This Country of Ours: Chapter 29 The Founding of Connecticut and War with the Indians

I'm back after a hiatus over the past month. My reading time dwindled to the point that I had to take a break in my Year 4 lessons. We were renovating our rental unit for new tenants and it needed lots of TLC! Thankfully, our new neighbors have moved in and all the extra projects are (nearly) completed. Back to work on Year 4!

This Country of Ours
by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

Chapter 29: The Founding of Connecticut and War with the Indians

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was populated by quite a number of aristocratic-minded settlers. They were used to the many being ruled by the few and preferred that method of government in the new colony. However, there were others who came for freedom and demanded self-government. They saw that they needed to move farther afield from these aristocratic neighbors to achieve true freedom and began the process of finding a location for a new colony. Among those who desired to separate from the Massachusetts Bay Colony was Thomas Hooker, a prominent preacher, and John Harvard. The Connecticut River valley seemed fertile and a hospitable place to settle, so preparations were made. The Massachusetts Bay Colony did not want to lose a congregation, especially as churches and congregations were considered a lampstand to the world, and they did not want their candle to go out.

However, the dissenters were determined to go and could not be dissuaded. They sent their furniture ahead down river and loaded up, walking and driving their cattle and flocks ahead of them. Only Mrs. Hooker, who was unwell at the time, rode in a carriage. It was a difficult journey, as new paths had to be cut through the underbrush, streams had to be forded, and they had to find their food along the way. In the end, determination paid off when the group reached the Connecticut River and built the settlement of Hartford.

Other groups followed Hooker's example and made new settlements of their own. These various new settlements eventually met together to become the new colony of Connecticut. They made sure that there were no regulations that required a man to be part of a church congregation in order to be allowed to vote.

The Pequot Indians inhabited the Connecticut Valley and used to prey on small groups of unprotected settlers, stealing goods and murdering the settlers. When confronted by the colony leaders, at first the Indians pretended that they didn't know the victims were settlers of the Colony of Connecticut. The colonists would not let the wily Indians wiggle their way out of these serious charges and demanded that the murderers be handed over. The Pequots made promises they never fulfilled and so the colonists attacked when the Indians were not expecting it. The Pequot village was burned and those who tried to escape were killed without mercy, wiping out the entire tribe. This battle led to many years of peace between the colonists of Connecticut and the other Indians tribes, who were fearful of these powerful new settlers.