The first permanent settlements in Connecticut were made by English Puritans from Massachusetts in 1633. Led by John Davenport, a second colony was established in the Connecticut River Valley in 1636, with Hartford as its center. This colony reflected the religious practices of Massachusetts Bay and allowed greater access to non-members of the church. In 1650, the Treaty of Hartford was signed with the Dutch, setting Connecticut's western boundary at 10 miles (16 km) from the Hudson River. The Colony of Connecticut was one of 13 original colonies located on the Atlantic coast of North America.
The name of the colony was taken from a native indigenous phrase meaning “river whose water is driven by tides or winds”. In 1663, three separate Puritan settlements from Massachusetts and England were combined under a single royal charter to form the state of Connecticut. Native Allied participation was largely responsible for the colonial victory, and this was largely due to Connecticut's good relations with their local native tribes, particularly the Mohegans. The construction of large highways, such as Connecticut's federally subsidized toll road, resulted in former small towns becoming sites for large-scale residential and retail development.
Catholics made up 44% of the state's population and dominated all industrial cities. The educational and intellectual establishment was heavily run by Yale College, academics such as Noah Webster and writers such as Mark Twain. During World War I, Connecticut's large machinery industry received major contracts from British, Canadian and French companies, as well as the United States. In the 1970s, when Connecticut had no state income taxes, it attracted dozens of New York corporate headquarters.