Connecticut (January 9, 1788) was the 5th State admitted to the Union. The Constitution of the State of Connecticut, adopted 1776, stated:
<The People of this State...by the Providence of God...hath the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State...and forasmuch as the free fruition of such liberties and privileges as humanity, civility, and Christianity call for, as is due to every man in his place and proportion...hath ever been, and will be the tranquility and stability of Churches and Commonwealth; and the denial thereof, the disturbances, if not the ruin of both.(until 1818)> 1788CT001
In October of 1777, the legislature of the State of Connecticut passed an Act abolishing slavery within the State. The Constitution of the State of Connecticut, adopted 1818, stated:
<Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy a free government, do...establish this Constitution.> 1788CT002
<Article VII, Section 1. It being the duty of all men to worship the Supreme Being, the Great Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and their right to render that worship, in the mode most consistent with the dictates of their consciences....
And each and every society or denomination of Christians in this State shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, rights, and privileges, and shall have power and authority to support and maintain the ministers or teachers of their respective denominations, and to build and repair houses for public worship, by a tax on the members of any such society only, to be laid by a major vote of the legal voters assembled at any society meeting, warned and held according to law, or in any other manner.> 1788CT003
Connecticut Day of Fasting, March 17, 1797:
<BY HIS EXCELLENCY
Oliver Wolcott, Esq.
GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT,
A PROCLAMATION
AS it peculiarly becomes a Christian People, at particular and state Seasons, by Humiliation and Prayer, to pay their devout Homage to ALMIGHTY GOD;–
I HAVE thought proper to appoint, and do hereby appoint FRIDAY, the Fourteenth Day of April next, to be observed as a Day of public HUMILIATION, FASTING and PRAYER, throughout this State; recommending to all the People, in their solemn Assemblies, on that Day, devoutly to acknowledge their Dependence on the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and with sincere Repentance for our many Sins, humbly to implore, of a merciful GOD, their Forgiveness and Remission, the gracious Aids of his Spirit, and the Blessings of his Providence.
That he would continue to us and successive Generations, the Gospel of Peace and Salvation;-teach the Hearts of all Men to know its Truth and Excellence, and to obey its holy Precepts:-Succeed the Means of Education and Learning; bless your Youth, furnish their Minds with useful Knowledge, and enrich them with the christian Graces:-That he would smile on our Husbandry; give and preserve to us the goodly Fruits of the Earth:-Prosper our Commerce, restrain the arbitrary Enterprizes so extensively practiced upon it, and cause the Nations at War, to observe towards our Trade and Navigation, the Laws of Justice and good Faith;- save us from desolating Diseases; and grant that in all our lawful Business and Vocations, we may experience the Divine Care and Beneficence. And moreover, humbly to beseech the Throne of Grace, that the God of Wisdom would enlighten the public Councils of this State, thereby to increase the Means of social Improvement and Happiness among the People, and to confirm and perpetuate the public Order, Liberty, and Tranquility.
That the United States may continue to be under the Superintendence and holy Protection of the Sovereign Arbiter of Nations:-That he would inspire all our Citizens with a Love of their Country, and each other; cement our Union; impart to all Departments of the Government Wisdom and Integrity, uprightly and ably to conduct the public Interests confided to their Care:-Still continue graciously to smile on our earnest and faithful Endeavours to preserve our Peace;- cause the
Negociations with the French Republic to issue in the Acknowledgement and secure Establishment of our just Rights, and the Restoration of Amity and good Agreement between the two Countries.
And that it would please GOD to afford his gracious Aids to the President of the United States, in the Discharge of the arduous Duties on which he is entering; and that he may be enabled, by a wise and impartial Administration of them, to preserve that Confidence of the People in this Branch of our Government, by which it has been so eminently distinguished:-That the Benedictions of Heaven may attend the late President of the United States, in his Retirement from his long, useful and disinterested Services to our Country.
And may God, who is the Author of Peace and Lover of Concord, restrain the Rage and Pride of warring Nations, and Cause them to submit to righteous and equitable Terms of Peace.
And that all those to whom the Ministration of the Gospel of Christ Jesus is committed, may be influenced by that Spirit which the Gospel is adapted to inspire; and that the Effect of their Ministration may be the Advancement of the peaceful Kingdom of the Great Redeemer among Mankind.
ALL SERVILE LABOUR ON SAID DAY IS FORBIDDEN.
GIVEN at Litchfield, this seventeenth Day of March, in the Year of our LORD one thousand seven Hundred and ninety seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twenty-first.
OLIVER WOLCOTT.
By his Excellency’s Command,
SAMUEL WYLLYS, Secretary> 1788CT004
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1788CT001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Connecticut, 1776, Constitution. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864). Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 155. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968). Gary DeMar, God and Government (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Press, 1984), p. 164. Gary DeMar, "Censoring America's Christian History" (Atlanta, GA: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc., July 1990), p. 7. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 65. William Miller, The First Liberty-Religion and the American Republic (NY: 1986), p. 109.
1788CT002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Connecticut, 1777, an Act passed by the Connecticut legislature abolishing slavery within the State. The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808) Book I, pp. 623-625. Connecticut Constitution, 1818, Preamble. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968). Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 168; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq. Gary DeMar, "God and the Constitution," (Atlanta, GA: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication, American Vision, Inc., December 1993). William Miller, The First Liberty-Religion and the American Republic (NY: 1986), p. 109.
1788CT003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Connecticut, 1818, Constitution, Article VII, Section 1. The Constitutions of the Several States Composing the Union (Philadelphia: Hogan and Thompson, 1838), p. 110. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia, PA: L. Johnson & Co., 1863; George W. Childs, 1864), p. 236. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 168; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.
1788CT004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014) Connecticut Day of Fasting, March 17, 1979.