Thursday, January 9, 2014

Connecticut: We the People

This Day in History: January 9, 1788

Connecticut, the Constitution State, Nutmeg State,
and "The Land of Steady Habits"

Howard Chandler Christy's famous painting: Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.
George Washington, who presided over the convention, is the figure standing on the dais.
The other central figures of the portrait are Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin and
James Madison (public domain image - Wikipedia)

Connecticut was officially nicknamed The Constitution State by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1959. It is believed that ideas for the writing of the Constitution of the United States were drawn from the first constitution of Connecticut ("The Fundamental Orders" of 1638-39).

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/series/701/aerial-america/136450/connecticut

Aerial America: Connecticut

From sleeping giants to Captain Kidd's buried treasure, Connecticut isn't as quaint as you think. Join us on an aerial journey across a state rich in Native American legends, colonial history, and good old New England charm. This is where Mark Twain created some of fiction's greatest characters and where Benedict Arnold committed America's greatest act of treason. Savor the state's coastal blue waters and mountains ablaze with autumn colors, from a bird's-eye view.

Connecticut is the 5th state accepted into the union. One of the original thirteen colonies and one of the six New England states, the U.S. state of Connecticut began as three distinct settlements, referred to at the time as "Colonies" or "Plantations". These ventures were eventually combined under a single royal charter in 1662. Connecticut takes its name from an Algonquian word meaning “land on the long tidal river.”

[The thirteen colonies were: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]

Connecticut is the southernmost state in the northeastern region
of the United States known as New England.

Connecticut State Flag
The state flag of Connecticut was inspired by a memorial
from a Connecticut chapter of the daughters of the American Revolution.
The flag design was already generally accepted as the official flag
of the state when it was proposed for adoption in 1895.

Connecticut Great Seal

Connecticut State Bird: American Robin

Connecticut designated the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) as state bird in 1943.
The Robin is also the official state bird of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Connecticut State Animal: Sperm Whale

Connecticut's state animal is actually a marine mammal. The Sperm Whale was designated the state animal of Connecticut in 1975. This animal played a significant role in the history of Connecticut (in the 1800's Connecticut ranked second only to Massachusetts in the whaling industry).

Connecticut State Flower: Mountain Laurel

Connecticut designated mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) as the official state flower in 1907. Mountain laurel is also called ivybush, calico bush, sheep laurel, lambkill, clamoun, and spoonwood (native Americans used to make spoons from the wood). The mountain laurel is one of the most beautiful of native American shrubs. The fragrant star-shaped white and pink flowers have attracted travelers since early colonial days (first recorded in America in 1624).

For all State Symbols of Connecticut click HERE!

Connecticut designated the square dance as the official state folk dance in 1995 to increase tourism (the Northeast Regional Square Dance Convention has been held in Waterbury CT). 22 states have passed legislation to declare the square dance as a state symbol (see state cultural symbols), and more than 30 bills have been introduced at the federal level proposing the square dance as the national (folk) dance of the United States (beginning in 1965).

Yankee Doodle, the State Song of the State of Connecticut: The tune is colonial American in origin, with at least two versions existing by 1745, indicating an earlier song that had had time to evolve. In 1745, however, it first became prominent as it was used to make fun of the rag-tag appearance and ill-equipped state of colonial troops as they left to fight the Battle of Louisburg (Cape Breton area, Nova Scotia), which they won. ... With the American Revolution, Yankee Doodle became a quintessential American song, one that said that Americans were proud of being who they were. Since then, it has been considered one of the most American of all American folk songs, a symbol of the initiative and spirit of the people that make up the United States of America.

We the People of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.

“We the People”
That’s how it begins
For the country
Is how it ends

A more perfect union
Is the desire
Justice and tranquility
Without much ire

A government of the people
By the people it proclaims
Cooperative statesmanship
Ensures it reaches its aims

The art of compromise
Allows for amendment
Articles thus made
Ease discontentment

’Tis by this Charter
We do declare
Freedoms doth ring
Beyond compare

Just as it has for centuries, Connecticut remains the home of original ideas and fresh thinking. A magnet for dreamers and doers, the state blends the old and historic with the young and energetic to create an inspiring dynamic — one that motivates people to experience new things, defy convention and blaze their own trails.