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The Dutch discovered the Connecticut Region in 1614, but the European
settlement of the region was largely the work of the English Puritans
from Massachusetts. In the 1630's they flocked to the Connecticut
Valley, and in 1638-39 the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield
adopted the fundamental orders, which set up a government for the
colony. It soon expanded to include other towns and in 1662 acquired
the colony of New Haven, which had been founded in 1638. Connecticut
joined the other colonies in the American Revolution and was one of the
first states to ratify the Constitution. Its important shipping trade
suffered from the Embargo Act (1807) and the War of 1812, and the state
gradually turned to manufacturing. Connecticut abolished slavery in
1848 and supported the Union in the Civil War with nearly 60,000
troops. The state has prospered for most of the 20th Century, save for
the Great Depression. During the early to mid 1980's, largely due to
the defense-related industries, Connecticut was one of the nation's
wealthiest states. Prosperity gave way to economic downturn later in
the decade and in the early 1990's as federal military spending
declined markedly.
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