Connecticut
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There were many changes in the course of religion among the colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries. Religion was not just a spiritual or personal decision; it also had a political dimension and had great influence over the lives of the colonists. Colonial rule by the strict leadership of one type of church slowly gave way to the desire by colonists to practice the faith of their choice.
History

Connecticut was founded as a colony in the 1600s by Puritans, who established the Congregational Church. Until 1708, this was the only legal religion in Connecticut, and colonists were fined if they did not attend Sunday services.
Significance

Colonial tax dollars supported the Congregational Church and its ministers, who exercised a great deal of power and control among the colony. In 1708, the colony released dissenters, or individuals who chose to practice certain other religions, from paying taxes to the state Congregational Church, as long as they were contributing to their respective churches of other denominations.
Identification

The Saybrook Platform was developed by the colony of Connecticut in 1708. This document of religious proposals consisted of 15 articles. Under this platform, various churches and associations of pastors came together under shared authority to unify and restore discipline within the Congregational Church. It was similar to the Cambridge Platform in Massachusetts, established in 1648.
Prevention/Solution

Occurring in the colonies during the 1730s and 1740s, the Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that resulted in significant changes in religious doctrines. They helped to shape the view of religion being a more personal and individual decision. People began to focus more on a relationship with God, rather than focusing on the strict doctrines that had been forced upon them by the Congregational Church. Other religions began to strengthen and form churches of their own after this movement. However, there were still people that held fast to their Congregational beliefs.
Identification

Congregational minster Jonathan Edwards and English Methodist minister George Whitefield were among the powerful ministers of this time and instrumental in the change in religious practices. Jonathan Edwards is referred to as the leader of the Great Awakening. He was a quiet man who delivered what many perceived as a powerful message. George Whitefield was a great orator with a powerful voice whose presence and message of Christianity also reached many people.
Effects

Other denominations that were not a part of the Congregational Church were Anglicans and Presbyterians. Less structured and more isolated faiths such as the Baptists and Methodists were able to further establish and strengthen their churches. A variety of denominations began to grow.

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