Connecticut in Transition, 1775-1818

Sparked by the social upheaval of the American Revolution, the period from 1775 to 1818 saw great changes taking place with regard to religious tolerance and political thinking in traditionally Puritan Connecticut. This history was originally compiled as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of Yale University, and was first published in a revised and abridged edition in 1918. From Dr. Purcell's introduction: Men called for religious and social equality, practical democracy and popular sovereignty. Their demands were but the expression of the ideas of the American and French revolutions. They would emancipate themselves from the rule of an aristocratic, clerical class - for the fulfillment of their desires they soon realized the need for a reorganization in the structure of the government. Hence through an opposition party, the Democratic-Republican and later the Toleration party, they sought the adoption of a constitution, with a bill of rights guaranteeing the natural privileges of republican citizens instead of the royal charter - The result was the bloodless Revolution of 1818, which gave the state a constitution as democratic as any then in existence. The text is enhanced by three maps, an appendix listing governors and councilors (1776-1820), an extensive bibliography, and a comprehensive index of names and subjects