Connecticut

Template:US state Connecticut is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Connecticut is the 29th most populous state with 3.4 million residents and is ranked 48th in size by area, making it the fourth most densely populated state. Called the "Constitution State," Connecticut has a long history dating from the early colonial times and was influential in the development of early American government. Connecticut is well known as the home of Yale University, which maintains a consistent ranking as one of the world's most renowned universities.

While Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch, the first major settlements were established in the 1630s by the English. The three original colonies merged into one, and this colony became one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.

Connecticut's temperate climate and long coastline on Long Island Sound have given the state a strong maritime tradition. Modern Connecticut is also known for its wealth, initially based on industry. Financial organizations flourished: first insurance companies in Hartford, then hedge funds. This prosperity has helped give Connecticut the highest per capita income and median household income in the country.

Geography

Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York State, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capital is Hartford, and the other major cities include New Haven, New London, New Britain, Norwich, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, Danbury and Bridgeport. There are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut.

Bear Mountain, highest peak in Connecticut

The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in the northwest corner of the state.

The Connecticut River cuts through the center of the state, flowing into Long Island Sound, Connecticut's outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.

Despite its size, the state has regional variations in its landscape and culture, from the wealthy estates of Fairfield County's "Gold Coast" to the rolling mountains and horse farms of the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut. Connecticut's rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest corners of the state contrast sharply with its industrial cities, located along the coastal highways from the New York border to New Haven, then northward to Hartford, as well as farther up the coast near New London. Many towns center around a small park, known as a "green." Near the green may stand a small white church, a town meeting hall, a tavern, and several colonial houses. Forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and a sandy shore add to the state's beauty.

The northern boundary of the state with Massachusetts is marked by the distinctive Southwick Jog/Granby Notch, an approximately 2.5 mile (4.0 km) square detour into Connecticut slightly west of the center of the border. The southwestern border of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State, is marked by a panhandle in Fairfield County. This irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 1600s.

Climate

Connecticut has a humid continental climate, with seasonal extremes tempered by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Winters are cold, and the average yearly snowfall is about 25–100 inches (64–254 cm) across the state, with higher totals in the northwest. Spring has variable temperatures with frequent rainfall. Summer is hot and humid throughout the state. Fall months are mild. During hurricane season, tropical cyclones occasionally affect the region. Thunderstorms are most frequent during the summer, occurring on average 30 times annually. These storms can be severe, though tornadoes are rare.

Flora and fauna

Forests of ash, beech, birch, and oak trees cover the rural areas. White-tailed deer, beavers, minks, and squirrels live there.

History

A map of the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies.

The name "Connecticut" originates from the Mohegan word quinnitukqut, meaning "place of long tidal river."

The first European in Connecticut was the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who arrived in 1614. Dutch fur traders sailed up the Connecticut River and built a fort near present-day Hartford.

The first English settlers came in 1633 and settled at Windsor and then Wethersfield in 1634. However, the main body of settlers came in one large group in 1636. The settlers were Puritans from Massachusetts, led by Thomas Hooker. Hooker had been prominent in England and was a professor of theology at Cambridge. He was also an important political writer and made a significant contribution to constitutional theory. He broke with the political leadership in Massachusetts, and, just as Roger Williams had created a new polity in Rhode Island, Hooker and his cohort did the same and established the Connecticut Colony at Hartford in 1636.

John Winthrop, then of Massachusetts, got permission to create a new colony at Old Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635. This was the second of three distinct colonies that later would be combined to make up Connecticut. Saybrook Colony was a direct challenge to Dutch claims. The colony was not more than a small outpost and never matured. In 1644, the Saybrook Colony merged itself into the Connecticut Colony. Because the Dutch were outnumbered by the flood of English settlers from Massachusetts, they abandoned their fort in 1654.

The third colony was founded in 1638. New Haven Colony, (originally known as the Quinnipiack Colony), had its own constitution, 'The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony' which was signed on June 4, 1639.

Neither the establishment of the Connecticut Colony nor the Quinnipiack Colony were done with the sanction of British imperial authorities, and were independent political entities. They naturally were presumptively English, but in a legal sense, they were only secessionist outposts of Massachusetts Bay. In 1662, Winthrop took advantage of this void in political affairs and obtained in England the charter by which the colonies of Connecticut and Quinnipiack were united. Although Winthrop's charter favored the Connecticut colony, New Haven remained a seat of government with Hartford until after the American Revolution. The politically astute Winthrop secured the charter from the newly restored Charles II, who granted him liberal political terms.

Its first constitution of Connecticut, the "Fundamental Orders," was adopted in 1639. Connecticut is the fifth of the original thirteen states. Its original constitutions influenced the U.S. Constitution, as one of the leading authors was Roger Sherman of New Haven.

The western boundaries of Connecticut have been subject to change over time. According to a 1650 agreement with the Dutch, the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from the west side of Greenwich Bay "provided the said line come not within 10 miles [16 km] of Hudson River." On the other hand, Connecticut's original Charter in 1662 granted it all the land to the "South Sea," i.e. the Pacific Ocean. Most colonial royal grants were for long east-west strips. Connecticut took its grant seriously, and established a ninth county between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, named Westmoreland County. This resulted in the brief Pennamite Wars with Pennsylvania.

Connecticut's lands also extended across northern Ohio, called the Western Reserve lands. The Western Reserve section was settled largely by people from Connecticut, and they brought Connecticut place names to Ohio. Agreements with Pennsylvania and New York extinguished the land claims by Connecticut within its neighbors, and the Western Reserve lands were relinquished to the federal government, which brought the state to its present boundaries.

Notable figures from the state span American political and cultural history, including Eli Whitney, Benedict Arnold, Nathan Hale, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, John Brown, Eugene O'Neill, Charles Ives and Katharine Hepburn, and Roger Sherman.

File:Charter Oak in Hartford CT.jpg

The Charter Oak

File:SS-571-Nautilus-trials.gif

The USS Nautilus

Connecticut state insignia and historical figures^{, except where noted}

State tree	White Oak; or more specifically, the Charter Oak
State bird	American Robin
State flower	Mountain Laurel
State insect	European Mantis
State animal	Sperm Whale
State mineral	Garnet
State shellfish	Eastern Oyster
State fish	American Shad
State fossil	Eubrontes giganteus
State ship	USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
State flagship and tall ship ambassador	Freedom Schooner Amistad
State aircraft	F4U Corsair
State tartan	visible here
State song	Yankee Doodle
State folk dance	Square dance
State cantata	The Nutmeg
State hero	Nathan Hale
State heroine	Prudence Crandall
State composer	Charles Edward Ives
State statues in Statuary Hall	Roger Sherman and Jonathan Trumbull
State poet laureate	John Hollander
Connecticut State Troubadour	Pierce Campbell
State composer laureate	Jacob Druckman

Demographics

Connecticut Population Density Map

As of 2005, Connecticut had an estimated population of 3,510,297, which is an increase of 11,331, or 0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 104,695, or 3.1%, since the year 2000. Based on the 2005 estimates, Connecticut moves from the 29th most populous state to 30th.

In 1790, 97 percent of the population in Connecticut were classified as "rural." The first census in which less than half the population was classified as rural was 1890. In the 2000 census, it was only 12.3 percent. Most of western and southern Connecticut is strongly associated with New York City; this area is the most affluent and populous region of the state. A portion of rural northeastern Connecticut is somewhat culturally influenced by Boston.

Race, ancestry, and language

As of 2004, 11.4 percent of the population (400,000) was foreign-born, and 10 percent of the foreign-born in the state were illegal aliens (about 1.1 percent of the population). In 1870, native-born Americans had accounted for 75 percent of the state's population, but that had dropped to 35 percent by 1918.

As of 2000, 81.69 percent of Connecticut residents age 5 and older spoke English at home and 8.42 percent spoke Spanish, followed by Italian, French, and Polish.

The five largest reported ancestries in the state are: Italian (18.6 %), Irish (16.6%), English (10.3%), German (9.9%), and French/French Canadian (9.9%).

Connecticut has large Italian-American and Irish-American populations, as well as German and Portuguese-American, second highest percentage of any state behind Rhode Island (19.3%). African Americans and Hispanics (mostly Puerto Ricans) are numerous in the urban areas of the state. Connecticut also has a sizable Polish American population.

More recent immigrant populations include those from Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, and former Soviet countries.

Religion

A 2001 survey of Connecticut residents' religious self-identification showed the following distribution of affiliations:

• Roman Catholic – 32%
• Baptist – 10%
• Episcopal – 6%
• Methodist – 4%
• Lutheran – 4%
• Congregational/United Church of Christ – 2%
• Presbyterian – 1%
• Pentecostalism – 1%
• Other Protestant or general Protestant – 4%
• Latter-Day Saint – 2%
• Church of Christ – 2%
• Assembly of God – 1%
• Non-denominational – 1%
• Other Christian – 7%
• Jewish – 1%
• Muslim – 1%
• Other Religions – 4%
• Non-Religious – 12%
• No answer – 6%

Economy

The total gross state product for 2004 was $187 billion. The per capita income for 2005 was $47,819, ranking first among the states. There is, however, a great disparity in incomes through the state; although New Canaan has one of the highest per capita incomes in America, Hartford is one of the ten cities with the lowest per capita incomes in America (The low number may partially be due to the fact that the city, like other cities in the area, has a small footprint relative to a typical American city (only about 18 square miles) and therefore does not have more middle-income areas included in its total to "balance out," statistically, inner areas with older housing stock and a poorer population). Should Hartford (or similar cities New Haven and Bridgeport) be combined with its immediate suburbs, it would rank as one of the richest cities in the country. Fairfield County has become a bedroom community for higher-paid New York City workers seeking a less urban lifestyle. This in turn has attracted businesses wishing to remain near New York City to southwestern Connecticut, most notably to Stamford.

New Canaan is the wealthiest town in Connecticut, with a per capita income of $85,459. Hartford is the poorest city in Connecticut, with a per capita income of $13,428. There are other lower-income and blue-collar towns, mostly parts of towns, in the eastern part of the state. Poor and medium wealth households are particularly affected by a very high cost of living, due to a combination of expensive real estate, expensive heating for the winters, and other factors.

Taxation

Prior to 1991, Connecticut had a highly populist income tax system. Income from employment was untaxed, but income from investments was taxed at the highest rate in the United States: 13%. This burden was further increased by the method of calculation: no deductions were allowed for the cost (for example, interest on borrowing) of producing the investment income. Under Governor Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., an Independent, this was reformed to the present system.

This system prior to 1991 made it an attractive haven for high-salaried earners fleeing the heavy taxes of New York State, but highly unattractive for members of Wall Street partnerships. It put an enormous burden on Connecticut property tax payers, particularly in the cities with their more extensive municipal services. As a result, the middle class largely fled the urban areas for the suburbs, taking stores and other tax-paying businesses with them, leaving mostly the urban poor in the older, central areas of Connecticut cities.

With Weicker's 1991 tax reform, the tax on employment and investment income was equalized at a then-maximum of 4%. Since then, Greenwich, Connecticut, has become the headquarters of choice for a large number of America's largest hedge funds, and Connecticut income from that industry has soared. Today the income tax rate on Connecticut individuals is divided into two tax brackets of 3% and 5%. All wages of a Connecticut resident are subject to the state's income tax, even when the resident works outside the state. In those cases, Connecticut income tax must be withheld only to the extent the Connecticut tax exceeds the amount withheld by the other jurisdiction. Since New York state has higher tax rates than Connecticut, this effectively means that Connecticut residents who work in New York State pay no income tax to Connecticut.

Real estate

Homes in southwestern Connecticut on the fringes of the New York City metropolitan area are quite expensive. Many towns have median home prices over $500,000, with some more desirable homes exceeding $1 million. Greenwich has the most expensive real estate market, with most houses selling at over $1 million and most condos selling at over $600,000. Connecticut has the most million-dollar homes in the Northeast, and the second most in the nation after California, with 3.3% of homes in Connecticut priced over one million dollars in 2003. In 2007, the median price for a house in Connecticut passed $300,000 for the first time, even though most of the country was mired in a real estate slump.

Industries

The agricultural output for the state is nursery stock, eggs, dairy products, cattle, and tobacco. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment (especially helicopters, aircraft parts, and nuclear submarines), heavy industrial machinery and electrical equipment, military weaponry and fabricated metal products, chemical and pharmaceutical products, and scientific instruments.

File:IMG 1175 (2) ....jpg

Downtown Hartford's Central Business District.

Due to the prominence of the aircraft industry in the state, Connecticut has an official state aircraft, the F4U Corsair, and an official Connecticut Aviation Pioneer, Igor Sikorsky. The state officially recognizes aircraft designer Gustav Whitehead as "Father of Connecticut Aviation" for his research into powered flight in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1901, two years before the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Governor John Dempsey also declared August 15 to be "Gustave Whitehead Day."

A report issued by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism in 2006 demonstrated that the economic impact of the arts, film, history, and tourism generated more than $14 billion in economic activity and 170,000 jobs annually.

Transportation

Map of Connecticut showing major highways

Between New Haven and the New York City, I-95 is one of the most congested highways in the United States. Since many Connecticut residents commute to New York City, there is an extensive commuter railway network connecting New York City to New Haven, with spurs servicing Waterbury, Danbury, and New Canaan. Regional rail service is provided by Amtrak.

Law and government

File:Dscn3088 connecticut capitol.jpg

The Connecticut State Capitol in downtown Hartford

Hartford has been the sole capital of Connecticut since 1875. Before then, New Haven and Hartford alternated as capitals.

Constitutional history

Connecticut is known as the “Constitution State.” The nickname is assumed to reference the Fundamental Orders of 1638–39, which represent the framework for the first formal government written by a representative body in Connecticut.

After the Fundamental Orders, Connecticut was granted governmental authority by King Charles II of England through the Connecticut Charter of 1662. While these two documents acted to lay the ground work for the state’s government, both lacked essential characteristics of a constitution. The Fundamental Orders and the Connecticut Charter could both be altered simply by a majority vote of the General Assembly. Separate branches of government did not exist during this period, and the General Assembly acted as the supreme authority. A true constitution was not adopted in Connecticut until 1818. Finally, the current state constitution was implemented in 1965. The 1965 constitution absorbed a majority of its 1818 predecessor, but incorporated a handful of important modifications. Another possible source of the nickname "Constitution State" comes from Connecticut's pivotal role in the federal constitutional convention of 1787, during which Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth helped to orchestrate what became known as the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise. This plan combined the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan to form a bicameral legislature, a form copied by almost every state constitution since the adoption of the federal Constitution.

Executive

The governor heads the executive branch. The current governor is M. Jodi Rell (Republican). The current lieutenant governor is Michael Fedele. Connecticut was the first state in the United States to elect a woman as governor without electing her husband first, Ella Grasso in 1974.

In addition to the governor and lieutenant governor, four other executive officers are elected directly by voters: Secretary of State, Treasurer, Comptroller, and Attorney General. All executive officers are elected to four year terms.

Legislative

The legislature is the General Assembly. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of an upper body, the State Senate (36 senators); and a lower body, the House of Representatives (151 representatives). Senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms in even-numbered years. The Democrats currently hold the majority in both houses of the General Assembly.

Connecticut's U.S. senators are Christopher J. Dodd (Democrat) and Joseph I. Lieberman (Independent Democrat). Connecticut currently has five representatives in the U.S. House, four of whom are Democrats.

Judicial

The highest court of Connecticut's judicial branch is the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court is responsible for deciding on the constitutionality of the law or cases as they relate to the law. The Appellate Court is a lesser state-wide court, and the Superior Courts are lower courts that resemble county courts of other states.

Local government

Connecticut has 169 towns, which serve as the fundamental local political subdivision of the state; the entire state is divided into towns. Connecticut shares a local form of government with the rest of New England called the New England town. There are also 21 cities, most of which are coterminous with their namesake towns and have a merged city-town government. There are also nine incorporated boroughs, which may provide additional services to a section of town.

Unlike most other states, Connecticut does not have county government. Connecticut county governments were mostly eliminated in 1960. The state is divided into 15 planning regions defined by the state Office of Planning and Management. Each region has an administrative body known as either a regional council of governments, a regional council of elected officials, or a regional planning agency. The regions are established for the purpose of planning "coordination of regional and state planning activities; designation or redesignation of logical planning regions and promotion of the continuation of regional planning organizations within the state; and provision for technical aid and the administration of financial assistance to regional planning organizations."

Politics

Presidential elections results

Year	Republican	Democratic
2004	43.95% 693,826	54.31% 857,488
2000	38.44% 561,094	55.91% 816,015
1996	34.69% 483,109	52.83% 735,740
1992	35.78% 578,313	42.21% 682,318
1988	51.98% 750,241	46.87% 676,584
1984	60.73% 890,877	38.83% 569,597
1980	48.16% 677,210	38.52% 541,732
1976	52.06% 719,261	46.90% 647,895
1972	58.57% 810,763	40.13% 555,498
1968	44.32% 556,721	49.48% 621,561
1964	32.09% 390,996	67.81% 826,269
1960	46.27% 565,813	53.73% 657,055

Connecticut is a generally left-leaning state, allotting its electoral votes to Democratic candidates in the past four presidential elections but to Republican presidential candidates five times in the 1970s and 1980s. Connecticut has a high number of voters who are not registered with a major party. As of 2004, 33.7% of registered voters were registered Democratic, 22.0% were registered Republican, and 44.0% were unaffiliated with any party. Voters in the state are more supportive of fiscal conservatives and may be considered to be generally socially liberal.

Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both houses of the state legislature. In 2006, Republicans were reduced from three out of five to one out of five congressional seats. The remaining Republican, Chris Shays, is the only Republican from New England in the House of Representatives in the current Congress and is also one of the most liberal Republicans in the House. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman are Connecticut's U.S. senators. The senior Dodd is a Democrat while the junior Lieberman serves as an Independent Democrat. Lieberman's predecessor, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., was the last Connecticut Republican to serve as senator. Weicker was known as a liberal Republican. He broke with President Richard Nixon during Watergate and successfully ran for governor in 1990 as an independent. Before Weicker, the last Republican to represent Connecticut in the Senate was Prescott Bush, the father of former President George H.W. Bush and the grandfather of President George W. Bush. He served from 1953 to 1963.

Political corruption

Several mayors, state legislators, and government employees have been convicted and imprisoned for crimes ranging from bribery to racketeering. In 2004, Governor John G. Rowland, a Republican, was forced to resign when it was discovered he helped steer state contracts to firms that offered him gifts and free vacations. Following his resignation, he pled guilty to corruption charges and served ten months in federal prison. Former Waterbury Mayor and 2000 GOP Senate candidate Philip Giordano was stripped of power in 2001 after a corruption investigation had to be cut short when phone taps unexpectedly revealed alleged sexual acts with 8- and 10-year-old minor girls and other possible acts of pedophilia. In 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to 37 years in federal prison. Democrats have been convicted of corruption as well, most notably former Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. The current mayor of Bridgeport, John Fabrizi, admitted to using cocaine while in office, but has stayed on while not running for re-election. In August 2007 Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez announced he had been investigated for ties to a city contractor. [1]

Several state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, and Department of Children and Families have been rocked by scandals over the past decade.

A more recent scandal involved a botched construction project on Interstate 84 near Waterbury. An independent audit of the project in late 2006 revealed that over 300 storm drains were either filled with sand, were improperly installed, or were connected with pipes that led to nowhere. In addition to the faulty storm drains, officials discovered light fixtures with defective mounting brackets when one of the fixtures fell off of its support pole and onto the highway. Inspectors also discovered the structural steel for an overpass was not properly installed, raising serious questions about the bridge's structural integrity.

Following the uncovering of this scandal, Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal filed suit against L.G. DeFelice, its bonding company USF&G, and the consultants (the Maguire Group) hired by CONNDOT to oversee the project, resulting in a $17.5 million settlement to fix the problems. A federal grand jury and FBI investigation were also launched into the operations of L.G. DeFelice before the company ceased operations in 2004. Several CONNDOT employees were fired after being implicated in the scandal, and are also subjects of state and federal investigations for allegedly taking bribes in exchange for covering up substandard work on the I-84 project. Finally, the scandal prompted the Connecticut General Assembly to consider contract reform legislation and Governor M. Jodi Rell to order a complete reorganization of CONNDOT.

On June 1, 2007, Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca was arrested on conspiracy charges after it was discovered he was dealing with a local Mafia boss who is currently facing federal charges stemming from his trash-hauling operations, and allegations that he tried to use these same ties to intimidate the husband of his granddaughter, whom he claimed was abusing her.

Following Rowland's resignation, the state legislature passed a campaign finance reform bill that bans contributions from lobbyists and state contractors in future campaigns.

External links

All links retrieved December 9, 2007

Government

• State of Connecticut - Official state website
• Connecticut State Register & Manual - updated annually
• Directory of Web sites of Connecticut towns and cities

Tourism

• CTVisit.com - Official state tourism website

History

• www.ctgenealogy.com Connecticut Society of Genealogists (Est. 1968)
• Connecticut Historical Society
• USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Connecticut
• U.S. Census Bureau
• Connecticut State Facts

Civic and business organizations

• Connecticut Junior Chamber (Jaycees)
• Connecticut Newspapers
• Connecticut Business & Industry Association
• The Connecticut Business Hall Of Fame

Template:Connecticut

Political divisions of the United States

States Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming Federal district District of Columbia Insular areas American Samoa | Baker Island | Guam | Howland Island | Jarvis Island | Johnston Atoll | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Navassa Island | Northern Mariana Islands | Palmyra Atoll | Puerto Rico | Virgin Islands | Wake Island

Preceded by: Georgia

List of U.S. states by date of statehood Ratified Constitution on January 9, 1788 (5th)

Succeeded by: Massachusetts

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