<P> The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short - lived colonies . The New England colonies were part of the Thirteen Colonies and eventually became five of the six states in New England . Captain John Smith's 1616 work A Description of New England first applied the term "New England" to the coastal lands from Long Island Sound to Newfoundland . </P> <P> France, England, and other countries made several attempts to colonize New England early in the 17th century, and those nations were often in contention for lands in the New World . French nobleman Pierre Dugua Sieur de Monts established a settlement on Saint Croix Island, Maine in June 1604 under the authority of the King of France . Nearly half the settlers perished due to the harsh winter and scurvy, and the survivors moved north out of New England to Port - Royal of Nova Scotia (see symbol "R" on map to the right) in the spring of 1605 . </P>

What are the colonies in the new england colonies