Fierce critics, originally from within, of the the seventeenth-century Church of England, Puritans who came to North America generally sought to maintain their own orthodoxy in the new environment. This was the case with the founders of colonial Connecticut; despite the growth of other Christian groups in the course of the eighteenth century, Puritanism, which evolved into Congregationalism, was the established religion until the state's Constitution of 1818. Though Congregationalism remained an important social and political force, demographic and cultural changes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries accelerated the religious diversity of the state's population. Resources illustrate some of the ways in which Connecticut faith communities of all kinds have played a major part in the state’s social and political life in addition to meeting the spiritual needs of their members. For more on religion and faith in Connecticut, use terms and phrases to search for particular topics, names of people, religious groups, denominations or movements, or structures; for example: “clergy,” “roman catholic,” "synagogue*," “,” (enclose phrases in quotes and use "*" to allow for singular or plural forms); use the facets to the left of the results to limit to narrow your search to a particular place or specific topic.
