Embracing the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, New England formed a distinct section with a character of its own from the beginning of European settlement in North America. It is significant that New England was the first to develop the idea of complete independence from Great Britain, that it opposed the unrestrained westward expansion of the new nation, and that it was the first to propose secession from the Union (see Hartford Convention). Its sectional identity and local character were deeply rooted in its history.
Geographically, New England is separated from the rest of the United States by the northern spurs of the Appalachian Mountains, and its lack of river systems, such as the Mohawk-Hudson, denies it easy access to the hinterland. Although Puritanism was widespread in all the colonies during the period of early English settlement, New England was settled by the most orthodox Puritans. In Massachusetts the first government was a conservative theocracy, which, owing to the transfer of the charter to Boston, was practically independent of England (1630–1686). Connecticut and Rhode Island colonies never had royal governors. Owing to altered conditions in England, immigration declined sharply for the two centuries after 1640, thus limiting New England's exposure to outside influences. The early establishment of Harvard College in 1636 further increased parochialism, for potential leaders who might have been broadened by an education in England remained in the provincial atmosphere of the colony. The poor soil and rough terrain precluded development of large estates or staple crops, as well as of slavery. The region became a land of small farmers, hardy fishermen, and versatile traders, all ingenious in finding ways of making money.
There were local differences, such as the religious intolerance of Massachusetts and the freedom of Rhode Island, but the "Yankee" character dominated all of New England by 1830. The limited number of immigrants, the lack of outside contacts, and stubborn control by the clerical oligarchy were all major factors in shaping the region. Moreover, when New Englanders migrated, they often did so in groups of families or entire congregations whose group solidarity maintained customs and character.
The typical New England institutions developed in isolation—public schools, Congregational churches, town government, and the "New England conscience"—as did the New England preoccupation with religion and morality. The 1825 opening of the Erie Canal, linking Lake Erie to New York City, further isolated New England, and even the first local railroad lines did not link it to the expanding nation. However, self-reliance, ingenuity, and industrious habits made New Englanders the most skilled workmen in America, and New England merchants developed manufactures to an extent that no other region did. The growth of mills and factories demanded an increase in cheap labor, and by 1840 foreign immigration reshaped the New England population and character. Even Puritan Massachusetts became an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic state.
Despite the arrival of immigrants from Canada and Europe, the New England character, established through two centuries of struggle and separation, persisted, and contributed much to other regions through migration and by example. Among the earliest migrations were those to Long Island, New Jersey, and South Carolina, and later to the Mohawk Valley, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Oregon. Towns and districts all across the northern United States seem transplanted from New England, possessing as they do New England ideas of education, Congregational churches, town meetings, and Yankee character and attitudes, all introduced by New England migrants. Americans educated in New England colleges and universities also transmitted New England traditions to other states. Sectional as New England's history has been, the region's influence on the rest of the United States is out of all proportion to its size and population.
Bibliography
Brown, Richard D., and Jack Tager.Massachusetts: A Concise History. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000.
Peirce, Neal R. The New England States: People, Politics, and Power in the Six New England States. New York: Norton, 1976.
