This section contains documents and readings for students who are using this site, or for teachers who are downloading or printing from this site. The documents and readings are grouped by teaching unit. To see lists of individual documents for each unit, and the documents themselves, click on the unit below. For a complete list of the documents on this site, annotated and identified by unit, click here or scroll down.Connecticut Colony and the Empire
The Ratification of the Constitution in Connecticut
Dissenters and the Standing Order: The Fight for Religious Toleration in Connecticut
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: Shops Along the Brook
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Visions of Change
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits
A World Apart: Connecticut's African Americans, 1900-1970
This site was created by Mark Williams, a history teacher at The Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, Connecticut, under a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council. Some of the materials published here were originally created by Mark Williams as Connecticut Case Studies, under a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council, and printed by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. John F. Sutherland of Manchester Community College, Ronald P. Dufour of Rhode Island College, Thomas P. Weinland of the University of Connecticut, Tracey Wilson of Conard High School, Robert K. Andrian of The Loomis Chaffee School, and State Historian Christopher Collier served as consultants. The Connecticut Humanities Council is the State Committee of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The viewpoints or recommendations expressed in the materials on this site of are not necessarily those of the Council or the Endowment. Teachers are encouraged to print and make copies of these materials for their students.
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This is a complete list by document or reading title of all of the student reading materials at this site. The documents are listed roughly in chronological order by the date of the document (primary source readings) or by the period of the subject matter (secondary source readings). The name of the unit is given first in red. You may click on the document's title to bring you to that document within its unit collection.
You may search this list for key words by using the "search" option in your browser. To return to the top of this page, simply drag the square in the scroll bar to the top.
The Pequot War: An Introduction for the Student: This explains what is in the unit, and what the student is to attempt to do with it. There is also some historical background on the settlement of New England, and a map showing where various settlements and tribes were located.
The Pequot War: I. Differing Views of the Outcome: Four different perspectives on the Pequot War, ranging from seeing Captain John Mason as a hero to seeing the Pequots as tragic victims of exploitation and greed.
The Pequot War: II. The Native Americans
Roger Williams Describes the Narragansetts An Indian Remembers A Seneca Chief Speaks of Land and Religion Tecumseh and the Native View of PropertyThe Pequot War: III. John Mason's Narrative: Mason commanded the Connecticut forces that fought the Pequots near Mystic in 1637. This is his account of the causes of the war (copied from the original published version), and of the battle itself.
The Pequot War: IV. Other Eyewitness Accounts
Captain John Underhill (commander of the Massachusetts Bay forces). P. Vincent (a contemporary narrator) Lion Gardener (supervisor of Saybrook Fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River)The Pequot War: V. The Indian Allies
Chart: Uncas's Family Ties (Uncas was allied with the English in the War) The Treaty of Hartord (after the War) A Commissioners' Report (on Uncas's claim to lands in Connecticut) Letter from the Plymouth Trading House Roger Williams Soothes the Narragansetts Governor Winthrop's JournalConnecticut Colony and the Empire: "The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut" (January 1638/39), as transliterated by Albert Carlos Bates in 1934.
Connecticut Colony and the Empire: "Selections from Connecticut's Early Laws" - from the Code of 1650.
Connecticut Colony and the Empire: Thomas Fitch, "Reasons Why the British Colonies in America Should Not be Charged with Internal Taxes" (1764) - a pamphlet criticizing the proposed Stamp Act.
Connecticut Colony and the Empire: A page from a letter by Thomas Fitch to Richard Jackson, Feb. 23, 1765, suggesting that the colonists would probably end up obeying the Stamp Act.
Connecticut Colony and the Empire: An issue of The Connecticut Courant (September 9, 1765), with articles showing radical opposition to the Stamp Act.
Connecticut Colony and the Empire: Selections from the Colonial Records of Connecticut: October Session, 1765, including instructions to the colony's agent in London and radical resolutions against the Stamp Act
Connecticut Colony and the Empire: "Connecticut Colony: A Background Essay", by Mark Williams
The Ratification of the Constitution: "Connecticut on the Eve of Ratification", by Mark Williams- a background essay explaining the most important political issues in Connecticut at the time, and detailing the emergence of the merchant-nationalist coalition that eventually succeeded in getting the Constitution ratified.
The Ratification of the Constitution: The Call for the Convention - a declaration by the Connecticut legislature that a special convention be called to consider ratifying the Constitution
The Ratification of the Constitution: Newspaper clippings from three issues of The Connecticut Courant and Weekly Intelligencer, and one issue of The Middlesex Gazette containing arguments pro and con the new Constitution, including installments of Oliver Ellsworth's "Landholder" series.
The Ratification of the Constitution: 20 roles for delegates to the convention -many of these include excerpts from speeches and writings of the delegates.
Dissenters and the Standing Order: Selections from Connecticut Laws on Religion (on the books 1808) - shows some of the penalties for atheism, as well as the certificate requirements for dissenters from the established church.
Dissenters and the Standing Order: A Distinguished Panel - short biographical summaries of participants in a panel discussion on religious toleration.
Dissenters and the Standing Order: "The Duty of Americans at the Present Crisis" (1798) - a pamphlet by Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College.
Dissenters and the Standing Order: "A Rod for the Fool's Back" (1800) - a pamphlet by Noah Webster supporting the Standing Order (courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society).
Dissenters and the Standing Order: "A Connecticut Dissenter's Strongbox" - a pamphlet by Rev. John Leland, a dissenting minister arguing for freedom of religion (courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society).
Dissenters and the Standing Order: "The Age of Inquiry" - by "A True Baptist" - another pamphlet extolling freedom of religion (courtesy of the Connecticut State Library).
Dissenters and the Standing Order: The American Mercury, issues of April 2, 1816 and March 11, 1817. This Hartford paper was a Democratic-Republican organ.
Dissenters and the Standing Order: The Connecticut Courant, issues of April 2, 1816 and March 25, 1817. This Hartford paper was staunchly Federalist (courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society).
Dissenters and the Standing Order: "Transition Years for Connecticut" - a set of documents and maps illustrating the triumph of the Republican (alias Toleration, alias American) Party in 1817 and the framing of a constitution for Connecticut in 1818.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: "A World Within Itself - an Introduction through Documents, Maps and Statistics" - this is a collection of material with which students begin to study Granby, Connecticut.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: Chapter XLIX of Timothy Dwight's The History of Connecticut published in 1840.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: "Windows into the Past" - a documentary collection on West Granby.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: "Selected Population and Industrial Statistics" - a compendium of various statistics taken from the U.S. Census reports 1790-1860 and other reports.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: "Heads of Families" - material from the manuscript U.S. Census returns listing people living in West Granby in 1820 and 1850.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: A map collection showing the development of West Granby during the years preceding the Civil War.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: Three Insurance Policies for carriagemakers' shops in West Granby (courtesy of the Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby, Ct.).
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: A Contract between Levi Rice and Appleton Robbins for hats (courtesy of the Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby, Ct.).
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: Two programs from the West Granby Academy (courtesy of the Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby, Ct.).
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: An issue of the "Weekly News", a Granby newspaper from 1840 (Connecticut State Library)
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: Photographs showing various architectural styles in West Granby (courtesy of the Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby, Ct.).
Water Wheels and Steam Engines I: Selections from account books of Alpheus and Thaddeus Hayes, who operated a dye shop and cider distillery on Salmon Brook, Sheldon B. Hayes, who had a blacksmith shop, and Carlton Holcomb, a shoemaker (courtesy of the Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby, Ct.).
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "The Coming of the Irish" - a series of excerpts from newspapers and other sources of the 1840's and 1850's, documenting the wave of Irish immigrants during those years and the reaction of some of Connecticut's leading citizens.
The Woman Question: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "Declaration of Sentiments and "Resolutions" adopted by the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Statistics on Connecticut Industry, 1840 to 1900 - a few charts showing how production had changed dramatically in the second half of the 19th Century
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: "A Day at the Armory of 'Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company," from United States Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 3 (March, 1857). This is illustrated with pictures from various sources.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: A Sampler of Colt Advertising - a collection of ads Colt created as brochures and to run in magazines and newspapers
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Colt and Congress - a collection of some key patents Colt received, along with an 1848 petition for a government contract
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Petition of Samuel Colt for a government contract, December 12, 1848
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Newspapers - page 2 of the Hartford Daily Courant, October 11, 1853, and page 2 of the Hartford Daily Times, October 6 and October 7, 1853.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Portions of the Manuscript U.S. Census Returns for Hartford, 1860, showing Colt's workers and families.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Portion of a payroll for Colt's cartridge works
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: "Special Order No. 94" - a report by army officers on the quality of Colt's weapons, 1860.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: On the Eve of the Civil War - a collection of documents illustrating Colt's business ethics and relationship between business and politics.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Reactions to Samuel Colt - 2 fictional assessments of Samuel Colt by former Governor Thomas Seymour, and former Hartford city Councilman James Bolter, set in 1860.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Requiem - two post-mortem views of Samuel Colt, one by Lydia Sigourney, a poetess who lived in Hartford when Colt died, the other by Ellsworth S. Grant, a modern historian (used with permission of the author).
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits, 1860-1930" - a handout of charts and tables showing the change in the composition of Connecticut's population and the country of origin of the newcomers.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: The "Laboring Class" - a set of tables from the First Annual Report of the Connecticut Bureau of Labor Statistics (1874) and Alba Edwards, The Labor Legislation of Connecticut, showing cost of living, wages, and hours figures of the late 19th Century.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Wages and Profits - excerpts from the Connecticut Bureau of Labor Statistics report for November, 1885, discussing the growing inequality of incomes in urban-industrial Connecticut. A chart also shows that women and children are becoming a significant part of the work force.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: A Strike at Cheney Brothers - two documents illustrating attitudes about the strike at Cheney Brothers silk mills in 1902, with an introduction containing some background on Cheney Brothers.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: The Growing Labor Movement (1878-1902) - Excerpts from the Labor Statistics report of 1902, containing a summary of efforts to organize laborers in Connecticut, and a discussion of "Strikes and Lockouts" during 1902.
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "Cheap Labor" - a segment of a report from the Connecticut Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1885, suggesting one reason for increased immigration, and making reference to Italian immigration.
Water Wheels and Steam Engines II: Working Women - a chart showing the number of women in the work force in Connecticut, some interviews with working women, and women on strike.
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "Life in the Old Eastside" - excerpts from Take a Number, by Armando Perretta (used with permission of the author's family), which describe life among Italian Americans in the 1920's in Hartford.
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "Immigration to Connecticut," by John F. Sutherland - an essay discussing the many peoples who have come to Connecticut.
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "Interview with an Irish Immigrant" - a sample transcript of excerpts from an interview conducted by John F. Sutherland of a woman who came to Manchester as a child from Ireland.
Newcomers to the Land of Steady Habits: "Suggestions for Successful Interviewing" - a checklist for students who want to do an interview of their own.
The Woman Question: General: "In the Parlor: An Introduction for the Role-Players"
The Woman Question: General: Various pages from three issues of The Hartford Daily Courant describing the October 28 and 29 convention. The resolutions which the convention passed are included in these articles and should be studied by all the characters.
The Woman Question: Isabella Beecher Hooker: Biographical Sketch (composed mainly of selections from various of her memoirs)
The Woman Question: Isabella Beecher Hooker: "A Mother's Letters to a Daughter on Woman Suffrage" by Isabella Beecher Hooker
The Woman Question: Isabella Beecher Hooker: Letter from Mrs. S.H. Graves of Norfolk, Ct. to Isabella Beecher Hooker, October 24, 1871, courtesy of the Stowe-Day Foundation, Hartford, Conn.
The Woman Question: Horace Bushnell: Biographical Sketch
The Woman Question: Horace Bushnell: Selections from Women's Suffrage: The Reform Against Nature by Horace Bushnell (1869) - the copy used here was a copy of the book that Bushnell inscribed to Isabella Beecher Hooker, and includes her handwritten annotations, courtesy of the Stowe-Day Foundation, Hartford, Conn.
The Woman Question: Catharine Beecher: Biographical Sketch
The Woman Question: Catharine Beecher: Selections from Woman's Profession as Mother and Educator, with Views in Opposition to Woman Suffrage, by Catharine Beecher (1872)
The Woman Question: John Hooker: Biographical Sketch (including some reminiscences in his own words)
The Woman Question: John Hooker: "Appeal to the Members of the General Assembly in Favor of the Right of Tax-Paying Women to Vote in Cities, Towns, and School Districts," by John Hooker (1874)
The Woman Question: John Hooker: "Correspondence" to The Nation magazine (Nov. 4, 1869): "'The Revolution' and its Conductors," by John Hooker. A response to this article, "Methods of Agitation" was composed by the editor and is also included with this selection.(Reprinted with permission of The Nation.)
The Woman Question: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Biographical Sketch
The Woman Question: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "Address of Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the Divorce Bill, Before the Judiciary Committee of the New York Senate, in the Assembly Chamber, Feb. 8, 1861"
The Woman Question: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Letter from Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Isabella Beecher Hooker, September 23, 1869, courtesy of the Stowe-Day Foundation, Hartford, Conn.
The Woman Question: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Front page of August 10, 1871 issue of The Revolution - this is included more for illustration than for the specific content of the page.
The Woman Question: Caroline Maria Seymour Severance: Biographical Sketch
The Woman Question: Caroline Maria Seymour Severance: Letters from Caroline Severance to Isabella Beecher Hooker,August 17, 1869, September 24, 1869, and November 10, 1869, courtesy of the Stowe-Day Foundation, Hartford, Conn.
The Woman Question: General: "The Last Word: The Connecticut Woman's Rights Movement in the Late 19th Century" - a followup essay concerning the activities of other Connecticut woman's rights advocates before 1920.
Connecticut Progressives: "Introduction for the Role Players" (an introduction for the students playing roles, giving them brief introduction to the 1912 election)
Connecticut Progressives: 16 Role-play sheets including 13 leaders of the Progressive Party, the incumbent Governor and Democratic candidate, an urban, Democratic "boss," and the Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee
Connecticut Progressives: Selected pages from two issues of The Hartford Courant from 1912
Connecticut Progressives: "The Progressive Party" (an article from The Yale Review of 1912 in which gubernatorial candidate Herbert Knox Smith outlines his views)
Connecticut Progressives: Election Statistics from 1908 and 1912 Connecticut returns - two pages of charts.
The Promised Land: The Promised Land in Connecticut?: Background Reading for Students
The Promised Land: Works Project Administration (W.P.A.) Sources: The unit consists mainly of primary source documents from the WPA Ethnic Group Survey grouped in the following sequence:
The Promised Land: I. Immigrants & Second Generation Americans (WPA Interviews of the Irish in Bridgeport):
a] Mrs. Mary F..... was interviewed by M.V. Rourke (date uncertain, but found amongst interviews conducted in 1938).b] Mrs. Murphy was interviewed by Elizabeth M. Buckingham on Dec. 4, 1939.
The Promised Land: II."Yankees" (WPA Interviews of the English & Scottish in New Haven):
a] Mr. K.... was interviewed by Marjorie Earle on March 27, 1940.b] Mr. Kenneth B. Morgan was interviewed by John P. Kilgore on July 8, 1940.
c] Mr. Henry A. Marshall was interviewed by John P. Kilgore on Aug. 12, 1940.
The Promised Land: III.Second Generation Americans (an interview of a Jewish man and of an Afro-American in Bridgeport - WPA Interviews of two minorities traditionally persecuted in the United States):
a] Mr. Raphael Korff was interviewed by Edward Reich on July 7, 1939.b] Rev. Aaron J. Cuffey was interviewed by George A. Fisher on Jan. 18, 1939.
The Promised Land: IV. Second Generation American: Marshall V. Rourke one of the WPA interviewer's, interviews himself on Jan. 4, 1939 (WPA Interview done by an Irish WPA Interviewer).
The Promised Land: V. WPA Interview excerpts taken from From the Old Country: An Oral History of European Migration to America, ed. by Bruce Stave and John Sutherland (These include 1930's interviews of Sicilian-American, two Irish-Americans, and a Ukrainian-American).
The Promised Land: "Immigration to Connecticut," by John F. Sutherland
A World Apart: "A World Apart: Introduction" - a summary of the racial disturbances of 1967 - 1969 in Connecticut.
A World Apart: 10 Character Sketches of Connecticut citizens and leaders, for students to role-play in testifying before an investigative commission.
A World Apart: 2 Charts showing population changes in 4 Connecticut cities, 1920-1970.
A World Apart: "The Great Migration Begins" - excerpts from Emmet J. Scott's Negro Migration During the War (1923)
A World Apart: Excepts from "The Negro Population of Waterbury, Connecticut: A Survey by the Department of Research and Investigations of the National Urban League," by Charles S. Johnson, Director, in A Journal of Negro Life (Oct. and Nov., 1923).
A World Apart: Excerpts from the first report of Connecticut's Inter-Racial Commission (1944)
A World Apart: "A Review of the Social and Economic Condition of the Negro Population of Hartford, Connecticut," Conducted for The Council of Social Agencies of Greater Hartford and The Hartford Negro Citizens' Council by The National Urban League Department of Research and Community Projects (September-October, 1944).
A World Apart: "Connecticut Inter-Racial Survey" - a 1948 newsletter from the Connecticut Inter-Racial Commission.
A World Apart: "Spotlight on Civil Rights" - a 1952 newsletter from the Commission on Civil Rights.
A World Apart: "Civil Rights Bulletin" - a 1958 newsletter from the Commission on Civil Rights.
A World Apart: "Two Government Studies in the Civil Rights Era" - Henry G. Stetler's studies of racial integration and attitudes toward it in Connecticut, 1957 and 1961.
A World Apart: Annual Combined Family Incomes in the Greater Hartford Area, 1959 - a comparative chart.
A World Apart: "From a Symposium on Equal Education in Connecticut Held in 1965" - two speakers address education issues.
A World Apart: "The Waterbury Public Hearings of the Connecticut Human Rights and Opportunities" - excerpts from a report on the racial disturbances of the late 1960's.
A World Apart: Minority School Populations - a chart showing increasing segregation in schools since 1970.