Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker was a religious leader born in England in 1586. He was instrumental in helping to found the colony of Connecticut in 1636. He believed that the Church and the State should be separate and that everyone should have a say in how the government is run. He wanted a government system based on democratic principles, like those of the Ancient Greeks, where everyone had an equal voice. This idea is called a "Representative Democracy". Hooker's ideas inspired the colonists to create their own independent government, which is still in place today.