History of New England
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/* Plymouth Council for New England (1620–1643) */
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This article presents the '''History of New England''', the oldest clearly-defined region of the United States, unique among U.S. geographic regions in that it is also a former political entity. While [[New England]] was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, English [[Pilgrims]], fleeing religious persecution in [[Europe]], arrived nearly four hundred years ago at the beginning of the [[17th century]]. It was one of the first regions of the original North American British colonies to demonstrate ambitions of [[American Revolution|independence]] from the [[British Crown|Crown]] in the [[18th century]], although it would later collectively oppose the [[War of 1812]] with [[Great Britain]]. In the [[19th century]], it played a prominent role in the movement to abolish [[slavery]] in the United States, became a source of some of the first examples of American [[literature]] and [[philosophy]], and showed the first signs of the effects of the [[Industrial Revolution]] in North America.<ref>"New England," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997–2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.</ref>
==The indigenous peoples of New England==
{{seealso|List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin}}
New England has long been inhabited by [[Algonquian]]-speaking [[Native Americans in the United States|native peoples]], including the [[Abenaki]], the [[Penobscot]], the [[Pequot]], the [[Wampanoag]], and many others. During the [[15th century|15th]] and [[16th century|16th centuries]], Europeans such as [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], [[Jacques Cartier]] and [[John Cabot]] (known as Giovanni Caboto before being based in England) charted the New England coast. They referred to the region as [[Norumbega]], named for a fabulous native city that was supposed to exist there.
==Early European settlement (1615–1620)==
[[Image:Map-Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ (Amsterdam, 1685).jpg|300px|thumb|right|A [[17th century]] map shows New England as a coastal enclave extending from [[Cape Cod]] to [[New France]].]]
:''For the early history of the [[Connecticut Colony]], see [[New Netherland]].''
On [[April 10]], [[1606]], [[James I of England]] chartered the Virginia Companies of London and Plymouth. The latter included land extending as far as present-day northern Maine.<ref>[http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/virginia/transcript01.html The Virginia Company: Lecture Transcript One<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The purpose of both was to claim land for England and trade.<ref>"In addition to claiming land for England and bringing the faith of the Church of England to the native peoples, the Virginia Company was also enjoined both by the crown and its members to make a tidy profit by whatever means it found expedient." http://www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/TobaccoHistory.html</ref> The Dutch New Netherland Company established the beginnings of [[New Netherland]] in [[1615]], when they established trading posts on the [[Hudson River]], near present-day [[Albany, New York]].<ref>"On October 11, 1614 merchants from the cities of Amsterdam and Hoorn formed The New Netherland Company receiving a three year monopoly for fur trading in the newly discovered region from the States General of the United Provinces. In 1615 the company erected Fort Orange on Castle Island near Albany and began trading with the Indians for furs." http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/NNHistory.html</ref>
The region was named "New England" by [[Captain John Smith]], who explored its shores in 1614.<ref>New England. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 20, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9055457</ref>
==Plymouth Council for New England (1620–1643)==
The name "New England" was officially sanctioned on [[November 3]], [[1620]], when the charter of the Virginia Company of Plymouth was replaced by a [[royal charter]] for the [[Plymouth Council for New England]], a [[joint stock]] company established to colonize and govern the region.<ref>"...joint stock company organized in 1620 by a charter from the British crown with authority to colonize and govern the area now known as New England." New England, Council for. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 13, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9055458</ref> On [[March 3]], [[1636]], the Connecticut Colony was granted a charter and established its own government. Vermont was then unsettled, and the territories of [[New Hampshire]] and [[Maine]] were then governed by [[Massachusetts]]. The oldest colony, [[Plymouth Colony|Plymouth]], would eventually be absorbed by [[Massachusetts]], and [[New Haven Colony|New Haven]] would be absorbed by Connecticut.
==The Dominion of New England (1686–1689)==
In 1686, [[James II of England|King James II]], concerned about the increasingly independent ways of the colonies, in particular their self governing Charters, open flouting of the [[Navigation Acts]] and their increasing military power decreed the [[Dominion of New England]], an administrative union comprising all the New England colonies. Two years later, the provinces of [[Province of New York|New York]] ([[New Amsterdam]]) and the [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]], which had been confiscated by force from the [[Netherlands|Dutch]], were added. The union, imposed from the outside, and removing nearly all their popularly elected leaders, was highly unpopular among the colonists. In 1687, when the Connecticut Colony refused to follow a decision of the dominion governor [[Edmund Andros]] to turn over their charter, he sent an armed contingent to seize the colony's charter. According to popular legend, the colonists hid the charter inside the [[Charter Oak]] tree. Andros' efforts to loot the colonies, replace their leaders and to unify the colonial defenses under his control met little success and the dominion ceased after only three years. After the very popular removal of King James II in the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1689. Andros was arrested and sent back to England by the colonists.<ref>[http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h546.html Dominion of New England<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Modern New England (1689-present)==
[[Image:BCburnslawnsunset.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Old World's enduring influence over New England is evident in the architecture of [[Boston College]], originally dubbed ''Oxford in America'']]
After the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1689 the charters of most of the colonies were significantly modified with the appointment of Royal Governors to nearly each colony. An uneasy tension existed between the Royal Governors, their officers and the elected governing bodies in the colonies. The governors wanted essentially unlimited arbitrary powers and the different layers of locally elected officials resisted as best they could. In most cases the local town governments continued operating as self-governing bodies as they had before the Royal Governors showed up and to the extent possible ignored the Royal Governors. This tension eventually led to the [[American Revolution]] when the states formed their own governments. The colonies were not formally united again until [[1776]] as newly formed states, when they declared themselves independent states in a larger (but not yet federalist) union called the [[United States of America|United States]].
The New England States were originally settled between 1620 and 1640 by about 30,000 settlers and received little immigration until the Irish showed up in the 1840s. The almost one million inhabitants 130 years later at the time of the Revolution were nearly all descended from the original settlers, whose 3 percent annual natural growth rate caused a doubling of population every 25 years. Their beliefs and ancestry were nearly all shared and made them into what was probably the largest more-or-less homogeneous group of settlers in America. Their continued high birth rate continued for at least a century more, making the descendants of these New Englanders well represented in nearly all states today. In the [[18th century]] and the early [[19th century]], New England was still considered to be a very distinct region of the country, as it is today. During the [[War of 1812]], there was a limited amount of talk of secession from the Union, as New England merchants, just getting back on their feet, opposed the war with their greatest trading partner — [[Great Britain]].
Aside from the Canadian province of [[Nova Scotia]], or "New [[Scotland]]," New England is the only [[North America]]n region to inherit the name of a kingdom in the [[British Isles]]. New England has largely preserved its regional character, especially in its historic sites. Its name is a reminder of the past, as many of the original English-Americans have migrated further west.
==Notes==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:History of New England| ]]
[[Category:Histories of regions of the United States|New England]]
[[Category:New England]]
[[it:Storia del New England]]