Roots of American democracy are deep in Hartford's history. The city was made virtually independent in 1662 by Charles II, but an attempt was made by Sir Edmund Andros, governor of New England, to seize its charter. The document was hidden by Joseph Wadsworth in a hollow tree, since known as the Charter Oak. The tree was blown down in 1856; a plaque on Charter Oak Avenue marks the spot.

Hartford has what is said to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States, the Hartford Courant. Founded in 1764, it became a daily in 1837. Trinity College (1823), the American School for the Deaf, the Connecticut Institute for the Blind, and the Institute of Living (for mental disabilities) are located in the city.