colony · North America and Oceania

Connecticut Colony

1636 CE – 1776 CE · capital Hartford

The Puritan river colony centred on Hartford, whose Fundamental Orders of 1639 are often called the first written constitution in America.

Origins

In 1636 the minister Thomas Hooker led his congregation from Massachusetts to Hartford on the Connecticut River, joining settlers at Windsor and Wethersfield. The new towns fought the Pequot War in 1637 alongside the Mohegan, destroying the Pequot Nation, and in 1639 adopted the Fundamental Orders as their frame of government.

Rule and society

Connecticut was a Puritan commonwealth like Massachusetts, but the Fundamental Orders did not require church membership for voting. The colony bought Saybrook Colony in 1644, and John Winthrop the Younger won a royal charter in 1662 that also absorbed the New Haven Colony. Legend says the charter was hidden in the Charter Oak in 1687 to keep it from the Dominion of New England. Yale College was founded in 1701.

Decline and legacy

Under governor Jonathan Trumbull, the only colonial governor to back independence, Connecticut supplied the Continental Army so generously it was called the Provisions State. It became a state of the United States in 1776, keeping its charter as constitution until 1818.

Lineage

Saybrook Colony 1635 CE – 1644 CE New Haven Colony 1638 CE – 1664 CEConnecticut ColonyUnited States 1776 CE – present

Connections (4)

Pequot Nation was conquered by Connecticut Colony1637 CE
Connecticut Colony was a colony of Kingdom of England1662 CE – 1707 CE
Connecticut Colony was part of Dominion of New England1687 CE – 1689 CE
Connecticut Colony was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain1707 CE – 1776 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Connecticut Colony. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/connecticut-colony
MLA: “Connecticut Colony.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/connecticut-colony. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Connecticut Colony.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/connecticut-colony.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Connecticut Colony’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/connecticut-colony (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻