter quarters. Major General Israel Putnam chose Redding as the winter encampment quarters for some 3,000 regulars and militia under his command. The Redding encampment allowed Putnam's soldiers to guard the replenished supply depot in Danbury and to support any operations along Long Island Sound and

3783-493: The Indians, which had been frequently, but without effect, urged, this painful catastrophe might have been avoided. What could I do with men heated to madness? All that I could do was done. I expostulated; but life and reason were set at defiance. Yet the men in private life are virtuous and respectable; not cruel, but mild and merciful. The time will arrive when each palliating circumstance will be weighed. This deed, magnified into

3880-462: The Lancaster workhouse . Angry that many of the Conestoga had escaped, the Paxton Boys rode into Lancaster two weeks later. Elder appeared before the angry mob and tried to restrain them, but to little effect. On December 27, 1763, under the leadership of Smith and Stewart, the Paxton Boys broke into the workhouse and killed, scalped, and dismembered all fourteen of the surviving Conestoga, including

3977-602: The Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme . The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket , a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut

Proprietary Party - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-519: The New Haven operated over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of track with 120,000 employees. As steam-powered passenger ships proliferated after the Civil War, Noank would produce the two largest built in Connecticut during the 19th century, with the 332-foot wooden steam paddle wheeler Rhode Island launched in 1882, and the 345-foot paddle wheeler Connecticut seven years later. Connecticut shipyards would launch more than 165 steam-powered vessels in

4171-573: The North Branch of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania , was claimed by both Pennsylvania and Connecticut . In 1768, Pennsylvania acted upon its claim and hired land speculator Amos Ogden to bring in settlers and defend the valley against intruders from Connecticut. At the same time the directors of Connecticut's Susquehanna Company voted to send forty settlers to the valley. These competing land claims triggered

4268-609: The Pacific and Indian oceans. The first half of the 19th century saw as well a rapid rise in whaling, with New London emerging as one of the New England industry's three biggest home ports after Nantucket and New Bedford . The state was known for its political conservatism, typified by its Federalist party and the Yale College of Timothy Dwight . The foremost intellectuals were Dwight and Noah Webster , who compiled his great dictionary in New Haven. Religious tensions polarized

4365-498: The Paxton Boys to surrender was rebuked. During the siege, a third attempt was made to arrest Stewart, during which Nathan Ogden, the brother of Amos Ogden, was ambushed and killed. Stewart abandoned Fort Durkee and escaped to Connecticut with several of his followers. The victorious Pennsylvanians destroyed Fort Durkee and took control of the Wyoming Valley. In early July 1771, however, one hundred men under Butler and Stewart returned and laid siege to Fort Wyoming. Ogden slipped through

4462-530: The Pennsylvania government. The population continued to decline; by 1763, only seven men, five women, and eight children remained at Conestoga Town. Tenseedaagua (Will Sock), a prominent member of the Conestoga, became a target of the Paxton Boys due to unsubstantiated claims that he was providing aid and intelligence to the Lenape and Shawnee. Matthew Smith, along with five companions, decided to visit Conestoga Town and investigate. Upon their return, Smith claimed that he had seen "dozens of strange, armed Indians" in

4559-476: The Thames River which eventually drew the reprisal from the British force led by Arnold. Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution on January 9, 1788, becoming the fifth state. The state prospered during the era following the American Revolution, as mills and textile factories were built and seaports flourished from trade and fisheries. After Congress established in 1790 the predecessor to

4656-858: The U.S. Senate from 1952 to 1963; his son George H. W. Bush and grandson George W. Bush both became presidents of the United States. In 1965, Connecticut ratified its current constitution , replacing the document that had served since 1818. In 1968, commercial operation began for the Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Haddam ; in 1970, the Millstone Nuclear Power Station began operations in Waterford . In 1974, Connecticut elected Democratic Governor Ella T. Grasso , who became

4753-438: The Wyoming Valley sided with the Patriots during the American Revolution. In late June 1778, a strong force of Loyalist troops and Iroquois under Major John Butler approached the Wyoming Valley from the north. In response, a Patriot militia headed by Lieutenant Colonel  Zebulon Butler , who was home on leave from the Continental Army at the time, assembled at Forty Fort . Colonel Butler favored delay, as he anticipated

4850-399: The ability to print paper money. They attempted to comparatively weaken the Quaker party in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania by appealing to those on the Frontier . James Logan was the first leader, as the Proprietary Council's Secretary, and mobilized Proprietary supporters. In the 1740s, William Allen became the party leader, and lead with Richard Peters . Nicholas Scull II was

4947-432: The accusation of favoritism and the demand for a scalp bounty, but also insisted that the Moravian Lenape and Mohican were enemies of Pennsylvania. According to the authors of the Remonstrance , "all Indians were perfidious and deserving of annihilation during wartime." The documents were submitted to Governor Penn and the Assembly; however, the only action taken was the creation of a scalp bounty later that year. Although

SECTION 50

#1732790062986

5044-477: The antecedents of a maritime tradition that would later produce booms in shipbuilding, marine transport, naval support, seafood production, and leisure boating. Historical records list the Tryall as the first vessel built in Connecticut Colony, in 1649 at a site on the Connecticut River in present-day Wethersfield. In the two decades leading up to 1776 and the American Revolution, Connecticut boatyards launched about 100 sloops , schooners and brigs according to

5141-418: The arrival of reinforcements, but Stewart (who had taken over command of the company from Hanover Township) insisted that they should immediately attack and drive off the enemy. The militia and a company of Continentals marched out on July 3, 1778, and encountered the enemy a few miles upriver. During the Battle of Wyoming, a flanking maneuver by the Iroquois panicked the militia and routed them. Stewart died in

5238-436: The battle. The men who were wounded or taken prisoner as they fled the battlefield were killed by the Iroquois in what is commonly known as the Wyoming Massacre. Each of these books references the Paxton Boys: Connecticut Connecticut ( / k ə ˈ n ɛ t ɪ k ə t / kə- NET -ik-ət ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States . It borders Rhode Island to

5335-462: The blackest of crimes, shall be considered as one of those ebullitions of wrath, caused by momentary excitement, to which human infirmity is subjected. A month before the Conestoga Massacre, the peaceable Moravian Lenape and Mohican who lived near Bethlehem had been moved to Province Island near Philadelphia for their protection. Following the massacre Governor Penn ordered a relocation to New York . The governor of New York, however, refused to accept

5432-400: The development of the federal government of the United States . In 1787, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth , state delegates to the Constitutional Convention , proposed a compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; its bicameral structure for Congress , with a respectively proportional and equal representation of the states in the House of Representatives and Senate ,

5529-403: The east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford , and its most populous city is Bridgeport . Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor , where the New York-Newark Combined Statistical Area , which includes four of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends into

5626-702: The election was finished, 60 sailors, thought to be employed by Allen, armed with clubs entered and began attacking Pennsylvania Germans . They responded, and a vigorous fight between the two occurred, with the Proprietary sailors losing and retreating. Paxton Boys#March on Philadelphia The Paxton Boys , also known as the Paxtang Boys or the Paxton Rangers , were a mob of settlers that murdered 20 unarmed Conestoga in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , in December 1763. This group of vigilantes from Lancaster and Cumberland counties formed in 1763 to defend themselves from Indigenous attacks during Pontiac's War . The Paxton Boys justified their actions by claiming that

5723-432: The federal government, which brought it to its present boundaries (other than minor adjustments with Massachusetts). For the first time in 1800, Connecticut shipwrights launched more than 100 vessels in a single year. Over the following decade to the doorstep of renewed hostilities with Britain that sparked the War of 1812, Connecticut boatyards constructed close to 1,000 vessels, the most productive stretch of any decade in

5820-466: The first constitutional document in America. The Quinnipiack Colony was established by John Davenport , Theophilus Eaton , and others at New Haven in March 1638. The New Haven Colony had its own constitution called "The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony", signed on June 4, 1639. Each settlement was an independent political entity, established without official sanction of the English Crown. In 1662, Winthrop traveled to England and obtained

5917-515: The first practical helicopter . The helicopter saw limited use in World War II, but future military production made Sikorsky Aircraft 's Stratford plant Connecticut's largest single manufacturing site by the start of the 21st century. Connecticut lost some wartime factories following the end of hostilities, but the state shared in a general post-war expansion that included the construction of highways and resulting in middle-class growth in suburban areas. Prescott Bush represented Connecticut in

SECTION 60

#1732790062986

6014-437: The first significant clash between colonists and Native Americans in New England. The Pequot had been aggressively extending their area of control at the expense of the Wampanoag to the north, Narragansett (east), Connecticut River Valley Algonquian tribes and the Mohegan (west), and Lenape Algonquian people (south). Meanwhile, the Pequot had been reacting with increasing aggression to colonial territorial expansion. In response to

6111-425: The first time that a major party presidential ticket included someone of the Jewish faith. Gore and Lieberman fell five votes short of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the Electoral College. In the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , 65 state residents were killed, mostly Fairfield County residents who were working in the World Trade Center . In 2004, Republican Governor John G. Rowland resigned during

6208-421: The first woman in any state to be elected governor without being the wife or widow of a previous governor. Connecticut's dependence on the defense industry posed an economic challenge at the end of the Cold War . The resulting budget crisis helped elect Lowell Weicker as governor on a third-party ticket in 1990. Weicker's remedy was a state income tax which proved effective in balancing the budget, but only for

6305-418: The following year. John Winthrop the Younger of Massachusetts received a commission to create Saybrook Colony at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635. A large group of Puritans arrived in 1636 from Massachusetts Bay Colony , led by Thomas Hooker , who established the Connecticut Colony at Hartford. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were adopted in January 1639, and have been described as

6402-424: The houses of Pennsylvania settlers, and reoccupied Fort Durkee. In September 1770, a surprise assault by Pennsylvanian forces under Ogden retook Fort Durkee. Three months later, Stewart, having twice escaped arrest in Lancaster County, returned with the Paxton Boys and recaptured the fort. A month later, Ogden's forces reentered the valley, besieged Fort Durkee, and began construction of Fort Wyoming. Their demand for

6499-446: The idea of "friendly" indigenous groups and insisted that “the distinction between 'friendly' and 'enemy' Indians was invalid. All Indians were enemies and must be treated accordingly.” The Paxton Boys also despised some Whites, especially the pacifist "English Quakers and German Moravians [whom] they believed ... jeopardized the security of the backcountry.” In the late 1680s, a remnant group of Susquehannock who had been living among

6596-416: The lines at night and obtained reinforcements in Philadelphia. Stewart ambushed the relief force but most managed to reach the fort. After a month-long siege, Fort Wyoming capitulated, and for the next four years the Wyoming Valley enjoyed relative peace. The Pennamite-Yankee War resumed in 1775, when a Pennsylvania force of several hundred men under Colonel William Plunket approached the Wyoming Valley from

6693-417: The little village. Elder sent a written message to dissuade any violence, but it had little effect. At daybreak on December 14, 1763, roughly 50 Paxton Boys attacked Conestoga Town, killed and scalped the six Conestoga they found there, and set the buildings ablaze. Will Sock was one of fourteen Conestoga who had been away from Conestoga Town when the attack occurred. He and the others were given refuge in

6790-399: The long river", both referring to the Connecticut River . Evidence of human presence in the Connecticut region dates to as far back as 10,000 years ago. Stone tools were used for hunting, fishing, and woodworking. Semi-nomadic in lifestyle, these peoples moved seasonally to take advantage of various resources in the area. They shared languages based on Algonquian . The Connecticut region

6887-409: The marchers dispersed at Germantown after meeting with a delegation headed by Benjamin Franklin . Members of the group led by Lazarus Stewart later supported settlers from Connecticut in the Wyoming Valley during the Pennamite-Yankee Wars and the Revolutionary War . The Paxton Boys were drawn from Scots-Irish Presbyterians who lived in the hill country northwest of Lancaster and across

6984-444: The middle of the gaol yard, along the west side of the wall, lay a stout Indian, whom I particularly noticed to have been shot in the breast, his legs were chopped with the tomahawk, his hands cut off, and finally a rifle ball discharged in his mouth; so that his head was blown to atoms, and the brains were splashed against, and yet hanging to the wall, for three or four feet around. This man's hands and feet had also been chopped off with

7081-639: The murders, describing the massacre as more savage than those committed by Native Americans. Benjamin Franklin 's "Narrative of the Late Massacres" noted that the Conestoga would have been safe "among any other people on earth, no matter how primitive, except 'the Christian white savages' of Peckstang and Donegall!" Elder, who was not directly implicated in either attack, wrote to Governor Penn on January 27, 1764: The storm which had been so long gathering, has, at length, exploded. Had Government removed

7178-644: The northern part of present-day Ohio called the Connecticut Western Reserve . The Western Reserve section was settled largely by people from Connecticut, and they brought Connecticut place names to Ohio. Connecticut made agreements with Pennsylvania and New York which extinguished the land claims within those states' boundaries and created the Connecticut Panhandle . The state then ceded the Western Reserve in 1800 to

7275-668: The outfitting of six new regiments in 1775, in the wake of the clashes between British regulars and Massachusetts militia at Lexington and Concord. There were some 1,200 Connecticut troops on hand at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775. In 1775, David Bushnell invented the Turtle which the following year launched the first submarine attack in history, unsuccessfully against a British warship at anchor in New York Harbor. In 1777,

7372-441: The prison yard, and there, O what a horrid sight presented itself to my view!!—Near the back door of the prison, lay an old Indian and his [wife], particularly well known and esteemed by the people of the town, on account of his placid and friendly conduct. His name was Will Sock; across him and his [wife] lay two children, of about the age of three years, whose heads were split with the tomahawk, and their scalps all taken off. Towards

7469-472: The ranks of the citizenry were a substantial number of the normally pacifistic Quakers. On February 5, the Paxton Boys entered Germantown, a village six miles northwest of Philadelphia. A resident of the town, David Rittenhouse , described the occupation: "I have seen hundreds of Indians traveling the country, and can with truth affirm, that the behavior of these fellows was ten times more savage and brutal than theirs.” The Paxton Boys, he wrote, paraded through

7566-521: The refugees, and they were forced back to Philadelphia, where they were housed in the city barracks. In February 1764, the Paxton Boys and their followers, a few hundred in total, marched on Philadelphia intending to "put to death all the Indians in the Barracks." Rumors placed the number much higher. Penn appointed Franklin to organize a volunteer militia. Franklin quickly raised six companies of infantry, one of artillery, and two of cavalry. Included in

7663-471: The said line come not within 10 miles [16 km] of Hudson River". This agreement was observed by both sides until war erupted between England and The Netherlands in 1652. Conflict continued concerning colonial limits until the Duke of York captured New Netherland in 1664. Most Colonial royal grants were for long east-west strips. Connecticut took its grant seriously and established a ninth county between

7760-579: The short-term. He did not run for a second term, in part because of this politically unpopular move. In 1992, initial construction was completed on Foxwoods Casino at the Mashantucket Pequots reservation in eastern Connecticut, which became the largest casino in the Western Hemisphere. Mohegan Sun followed four years later. In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore chose Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate, marking

7857-672: The south. Connecticut raised a militia of four hundred men under Butler, and a confrontation took place over two days at Christmas. Stewart, with twenty men, ambushed the Pennsylvanians on Christmas Eve as they attempted to cross to the east side of the Susquehanna under cover of darkness. On Christmas Day, Plunket attacked Butler's position on the west side of the river but was forced to withdraw. The Paxton Boys still in Lancaster County and those with Lazarus Stewart in

7954-472: The southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware , and the 29th most populous with slightly more than 3.6 million residents as of 2020 , ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states . The state is named after the Connecticut River , the longest in New England, which roughly bisects the state and drains into

8051-456: The spring of 1763, Elder recruited 110 associators to defend against Lenape and Shawnee attacks. Elder realized that he did not have enough men to mount an effective defense, but he was unable to convince the Pennsylvania government to allow his rangers to take offensive action. Citing their Presbyterian faith, the leaders of the Paxton Boys declared that the "Indians" were " Canaanites " and needed to be destroyed. The Paxton Boys struggled with

8148-765: The state, as the Congregational Church struggled to maintain traditional viewpoints, in alliance with the Federalists. The failure of the Hartford Convention in 1814 hurt the Federalist cause, with the Democratic-Republican Party gaining control in 1817. Connecticut had been governed under the " Fundamental Orders " since 1639, but the state adopted a new constitution in 1818. Connecticut manufacturers played

8245-554: The streets, “frightening women, by running the muzzles of their guns through windows, swearing and hallooing: attacking men without the least provocation; dragging them by their hair to the ground, and pretending to scalp them.” The Paxton Boys halted their march in Germantown after learning about the sizable force that was prepared to meet them in Philadelphia. Seeking an end to the situation, Penn appointed Franklin to lead

8342-554: The tract was held by William Penn and his heirs but set aside for the use of the Conestoga. In 1730, a group of Scots-Irish squatters occupied Conestoga Manor, declaring that it was "against the Laws of God and Nature that so much Land Should lie idle while so many Christians wanted it to labour on and raise their Bread." Although the squatters were promptly evicted, the Penn family began to sell off portions of Conestoga Manor, eventually leaving

8439-743: The war effort, especially to Washington's army outside New York City. General William Tryon raided the Connecticut coast in July 1779, focusing on New Haven, Norwalk, and Fairfield. New London and Groton Heights were raided in September 1781 by Benedict Arnold, who had turned traitor to the British. At the outset of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress assigned Nathaniel Shaw Jr. of New London as its naval agent in charge of recruiting privateers to seize British vessels as opportunities presented, with nearly 50 operating out of

8536-427: The war, ranking ninth among the 48 states, with major factories including Colt for firearms, Pratt & Whitney for aircraft engines, Chance Vought for fighter planes, Hamilton Standard for propellers, and Electric Boat for submarines and PT boats. In Bridgeport, General Electric produced a significant new weapon to combat tanks: the bazooka . On May 13, 1940, Igor Sikorsky made an untethered flight of

8633-486: The war. The cessation of imports from Britain stimulated the construction of factories to manufacture textiles and machinery. Connecticut came to be recognized as a major center for manufacturing, due in part to the inventions of Eli Whitney and other early innovators of the Industrial Revolution . The war led to the development of fast clippers that helped extend the reach of New England merchants to

8730-402: The women and children. William Henry , a resident of Lancaster, described the aftermath: I saw a number of people running down [the] street towards the gaol, which enticed me and other lads to follow them. At about sixty or eighty yards from the gaol, we met from twenty-five to thirty men, well mounted on horses, and with rifles, tomahawks, and scalping knives, equipped for murder. I ran into

8827-605: Was adopted and remains to this day. In January 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution . Connecticut is a developed and affluent state, performing well on the Human Development Index and on different metrics of income except for equality . It is home to a number of prestigious educational institutions, including Yale University in New Haven , as well as other liberal arts colleges and private boarding schools in and around

8924-530: Was also an important U.S. Navy supplier, with Electric Boat receiving orders for 85 submarines, Lake Torpedo Boat building more than 20 subs, and the Groton Iron Works building freighters. On June 21, 1916, the Navy made Groton the site for its East Coast submarine base and school. The state enthusiastically supported the American war effort in 1917 and 1918 with large purchases of war bonds,

9021-877: Was inhabited by multiple Native American tribes which can be grouped into the Nipmuc , the Sequin or "River Indians" (which included the Tunxis , Schaghticoke , Podunk , Wangunk , Hammonasset , and Quinnipiac ), the Mattabesec or "Wappinger Confederacy" and the Pequot-Mohegan . Some of these groups still reside in Connecticut, including the Mohegans , the Pequots , and the Paugusetts . Dutchman Adriaen Block

9118-676: Was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland , which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony , while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and

9215-616: Was the January 1768 murder of ten Lenape and Mohicans , including women and children, by Frederick Stump and John Ironcutter in Cumberland County. Stump and Ironcutter were arrested, but an armed mob broke into the Carlisle jail and freed them. Stump escaped to Georgia and served under Francis Marion during the Revolutionary War. The Paxton Boys emboldened attacks not only by individuals but by groups such as

9312-572: Was the first European explorer in Connecticut. He explored the region in 1614. Dutch fur traders then sailed up the Connecticut River , calling it Versche Rivier ("Fresh River") and building a fort at Dutch Point in Hartford, which they named "House of Hope" ( Dutch : Huis van Hoop ). The Connecticut Colony originally consisted of several smaller settlements in Windsor, Wethersfield, Saybrook, Hartford, and New Haven. The first English settlers came in 1633 and settled at Windsor, then at Wethersfield

9409-478: Was the first U.S. Naval Officer killed in the Civil War. Connecticut casualties included 2,088 killed in combat, 2,801 dying from disease, and 689 dying in Confederate prison camps. A surge of national unity in 1861 brought thousands flocking to the colors from every town and city. However, as the war became a crusade to end slavery, many Democrats (especially Irish Catholics) pulled back. The Democrats took

#985014