When using a semicolon and a connecting word to join two independent clauses, should you put a colon, dash, semicolon, or comma after the connecting word?

First of all, if you are joining two independent clauses, you can use a semicolon. However, you do not necessarily need a connecting word.

Honestly, if you did use a connecting word, it would depend on what it was. For example: “and” wouldn’t need a comma; “however” would need a comma.