Trouble in the Land of Steady Habits: How We Got the Constitution of 1818

Connecticut in 1818 was in many ways eerily similar to Connecticut in our present time: a troubled state, seeking a new direction. This lecture highlights the perfect storm of crises – environmental, economic, demographic, religious, and political – which converged in the middle of the eighteen-teens (1810s) to force the state to rethink the ways it had been conducting its affairs for the previous two centuries. The comprehensive nature of these problems, and the accidental events that ultimately produced Connecticut’s constitutional transformation, offer essential insights for our equally-challenging time.

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About the Lecturer:
Walter Woodward is Connecticut State Historian emeritus. He served as the State Historian of Connecticut and a member of the History Department at the University of Connecticut from 2004 to 2022. Dr. Woodward is a scholar of early American and Atlantic World history, with an emphasis on Connecticut and New England. His research interests cover a variety of subjects, including witchcraft, alchemy and the history of science, the use of music in early America and environmental history. Woodward is the author of five books, the most recent of which is Creating Connecticut: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State . His book Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676 won the Homer Babbidge Prize from the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, and was a Choice magazine Outstanding academic title. He continues to research, write and share his love for the history of Connecticut through the Today in Connecticut History program on CT Public Radio and the Grating the Nutmeg podcast he produces in collaboration with Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut History.