The Father of Connecticut
Known as the "Father of Connecticut," Thomas Hooker was widely known as an outstanding preacher, prolific writer, theologian, and inspiration of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the state's first constitution. Hooker was from modern day Cambridge (then Newtown), Massachusetts, but became disillusioned with the strict Puritans laws that governed the colony. Only male church members who owned property were allowed to vote. Hooker believed in universal suffrage and opposed the idea that voting should be predicated on church membership. He believed that governing bodies should answer to those that are governed. At odds with the Puritan leadership in Massachusetts, Hooker and 100 of his followers traveled an old Indian road known as the Connecticut Path to modern-day Hartford, Connecticut. Hooker's teachings and sermons gave rise to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut which established a civil government as well as assured Connecticut was a separate colony from Massachusetts.
Discussion Questions
- Why did Hooker’s disagreement with Massachusetts leadership contribute to his move to Connecticut?
- How does the source connect Hooker’s ideas about voting with his belief that government should answer to the governed?
- Why were Hooker’s sermons important to the development of Connecticut’s early government?
- Why should the source’s phrase “universal suffrage” be understood in its seventeenth-century context rather than as modern universal adult voting rights?