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As of 2010, Connecticut was the state with the wealthiest residents, having the highest per-capita income ($60,847) and median household income in the United States ($71,346).\u00a0 However, there are massive inequities in income states between different parts of the state with\u00a0New Canaan having a per capita income of $85,459.<\/p>\n Darien, Greenwich, Weston, Westport and Wilton also have per capita incomes over $65,000.\u00a0 Hartford is the poorest municipality in Connecticut, with a per capita income of $13,428 in 2000.\u00a0 Predictably, the wealthiest areas are predominantly white and professional while the poorest areas have the highest concentration of poorly education people of color working in service jobs or receiving public assistance.<\/p>\n Geographically, Connecticut is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south.\u00a0 The long water border has given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition that continues to this day.<\/p>\n The Connecticut state capital is Hartford, but the most populous city is Bridgeport.<\/p>\n Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 states.\u00a0 The state is named for the Connecticut River, a major river that approximately bisects the state.\u00a0 The word “Connecticut” is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for “long tidal river”.<\/p>\n The otherwise straight borders of Connecticut have two obvious anomalies.\u00a0 The first is on the northern border with Massachusetts and is known both as the Southwick Jog and the Granby Notch<\/a>.\u00a0 This is the result of a long line of disputes that finally concluded in 1804 when southern Southwick’s residents sought to leave Massachusetts, and the town was split in half.<\/p>\n The southwestern border of Connecticut where it abuts New York State is marked by a panhandle in Fairfield County<\/a>, containing the towns of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, and parts of Norwalk and Wilton. This irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 17th century, culminating with New York giving up its claim to the area, whose residents considered themselves part of Connecticut, in exchange for an equivalent area extending northwards from Ridgefield to the Massachusetts border, as well as undisputed claim to Rye, New York.<\/p>\n Prior to European settlement the area of modern day Connecticut was inhabited by several Native American tribes including the Mohegans<\/a>, the Pequots<\/a>, and the Paugusetts<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first Europeans to settle in what is today Connecticut were actually Dutch who had a small and short-lived settlement at the juncture of the Park and Connecticut Rivers.\u00a0 Half of what is today Connecticut was part of the New Netherland<\/a> which included much of what is today New Jersey as well as Manhattan Island.<\/p>\n However, the first major and lasting settlements were those of the English who came overland from the Massachusetts Bay Colony<\/a> to found the Connecticut Colony<\/a> in 1636 although smaller settlements had been established as early at 1633.\u00a0 Other settlers who originated in Massachusetts established the Saybrook Colony<\/a> and the New Haven Colony<\/a>.\u00a0 These three colonies merged in 1662 under a royal charter and thus became a crown colony, one of the Thirteen Colonies that would eventually reject British rule in what became known as the American Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n The first major clash between the Native people and the colonists is known as The Pequot War<\/a> which occurred in 1636-1637.\u00a0 The conflict was the result of aggression against growing European land holdings as well as aggression against other Native tribes.\u00a0 After several battles the Pequots sued for peace and a truce was reached.<\/p>\n In 1701 the now world famous Yale College<\/a>, now Yale University, was established.\u00a0 Yale provided Connecticut with an important base for the education of both clerical and civil leaders.<\/p>\n Religious life in the colony was largely dominated by the Congregational Church<\/a> and the church’s influence widely extended into local political issues as well.<\/p>\n Connecticut contributed six regiments to the Revolutionary War effort.<\/p>\n Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution on January 9, 1788, becoming the fifth state.\u00a0 Connecticut prospered during the era following the American Revolution, as mills and textile factories were built and seaports flourished from trade and fisheries.\u00a0 Connecticut came to be recognized as a major center for manufacturing, due in part to the inventions of Eli Whitney<\/a> and other early innovators of the Industrial Revolution.<\/p>\n Those same Connecticut manufacturing facilities played a major role in equipping the Union forces with both weapons and supplies during the Civil War.\u00a0 In addition, Connecticut provided 55,000 troops organized into thirty full regiments as well as another 2,350 men who joined the Union Navy.<\/p>\n The extensive industry, population density, favorable terrain, and wealth resulted in the early construction of railroads in the state with the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad<\/a>, otherwise known as the New Haven, or Consolidated, became the dominant player.<\/p>\n The telephone likewise made an early appearance in Connecticut with New Haven hosting the world’s first telephone exchange.<\/p>\n As was true in the Civil War, Connecticut was a major supplier of weapons to United States armies fighting in World War I.\u00a0 Remington Arms, Winchester rifle company, and Colt firearms<\/a> companies were based in Connecticut.\u00a0 Connecticut was also an important supplier to the Navy.<\/p>\n Again, Connecticut was a major supplier of weapons and other goods for the World War II effort, and these industries, in part, helped lift the state from the Great Depression<\/a> of the 1930s.<\/p>\n The end of the Cold War posed some challenges for the Connecticut economy as the demand for munitions fell sharply.\u00a0 One new source of revenue was the advent of the Indian casino with the completion of the Foxwoods Casino<\/a> in 1992, which was the largest casino in the Western Hemisphere!<\/p>\n Today Connecticut is a financial and insurance hub with those industries generating over 16% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state.\u00a0 Connecticut also benefits from its proximity to the large economic engine of New York City.\u00a0 Many of the wealthiest residents of western Connecticut have employment and\/or financial ties to New York City.<\/p>\n Manufacturing is the third biggest industry at almost 12% .\u00a0 Industry continues to be dominated by companies with connections to defense, including major firearms manufacturers.<\/p>\n Tourism and the arts generated over $14 billion in economic activity with the Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun<\/a> casino being among the top employers in the state.<\/p>\n Agriculture is a smaller contributor to the state economy, employing about 12,000 people, with the strongest sector being nursery stock production.<\/p>\n There are four Interstate highways in Connecticut: Interstate 95, Interstate 84, Interstate 91, and Interstate 395.\u00a0 In addition to major roadways, rail links are also popular means of reaching jobs in New York City as southwestern Connecticut is served by the Metro-North Railroad<\/a>.\u00a0 Amtrak<\/a> also provides rail services to commuters and other travelers to New York City, Washington DC and beyond.\u00a0 Cities and towns between New Haven and New London are served by the Shore Line East<\/a> commuter rail as well.\u00a0 There are other proposed commuter rail services under discussion.<\/p>\n Bradley International Airport<\/a> serves the Hartford region,<\/p>\n while residents of central and southern Connecticut also make heavy use of JFK International Airport<\/a> and Newark International Airports<\/a>, especially for international travel.<\/p>\n Ferries connect Connecticut with Long Island in New York as well as to Rhode Island.\u00a0 There are also two ferries crossing the Connecticut River for intrastate travel.<\/p>\n The flag of the state of Connecticut is a white baroque shield with three grapevines, each bearing three bunches of purple grapes on a field of azure blue. The banner below the shield reads “Qui Transtulit Sustinet”, Latin for “He who transplanted still sustains”, which is Connecticut’s state motto.<\/p>\n The design for the coat of arms, which is depicted on the flag, originates from the seal of the Saybrook Colony, designed in 1639.\u00a0 Originally there were 15 grapevines but the number was reduced to three in 1711 to represent the three original settlements that merged to become Connecticut Colony: Connecticut Colony in Hartford, Saybrook Colony, and New Haven Colony.<\/p>\n The Connecticut General Assembly approved the flag in 1897 after it was introduced by Governor Owen Vincent Coffin<\/a> in 1895.<\/p>\n Constitution State is the official nickname of the State of Connecticut as stipulated by the Connecticut State Register and Manual of 1998<\/a>.\u00a0 This nickname was designated by the state General Assembly in 1959.\u00a0 The basis for this nickname dates back to 1638\/1639 when a group of the original English settlers came together to create what were known as Fundamental Orders<\/a> which framed a social compact for the governance of their new colony.\u00a0 This is considered by many to be the first written Constitution in history, hence the origin of the nickname of the state.<\/p>\n Stay tuned as we continue our exploration of the 50 United States in order of admittance to the Union with number six, another New England state, arguably the oldest of the United States, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction: Connecticut is the fifth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States and therefore the fifth state to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,6,7,43,40,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/07\/New-Canaan-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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Geography:<\/h2>\n
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History and Economy:<\/h2>\n
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Transportation:<\/h2>\n
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The Flag:<\/h2>\n
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The State Nickname:<\/h2>\n