Connecticut Colony

Colony of Connecticut
1636–1776
A map of the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies.
A map of the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies.
StatusBritish colony
CapitalBefore 1701: Hartford, 1701-1776: Joint Capitals: Hartford (May Legislative session) and New Haven (October Legislative session)
Common languagesEnglish
GovernmentConstitutional monarchy
LegislatureFundamental Orders of Connecticut
History 
• Established
3 March 1636
1776
CurrencyPound sterling
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Saybrook Colony
New Haven Colony
Connecticut

The Connecticut Colony was an English colony in British America. The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, was formed in what would become the US state of Connecticut. It was first called the River Colony and was organized on March 3, 1636. It was a place for Puritan noblemen. The English took control of the colony from the Dutch by the late 1630s. The colony became a war zone between the English and American Indians, known as the Pequot War. This war helped established the self-government in the New World.

There were two other English colonies in the state of Connecticut. The Saybrook Colony in 1644 and the New Haven Colony in 1662, merged with the Connecticut Colony. Thomas Hooker was a Puritan minister. Hooker and Governor John Haynes of Massachusetts Bay Colony led a group of 100 people to present-day Hartford in 1636. They are sometimes referred to as the founders of the Connecticut Colony.

Other websites