2108 UNITED STATES (Connecticut) - Connecticut map and flag

Located in New England, between Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and Long Island Sound, Connecticut was named after the Connecticut River (derived from various anglicized spellings of an  Algonquian word for "long tidal river"). Its capital city is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Much of southern and western Connecticut is part of the New York metropolitan area.

Despite Connecticut's relatively small size (is the third smallest state of the United States), it features wide regional variations in its landscape; for example, in the northwestern Litchfield Hills, it features rolling mountains and horse farms, whereas in the southeastern New London County, it features beaches and maritime activities. Although it has easy access to the Atlantic, between Long Island Sound and Block Island Sound, it has no direct ocean coast.

Connecticut's rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest contrast sharply with its industrial cities, located along the coastal highways from the New York border to New London, then northward up the Connecticut River to Hartford. Many towns center around a "green," such as the Litchfield Green, Lebanon Green (the largest in the state), and Wethersfield Green (the oldest in the state). Northeastern coastal forests of oaks, hickories, and maple cover much of the state.

The Connecticut region was inhabited by multiple Native American tribes prior to European colonization, including the Mohegans, the Pequots, and the Paugusetts. In 1614, Dutch fur traders sailed up the Connecticut River and built a fort in what is present-day Hartford. John Winthrop received a commission to create a new colony at Old Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635. This was the first of three distinct colonies that later would be combined to make up Connecticut.

The other two were the Connecticut Colony at Hartford, established by Thomas Hooker in 1636, and the New Haven Colony, founded in 1638, which were united in 1662. Because the Dutch were outnumbered by the flood of English settlers from Massachusetts, they left their fort in 1654. The Pequot War (1634-1638) marked the first major clash between European settlers and Native Americans in New England. 

With the establishment of Yale College in 1701, Connecticut had an important institution to educate clergy and civil leaders. On January 9, 1788, Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution (becoming the fifth state), and prospered during the era following the American Revolution, as mills and textile factories were built and seaports flourished from trade and fisheries. The British blockade during the War of 1812 hurt exports, and bolstered the influence of Federalists who opposed the war.

Connecticut manufacturers played a major role in supplying the Union forces with weapons and supplies during the Civil War. The state furnished thirty full regiments of infantry (55,000 men), including two in the U.S. Colored Troops. When WWI broke out in 1914, it became a major supplier of weaponry to the U.S. military (Remington Arms in Bridgeport, Winchester in New Haven and Colt in Hartford); by 1918, 80% of the state's industries were producing goods for the war effort.

In 1925, Frederick Rentschler spurred the creation of Pratt & Whitney in Hartford to develop engines for aircraft; the company would become an important military supplier in WWII and in time one of the three major manufacturers of jet engines in the world. On September 21, 1938, the most destructive storm in New England history struck eastern Connecticut, killing hundreds of people and causing enormous destruction. During WWII the state was major production center for weaponry and supplies. 

About the stamps

Two of the stamps are part of the limited-edition Farmers Markets Forever stamps,about which I wrote here. About the other one, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here.

References
Connecticut - Wikipedia

Sender: Denise 
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 14.01.2014