American history is deeply rooted in Connecticut, one of the 13 original states. It is known as the Constitution State because the set of laws by which the first settlers agreed to govern themselves--the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)--embodied the first laws that recognized the people as the real basis of civil authority. This principle was later incorporated in the United States Constitution.
Although Connecticut is one of the smallest states, it has made some of the larger contributions to the United States economy. In the first 150 years of the United States Patent Office Connecticut received more patents in proportion to its population than any other state. The creativity and ingenuity of the state's citizens produced a wide range of manufactures--from interchangeable parts for firearms to the first derby hat. Their mechanical skills spawned industries in Connecticut cities like New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport, Danbury, and Meriden. Raw materials and markets for the finished goods have been within easy reach of Connecticut traders since colonial times.
The sea and the farm, as well as the factory, have contributed to Connecticut's prosperity. Whalers and clipper ships built in Mystic and Stonington left impressive marks in the annals of United States shipping. Farms in the Connecticut River valley provided food for the region before the days of the American Revolution. At the beginning of the 19th century Connecticut peddlers, their wagons filled with wares, set out to sell the products of the state throughout the young country. In the 1980s Connecticut ranked first in personal income per capita and had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation.
Connecticut's unofficial nickname, the Nutmeg State, originated in New England folklore about the early Connecticut traders, who supposedly made wooden nutmegs for sale as real ones. Research indicates that nutmegs were whittled out of wood by idle sailors on inbound ships from the Spice Islands, and that they were probably sold as souvenirs. Other nicknames were the Blue Law State, the Land of Steady Habits, and the Brownstone State and Freestone State, for quarries no longer of any economic importance.
Connecticut is the southernmost of the New England states. It is almost rectangular in shape. The state is bounded by Massachusetts on the north, Rhode Island on the east, New York on the west, and Long Island Sound on the south. Connecticut's greatest length, from east to west, is 100 miles (160 kilometers), and its greatest length, from north to south, is 50 miles (80 kilometers). Its 253-mile (407-kilometer) coastline is all on Long Island Sound. The state has an area of 5,018 square miles (12,997 square kilometers), including 146 square miles (378 square kilometers) of inland water surface. Only Delaware and Rhode Island are smaller.
