Connecticut stands today as one of the smallest states in the Union in terms of land area. But during the 17th and 18th centuries, ambitious Connecticans dreamed of expanding the colony’s control over vast swaths of territory located far to the west. Connecticut’s Royal Charter of 1662, issued by King Charles II, had originally…
Tag: westward expansion
August 29: America’s First Self-Regulating Windmill
During the first half of the 19th century, as thousands of Americans journeyed westward in search of new fortunes, necessity became the mother of invention as would-be farmers were forced to adapt to new climates and topographies that were unlike anything they had ever seen before. Since the Great Plains generally lacked the forests…
July 3: Pennsylvania Loyalists Kill 300 Connecticut Patriots in Revolutionary Land Dispute
On this day in 1778, the Battle of Wyoming – also known as the “Wyoming Massacre” – saw Connecticut troops, Pennsylvania loyalists, British soldiers and Iroquois warriors battle in a gruesome climax to years of land disputes. Both Connecticut and Pennsylvania claimed the Wyoming Valley – the area around and including today’s Wilkes Barre and…
March 6: Remembering A Connecticut Man at the Alamo
On March 6, 1836, 189 men who had pledged allegiance to the newly-formed Republic of Texas lost their lives defending a small, fortified mission known as the Alamo near San Antonio, Texas. Following a thirteen-day siege, Mexican troops under the command of General Antonio López de Santa Anna stormed the Alamo and killed every…
December 28: When Eastern Pennsylvania Belonged to Connecticut
While Connecticut stands today as one of the smallest states in the Union in terms of land area, in the 17th and 18th centuries, ambitious Connecticans dreamed of expanding the colony’s control over vast swaths of territory located far to the west. Connecticut’s Royal Charter of 1662, issued by King Charles II, had originally…
August 29: America’s First Self-Regulating Windmill
During the first half of the 19th century, as thousands of Americans journeyed westward in search of new fortunes, necessity became the mother of invention as would-be farmers were forced to adapt to new climates and topographies that were unlike anything they had ever seen before. Since the Great Plains generally lacked the forests…