- Thomas Hooker: Founder of CT
I like pointing out certain figures in Amerian history that few people can recall. It’s important to revive our collective memory. One of those individuals is Thomas Hooker.
Hooker was a Cambridge-educated Puritan who quickly developed into a very talented preacher. He took a pastorate in a town in England that was notorious for its many taverns and boisterous citizens. He is credited with restoring order to that town by his words and his presence.
His Puritanism, however, led to clashes with the Anglican hierarchy. Summoned to an ecclesiastical tribunal to answer for his views, he instead chose to remove to Holland. His reputation was such that while he was in Holland, he received an invitation to come to America to take a pulpit in the newly established colony of Massachusetts. In 1633, Hooker and dozens of his followers left for the New World.
In 1636, Hooker received permission from the Massachusetts authorities to move to a new area to find better land. He also had concerns about the Massachusetts policy of only allowing church members the vote.
He led his congregation to what is now Hartford, Connecticut, where he took the lead in establishing a civil government. He preached a sermon in which he applied Biblical principles to how a government ought to operate. Those concepts included representation and the expansion of the electorate to all who owned property, not just church members. Since taxes were taken from property owners, it was only fair to include them in the making of laws.
That sermon inspired the first American constitution, called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. Historian Paul Johnson says it was actually the first real constitution in the world. The preamble to the Fundamental Orders states that the reason for setting up a decent and orderly government is that God’s Word requires it. Further, it says that one goal of government is to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel. It also established a principle that if the laws of the community do not cover a certain situation, the civil rulers should resort to the Word of God to find a solution.
Hooker, therefore, helped create the Biblical foundation for law and government in America. Connecticut, over time, got a reputation as a place where stability reigned. It became known as “the land of steady habits.” In times of confusion and uncertainty, that sounds pretty good.
So let’s remember Thomas Hooker, a somewhat forgotten Founding Father.