Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, is located on the Connecticut River near the center of the state. Founded by the Reverend Thomas Hooker, Hartford's government is considered by many to be the precursor to American democracy.

Fleeing persecution from the state-supported Church of England, Hooker and a group of his parishioners made the perilous journey across the Atlantic to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settling in Newtown in 1635. Hooker soon found that his democratic ideals clashed with the ruling body of Newton, so he led a hundred Puritans to the Connecticut River Valley, where there were reports of fertile land. They founded a settlement in June 1636, naming it Hartford in honor of the English town Hertford.