Interestingly enough, most immigrants in 17th and 18th century Connecticut were actually emigrants from Massachusetts; most were English subjects who were Puritan non-conformists looking to gain more land and space, a definite pull factor. The pull factors were at the same time push factors as well. Families and the progeny of those families were quickly taking up the growing Massachusetts colony’s land. Connecticut lay to the west and so did opportunity and space. Half of Connecticut’s towns were founded the first forty years of the 18th century. These towns were formed and founded largely by third generation emigrating young English men from the Massachusetts colony not finding land available as their fathers had inherited from the first generation. The majority of the population was of English heritage, but, depending on sources, 20-25% were of other nationalities.
Butler, Jon. Becoming America. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Conforti, Joseph A.. Saints and Strangers. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Main ,Jackson T.. Society and Economy in Colonial Connecticut. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985.
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