Connecticut Education

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Connecticut has numerous educational and cultural institutions, some of which were founded in colonial times.

Education
The public school system in Connecticut was established in 1650 with the passage of a law that required towns with more than 50 families to maintain an elementary school and towns with more than 100 families to maintain a secondary school as well. In the late 1980s Connecticut had approximately 985 public elementary and secondary schools. About 338,400 pupils were enrolled each year in elementary schools, and about 123,200 students attended secondary schools. In addition, some 58,700 students were enrolled in private schools.
 

In 1702 the Collegiate School, later Yale University, in New Haven, was opened in Killingworth (now Clinton). In the late 1980s Connecticut had 48 institutions of higher education with a combined enrollment of about 169,400 students. Among the most notable, besides Yale, were the University of Connecticut (1881), in Storrs; Trinity College (1823), in Hartford; the University of Bridgeport (1927), in Bridgeport; Connecticut College (1911) and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (1876), both in New London; and Wesleyan University (1831), in Middletown.

Connecticut, southernmost of the New England states of the United States, bounded on the north by Massachusetts, on the east by Rhode Island, on the south by Long Island Sound, and on the west by New York State.
Known as the Constitution State, because its delegates played a crucial role in drawing up the U.S. Constitution at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Connecticut entered the Union on January 9, 1788, as the fifth of the original 13 states. By the mid-19th century the state's economy was dominated by manufacturing, and Hartford, its capital, had become one of the chief centers of the U.S. insurance industry. In the early 1990s Connecticut was particularly noted for producing aircraft engines, helicopters, submarines, and firearms. The state's name is derived from an Algonquian term probably meaning “place of the long river,” referring to the Connecticut River.

Land and Resources
Connecticut, with an area of 14,358 sq km (5544 sq mi), is the 48th largest state in the United States; 0.4 percent of its land area is owned by the federal government. The state has a rectangular shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 145 km (about 90 mi) from east to west and about 120 km (about 75 mi) from north to south. The surface of Connecticut increases gradually from sea level along Long Island Sound, in the south, to a high point of 725 m (2380 ft) in the northwest, on the southern slope of Mount Frissell. The mean elevation of the state is approximately 152 m (about 500 ft). Its coastline on Long Island Sound is 995 km (618 mi) long.

Physical Geography
Connecticut has five major landform regions—the Taconic Mountains, the Connecticut Valley Lowland, the Coastal Lowlands, the Western New England Upland, and the Eastern New England Upland.
In the northwestern corner of Connecticut is the southern end of the Taconic Mountains, which also are in Massachusetts and New York. Underlain by metamorphic rocks, the mountains contain steep slopes and narrow valleys; soils are relatively infertile. The state's highest elevations are here.
In the middle of the state is the Connecticut Valley Lowland, a river valley that extends north into Massachusetts. Some 40 to 56 km (some 25 to 35 mi) wide in Connecticut, the valley rises from the river in a series of low terraces to form a smooth, level plain of rich, fertile soils.
The Western New England Upland rises gradually from low elevations in the south to nearly 460 m (about 1500 ft) in the north. Its surface is rolling to hilly. The Eastern New England Upland is considerably lower than the Western Upland, with maximum elevations seldom higher than about 215 m (about 700 ft). Relief is less striking, with the terrain best described as rolling to somewhat hilly. Continental glaciation left both the Western Upland and the Eastern Upland covered with acidic soils and numerous boulders.
No distinct change marks the boundary between the Coastal Lowlands and the upland regions. Rather, the land rises gradually from sea level to about 90 m (about 300 ft) and then merges with the areas to the north. The coastline has many small bays and inlets.

Rivers and Lakes
Connecticut's streams generally drain south toward Long Island Sound. The principal river is the Connecticut, which flows south through a broad lowland until Middletown, where it turns southeast and enters the Eastern New England Upland region. The Housatonic is in western Connecticut; its main tributary is the Naugatuck River. The Thames River, in eastern Connecticut is formed where the Shetucket and Yantic rivers converge.
Connecticut's lakes are generally small bodies of water formed by glacial action. Most of the lakes, including the largest, are in the Western New England Upland. The two largest bodies of water are both artificial: Lake Candlewood, near Danbury, and Barkhamsted Reservoir, in the north.

Climate
Connecticut has a humid continental climate. The average yearly temperature along the coast is 10.6° C (51° F), and in the northwest it is 7.2° C (45° F); for most of the rest of the state the yearly mean temperature ranges between 8.3° C and 9.4° C (47° F and 49° F). The recorded temperature in Connecticut has ranged from -35.6° C (-32° F), in 1943 at Falls Village, to 40.6° C (105° F), in 1926 at Waterbury.
Throughout most of the state, yearly precipitation varies between about 1120 and 1220 mm (about 44 and 48 in), but it increases to about 1270 mm (about 50 in) in the higher elevations of the northwest. Annual snowfall varies from about 635 mm (about 25 in) on the coast to about 2030 mm (about 80 in) in the uplands. Violent storms in the state are rare, but several hurricanes have struck along the coast. A tornado, rare for this region, touched down north of Hartford in 1979 and did extensive damage.

Plants and Animals
Although about 56 percent of Connecticut is wooded, the state contains little timber of commercial value. Northern hardwoods, such as beech, birch, maple, and oak, predominate, and some conifers are intermixed.
The principal mammals of Connecticut are deer, rabbit, squirrel, fox, chipmunk, otter, and woodchuck. Among the larger game birds are pheasant, grouse, and duck. Other birds include robin, bluejay, woodpecker, crow, warbler, and sparrow. Clams, oysters, striped bass, and bluefish are found in the marine waters of Long Island Sound, and shad, perch, pickerel, bass, and trout inhabit the freshwater rivers and lakes.

Mineral Resources
Connecticut's mineral deposits are limited, and many are only of historical importance. The latter include iron ore, copper, tungsten, lead, and silver. The principal minerals of economic value in the 1990s were stone, sand, gravel, and clay, which are widely distributed over the state.

Population
According to the 1990 census, Connecticut had 3,287,116 inhabitants, an increase of 5.8 percent over 1980. The average population density in 1990 was 229 people per sq km (593 per sq mi), making Connecticut one of the most densely populated states in the U.S. Whites made up 87 percent of the population and blacks 8.3 percent; additional groups included 11,755 persons of Asian Indian ancestry, 11,082 people of Chinese extraction, 6472 Native Americans, 5160 persons of Filipino descent, and 5126 people of Korean background. Some 213,100 persons were of Hispanic ancestry. Roman Catholics made up 50.4 percent of the population in 1990, followed by Baptists (5.8 percent), Episcopalians (4.4 percent), Methodists (3.9 percent), and Jews (2.4 percent). In 1990 about 79 percent of Connecticut's residents lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in rural areas. The state's largest cities were Bridgeport; Hartford, the capital; New Haven; Waterbury; and Stamford.


Cultural Institutions
Connecticut houses a wide diversity of cultural institutions, including the oldest free public art museum in the U.S., the Wadsworth Atheneum (1842), in Hartford. Other noteworthy museums are the Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art and British Studies, and the Peabody Museum of Natural History, all in New Haven; the Shoreline Trolley Museum, in East Haven; the American Clock and Watch Museum, in Bristol; the P. T. Barnum Museum, in Bridgeport, featuring displays on circus history; and the Connecticut Historical Society museum, in Hartford. In addition, Hartford is the home of ballet and opera companies and a symphony orchestra. New Haven contains the Yale University library, which houses more than 8.8 million volumes. The State Library, in Hartford, also has notable collections of books and documents. The noted Yale Repertory and Long Wharf theaters are in New Haven.

Historical Sites
Many of Connecticut's historical sites commemorate Native American groups or events of the American Revolution. Fort Shantok State Park, near Norwich, includes the site of an old Mohegan village; Groton Monument, in Groton, honors revolutionary war patriots killed by the British; and the Nathan Hale Homestead, in South Coventry, exhibits furnishings of the famous American revolutionary officer's family. Mystic Seaport, in Mystic, features a re-creation of a 19th-century whaling town.

Sports and Recreation
Connecticut's recreational activities encompass many outdoor sports. The coastline along Long Island Sound is noted for its beaches and boating and fishing facilities, and the state's rivers and woods attract many fishers and hunters. Lime Rock is an automobile-racing center, and the state contains several popular ski areas. Hartford is home to a major league team in ice hockey.

Communications
Connecticut's communications system includes 42 AM and 52 FM radiobroadcasting stations and 13 television stations. The first radio station in the state, WDRC in Hartford, began to broadcast in 1922, and the first television station, WNHC (now WTHN-TV) in New Haven, began operations in 1948. The Hartford Courant, which first appeared in 1764 as the Connecticut Courant, is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the U.S. In the early 1990s Connecticut had 21 daily newspapers with a total circulation of about 847,800. Influential dailies, in addition to the Courant, included the New Haven Register; The Herald, published in New Britain; The Day, published in New London; and the News-Times, published in Danbury.

Government and Politics
Connecticut is governed under a constitution adopted in 1965, as amended. Three earlier constitutions had been adopted in 1639, 1662, and 1818. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed by the legislature or by a constitutional convention. To become effective, a proposed amendment must be approved by a majority of the persons voting on the issue in an election.

Executive
The chief executive of Connecticut is a governor, who is popularly elected to a 4-year term. No specified limit is put on the number of terms a governor may serve. The same conditions apply to the lieutenant governor, who succeeds the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office. Also elected to the state's executive department are the secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and comptroller.

Legislature
The bicameral Connecticut General Assembly is divided into a senate and a house of representatives. The 36 members of the senate and 151 members of the house are popularly elected to 2-year terms. Special sessions of the General Assembly may be called by the governor or by a majority of each chamber of the state legislature.

Judiciary
Connecticut's highest court, the supreme court, is made up of a chief justice and six associate judges; there are nine intermediate appellate court judges. The major trial court is the superior court, with 150 judges. The judges of all these courts are appointed by the legislature, from nominations submitted by the governor, to 8-year terms. The state's 133 probate courts are presided over by judges popularly elected to 4-year terms.

Local Government
In the early 1990s Connecticut's 169 cities and towns served as the state's chief units of local government. Most of the towns were governed by popularly elected selectmen, and a majority of the cities employed the mayor-council form of government. The state's eight counties had few governmental functions and served primarily as divisions of the judicial system.

National Representation
Connecticut elects two senators and six representatives to the U.S. Congress. The state has eight electoral votes in presidential elections.

Politics
In both state and national elections, Republican candidates were more often victorious from the 1850s to the 1930s. By the mid-20th century the Democrats had gained in strength; during the 1950s and 1960s the state party organization played an influential role in national Democratic politics. Connecticut's governors have been predominantly Democratic in recent decades, while in presidential elections the state has tended to favor Republicans. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., was elected governor as an independent in 1990.

Economy
Since the 18th century Connecticut has been an important center of manufacturing, which by the mid-19th century was the state's leading economic activity. During the early 1990s Connecticut also had a large commercial sector, and a number of major corporations maintained their headquarters in the state, notably in Fairfield County, in the southwest. In addition, the state's large insurance industry, centered in Hartford, was a major contributor to its economy.

Agriculture
Farming, which is of relatively little economic importance in Connecticut, is concentrated principally in the Connecticut River valley. The state contains about 3900 farms, with an average size of 44 hectares (108 acres). Chicken eggs, dairy products, and beef cattle account for about 40 percent of the value of yearly farm production. Greenhouse products (such as flowers and shrubs), hay, apples, vegetables, and tobacco generate much of the rest of the farm income.

Forestry and Fishing
Forestry activities were once carried on extensively in Connecticut, but following the depletion of the state's virgin timber, commercial forestry declined sharply. Although forests covered nearly three-fifths of the state in the early 1990s, the trees generally were not large enough to support major wood-processing industries.
Fishing as a commercial venture has relatively little importance in Connecticut. Because of harbor and stream pollution, oystering is limited to Long Island Sound, where about 16,600 hectares (about 41,000 acres) of oyster beds lie off the coast. In addition to oysters, flounder, cod, menhaden, porgy, whiting,lobster, and hard-shell clams are taken. About 4100 metric tons of seafood are caught by commercial fishers each year.

Mining
Connecticut's mining industry has declined sharply since colonial times, when it was active in the production of iron ore. In the early 1990s most of the mineral production in the state consisted of stone, sand, gravel, and lime, all of which were used locally as building materials, and clay. Small amounts of feldspar were also produced, and some gemstones and mica were recovered.

Manufacturing
Connecticut established a thriving industrial complex in the colonial period, largely because its fast-flowing streams and waterfalls could easily be harnessed for power. Nails were produced early in the 18th century, and brass making was introduced in 1749. Weapons manufactured in Connecticut were used to fight the British during the American Revolution. In the 1790s the state was known for its hats (made at Danbury) and timepieces (produced primarily at Watertown). Eli Whitney, a Connecticut resident, developed the cotton gin and introduced the use of interchangeable parts in the manufacturing process. The state's armaments industry was an important supplier of firearms during the two world wars.
In the late 1980s some 21 percent of Connecticut's labor force—about 360,000 persons—were employed by firms associated with manufacturing, and the state ranked among the top 25 in this activity. Connecticut's industries produced a wide variety of goods, notably aircraft engines, helicopters, nuclear submarines, firearms, ball bearings, hand tools, optical instruments, brass items, electrical machinery, clocks, chemicals, printed materials, copper, processed food, and pharmaceuticals. About three-fourths of the state's total manufacturing value was produced in Fairfield, Hartford, and New Haven counties; the cities of Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, New Britain, Waterbury, Stamford, and Norwalk were leading manufacturing centers.

Tourism
Connecticut earns nearly $4 billion annually from tourism. Many visitors are attracted each year by Connecticut's green hills, lovely lakes, and beautifully preserved old towns and villages. The indented shore of Long Island Sound and the wooded Litchfield Hills in the northwest are among the major resort areas in the state. Connecticut maintains some 120 state parks and recreation areas, the most popular of which include Gillette Castle State Park, in Haddam; Hammonassett Beach State Park, in Madison; Sherwood Island State Park, in Westport; and Dinosaur State Park, in Rocky Hill. Winter-sports enthusiasts in large numbers visit the state's several ski areas.

Transportation
The transportation system of Connecticut is highly developed. The state has about 32,170 km (about 19,990 mi) of roads and highways, including the Connecticut Turnpike, which crosses the state from New York to Rhode Island. Connecticut also is served by about 460 km (about 285 mi) of operated Class I railroad track, and many residents commute to work in New York City by rail. There are 132 airfields, the busiest being Bradley International Airport, near Hartford. New Haven, Bridgeport, and New London are important seaports. Considerable freight is shipped on the Connecticut River between Hartford and Long Island Sound.

Energy
Electricity generating facilities in Connecticut have a total capacity of about 7.1 million kw and produce some 32.2 billion kwh of electricity each year. The state has a highly developed system of nuclear-power plants, with more than 60 percent of its electricity produced in such facilities. Conventional steam installations, fired by fossil fuels, generate about 35 percent of the total electrical output, with less than 2 percent produced by hydroelectric facilities.

History
The Native Americans who lived in the area before the coming of the Europeans belonged to the Algonquian group. They referred to the region they had settled as Quinnetukut, probably meaning “place of the long river,” and the state's name is derived from this word. Between 6000 and 7000 Native Americans made up the 16 tribes found in Connecticut. With the exception of the Pequots, who resisted European encroachment, Connecticut's Native Americans dwelt in peace with the settlers. They lived mostly by hunting, gathering, and fishing; their agriculture was limited to raising corn, pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes, and squash.

Colonial Period
The Connecticut River valley, first explored by the Dutchman Adriaen Block in 1614, remained a fur-trading area until the mid-1620s, when the Dutch fortified several localities. The Dutch were followed by the English under Edward Winslow of Plymouth, who established a settlement at Windsor in 1635. Interest in the fertile soils and rich timber stands of Connecticut soon spread among the Massachusetts colonists, and many of them moved here. The largest migration was led by the Congregationalist clergyman Thomas Hooker in June 1636, when the Newtown community relocated itself at Hartford. This influx aroused the Pequot people, and they were subsequently exterminated in a war with the settlers (1636-37).
Under a Massachusetts General Court decree of March 1636, Connecticut settlers were able to create a form of self-government that continued until supplemented by the Fundamental Orders of 1639. These orders created a form of government under which the people became the base of authority; two general courts were established and charged with legislative and administrative functions. The governor and magistrates were to be elected by “vote of the country.” There was no specific religious requirement for citizenship. The Fundamental Orders remained the basis for government until the colony was reorganized by the royal charter of 1662.
Under the charter, Connecticut's boundaries were extended on the east to Narragansett Bay, on the south to Long Island Sound, and on the west to the Pacific Ocean.
Up to that time New Haven had been a separate colony, having had its beginnings under John Davenport, who founded a settlement there in March 1638. The New Haven officials encouraged the foundation of Milford, Branford, Guilford, Stamford, Southhold (on Long Island), and other settlements that were included in the New Haven Colony. Under the new royal charter New Haven's independence ceased.
In 1685 Connecticut authorities were informed by King James II that the colony was scheduled for inclusion in a newly formed Dominion of New England. When the royal governor, Edmund Andros, appeared in person in October 1687 to accept the surrender of Connecticut's charter, the document, according to local legend, was “secreted in a large hollow tree,” the Charter Oak. Connecticut remained part of the dominion until King James was overthrown by the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89.
In the late 17th century and much of the 18th, extensions in the North American colonies of conflicts in Europe brought renewed attacks by Native Americans, now allied with the French. At the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1754, Connecticut settlers organized a subdivision of the colony in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, under Connecticut control until 1786.

The Revolution and Early National Period
Connecticut vigorously opposed the Stamp Act and figured prominently in the American Revolution. The colony officially severed its ties with Great Britain in July 1776, and the following October Connecticut became an independent state. More than 40,000 of its men served in the revolutionary army. The British burned Danbury in 1777 and pillaged New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk in 1779. In September 1781, British troops commanded by Benedict Arnold largely destroyed New London and Groton by fire.
After peace was restored in 1783, Connecticut sought political adjustment to the Articles of Confederation. At the Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia in 1787, its delegates introduced the Connecticut Compromise, by which each state would have equal representation in the U.S. Senate and proportional representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The War of 1812 proved unpopular in Connecticut. When Massachusetts issued a call for delegates to gather and oppose the war, Connecticut approved and offered a site for the meeting. The Hartford Convention subsequently urged the adoption of several constitutional amendments curbing the powers of the federal government, but none was adopted. The state revised its own constitution in 1818. At that time the government was divided into executive, legislative, and judicial branches; veto power was granted to the governor; and the Congregational church, which had become the state's official religious body in the preceding century, was disestablished.

The Modern State
Connecticut abolished slavery in 1848. In the presidential election of 1860, it supported Abraham Lincoln, and during the American Civil War it supplied both men and ammunition to the Union. The war brought economic prosperity to the state, and the expansion of its industries, banking, and railroads also changed the nature of its agricultural pursuits. By the 1870s subsistence farming was giving way to specialization, brought on by urbanization, increased population, industrialization, and competition from farms in the Midwest. Industrialization was accompanied by an influx of immigrants. By 1910 the foreign-born constituted about 30 percent of the population of 1,114,756, most coming from Ireland, Italy, Russia, Germany, and Austria.
In the 20th century specialized industries that had been established in the state during the 19th century expanded; included were those that produced steel and brass fittings, firearms, silverware, and clocks. Hartford became a leading insurance center of the U.S. Developments after World War II wrought further changes, making the state one of the principal U.S. producers of aircraft parts, submarines, and instruments for the U.S. space program. The predominance of defense-related industries helped lessen the impact on Connecticut of several nationwide recessions. In the 1980s the state's income per capita was among the highest in the United States, and its unemployment rate was among the lowest. In the early 1990s, however, the finance, insurance, and real estate markets were hit hard by recession. To balance the budget, the state was forced, for the first time, to impose a tax on earned income.

 

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