<P> The history of New England is the history of the New England region of North America in the current - day United States . New England is the oldest clearly defined region of the United States, and it predates the history of the United States by over 150 years . While New England was originally inhabited by Indigenous peoples, English Pilgrims and especially Puritans, fleeing religious persecution in England, arrived in the 1620 - 1660 era . They dominated the region; their religion was later called Congregationalism . They and their descendants are called Yankees . Farming, fishing and lumbering prospered, as did whaling, sea trading, and merchandising . </P> <P> New England writers and events in the region helped launch and sustain the American Revolution, and the American War of Independence began when fighting between British troops and Massachusetts militia broke out in Battles of Lexington and Concord . The region became a stronghold of the conservative Federalist Party and opposed the later War of 1812 with Great Britain . </P> <P> By the 1840s it was the center of the American anti-slavery movement, and was the leading force in American literature and higher education . The region was the scene of the first Industrial Revolution in the United States, with many textile mills and machine shops operating by 1830, and was the manufacturing center of the entire United States for much of that century . It played an important role leading up to, during, and after the American Civil War as a fervent intellectual, political, and cultural promoter of abolitionism as well as civil rights for Freedman and harsh treatment for former Confederate leaders . </P> <P> As manufacturing in the United States shifted southwards and westwards, New England experienced a sustained period of economic decline and deindustrialization in the early part of the last century . This trend was reversed in the late - twentieth century largely thanks to the region's universities and educated workforce; by the turn of the century, New England had become a world center for higher education, high technology, weapons manufacturing, scientific research, and financial services . </P>

New england became americas first industrial region in part because it had