Connecticut (kon-net'-e-cut), one of the six New England states of the American Union, is bounded N. by Massachusetts, E. by Rhode Island, S. by Long Island, W. by the state of New York. It is the smallest in area of all the states, excepting Rhode Island and Delaware; but there were in 1880 ten states smaller in population than Connecticut. Its area is 4845 sq. m., or nearly two-thirds that of Wales. It is one of the most densely peopled states of the Union. A great part of the surface is rocky and uneven, and the Green and Taconic Mountains of the Appalachian system occupy a considerable part of the western extremity of the state; but the mountains here are all insignificant in respect of height. Much of the surface is not easily cultivated, and rather unfertile; but a considerable part of the valley of the Connecticut River is very productive, tobacco being a leading product of this section. Hay, potatoes, maize, oats, and rye are the principal crops. Grazing and milk farms, orchards and market-gardens, are profitably sustained in all parts of the state.
The Connecticut River, which, rising in New Hampshire, forms the boundary between that state and Vermont, and flows south through Massachusetts, crosses Connecticut also, and after a course of about 450 miles enters Long Island Sound, 30 miles east of New Haven. It is navigable for vessels of light draught as high as Hartford. In the east part is the River Thames, and in the west the Housatonic, both of which afford some navigation. But the greatest value of the very numerous streams is as a source of water-power. In 1880 over one-half the power employed in the manufactures of the state was water-power; and the utilised water-power was returned by the United States census as 12'63 horse-power per sq. m. The surface-rocks are mostly Azoic, with the principal exception of a strip of Triassic sandstone or psammite running along the Connecticut River. This brown sandstone is largely quarried at Portland and East Haven, as are excellent red and plain granites and gneissoid building-stones at many points; valuable serpentine and verde-antique exist near New Haven. Some quarries yield excellent flagstones of gneissoid character; the so-called 'trap' rock, here really a diabase of Triassic date, is also wrought; and in the north-west good limestones of Lower Silurian age are quarried. Brown hematites are extensively wrought in the north-west section, and yield excellent iron. Deposits of lead, copper, and cobalt have been locally mined. Useful mineral-waters occur at various points. The climate is very changeable, and is rather severe in winter, but generally healthful. Nearly the whole surface was once richly forested; but no very extensive areas are now covered by large timber; still the aggregate production of wood for building purposes and for fuel is very considerable. The sea-coast affords a number of good harbours. Most of the maritime enterprise is now directed to the coast-wise trade, the whale and seal fisheries having declined. Oyster-fishing is engaged in largely and very systematically, as is the taking of fish for oil and fish-guano. The manufactures of Connecticut are carried on upon a very extensive scale, and are of exceedingly varied character; and notwithstanding its small area, the state stands in the first rank as respects the amount and aggregate value of manufactured goods. Clocks, hardware, india-rubber goods, firearms, silks and other textiles, and smallwares in great variety, are produced on a large scale. Life, fire, and accident insurance, and the publication of subscription books, receive great attention. The state is well supplied with railways. In very few parts of the world has more been done for popular education than in this state. Private, denominational, and parochial schools of every grade supplement the work of this public-school system. The latter dates from 1644. Yale University at New Haven comprises collegiate and post-graduate courses, besides medical, theological, scientific, law, and art schools, and takes a very high place among the seats of learning in the country. Mention should be made of Trinity College, Hartford, and of the Wesleyan University at Middletown. There are also divinity schools at Hartford (Congregationalist) and Middletown (Episcopalian). The state supports a full complement of institutions for correction and charity. Among the principal cities and towns are Hartford (the capital), New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Meriden, Norwich, Norwalk, New Britain, Danbury, Stamford, and New London.
The old stock of inhabitants were of English Puritan origin, but of later years there has been a large immigration of Irish, German, English, and others. The colony of Connecticut may be said to date from 1634, when the movement began in which Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor were settled by persons removing from Massachusetts, and displacing a slender colony of the Dutch. This movement was in reality the secession of the more democratic element from Massachusetts. Saybrook, named in honour of Lord Say-and-Sele and Lord Brooke, was the nucleus of a separate colony which in 1644 was united to Connecticut, as was in 1662 the New Haven colony, founded in 1638. The Connecticut colony adopted a constitution in 1639, 'the first written democratic constitution on record.' The royal charter of 1662 was exceedingly liberal, it being essentially a confirmation of the older constitution; and it continued in force even after the independence of the American states, but in 1818 was replaced by the present state constitution. A large part of Long Island was for a considerable period under the government of the colony. Prominent events in Connecticut history have been the bloody war with the Pequot Indians, 1637; the governorship of Sir Edmund Andros, during a part of which (1687-88) the colonial charter was in abeyance, and according to the very doubtful but commonly received account was only saved from destruction by being hidden for a time in a hollow tree, the Charter Oak at Hartford. Slavery was abolished in 1818. Pop. (1870) 537,454; (1880) 622,700, of whom 129,992 were foreign born; (1890) 746,258. See Johnston's Connecticut (1887).