Connecticut

The Connecticut panel commemorates newspaper publisher Hannah Bunce Watson. She inherited The Connecticut Courant in 1777 at age 27 upon her husband's death, making her one of America's first female publishers and a significant voice for the Patriot cause. After the paper mill necessary for printing the Courant was set afire by Tory sympathizers (lower right), Watson petitioned and received the funds necessary to rebuild the mill. She never missed a publication.

Connecticut played a critical role as the "Provision State" during the Revolutionary War. Salisbury's cannon foundries appear in the panel alongside Canaan's marble quarries, East Haven's saltworks, and farmland that supplied provisions to Continental troops.

Soldiers of the integrated 7th Connecticut Regiment, including African American Patriot Prince Simbo, appear in the upper right, while Jonathan Trumbull's War Office in Lebanon -- known as "The Pentagon of the Revolution" -- stands in the background as the coordination center for military and logistical efforts.