Founding of Connecticut and Rhode Island: Religious Freedom and Dissent

Both colonies emerged from Puritan dissent in Massachusetts Bay, but for different reasons and with distinct characters.

Connecticut (1636)

• Leader: Rev. Thomas Hooker.
• Motive: Disagreed with Massachusetts' restrictive suffrage (church membership required to vote). Sought broader political participation for godly men.
• Settlement: Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield → Connecticut Colony.
• Government: Fundamental Orders (1639) — first written constitution in America, creating a self-governing republic with elected governor/legislature.
• Economy: Mixed farming, trade, shipbuilding. Thriving, orderly.

Rhode Island (1636)

• Leader: Roger Williams, Salem minister.
• Banishment: 1635 — preached separation of church and state, fair dealings with Native Americans, against oaths to unregenerate magistrates.
• Settlement: Providence (purchased from Narragansett sachems). Later Portsmouth, Newport, Warwick united as Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1663 charter).
• Distinctive: Absolute religious liberty — Jews, Quakers, Baptists, Antinomians welcome. No established church. First Baptist church in America (1638).
• Economy: Maritime trade, rum, slave trade (later), religious diversity attracted merchants.

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