An Orderly and Decent Government: 1888-1905 Significant Events and Developments




	A Land of Immigrants \| Democratic Party shattered

1893
Women win the right to vote in school district elections

1896
Bryan's candidacy fractures the state's Democratic Party

1897
Courts limit the power of the General Assembly to legislative functions alone

1902
Voters reject recommendations of the Constitutional Convention of 1902

1903
Senate districts increased to 36

1905
General Assembly mandates full and equal service in all public places

Significant Events
& Developments, 1888-1905
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1. European immigrants disembarking at Ellis Island

A Land of Immigrants

Close to the ports of Boston and New York, Connecticut saw its population of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe swell in the last decades of the century. Picture 1,2

"Forget your past, your customs and your ideals. Select a goal and pursue it with all your might. No matter what happens to you, hold on. You will experience a bad time, but later you will achieve your goal."

A Russian immigrant's advice to newcomers
to Connecticut, 1891

The Democratic Party shattered

Known as the "Great Commoner," Williams Jennings Bryan claimed to uphold the rights of sturdy farmers, workers and small business owners against the rapacious designs of big business. His candidacy for president in 1896 had an earthshaking effect on Connecticut's cautious politics. The Democratic Party shattered as Yankees, who viewed Bryan as a dangerous radical, fled to the Republicans and left the party to the Irish. In 1896, Republican candidates swept the state Senate and won a commanding majority in the House. Picture 3

2. Ethnic distribution in Connectiicut

3. The Democratic Party viewed Bryan as a dangerous radical

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