Plantations of New England

rdf:langString Plantations of New England

rdf:langString The Plantations of New England were a series of colonisation efforts by Europeans on the east coast of North America, a land that they called New England. The name New England dates to the earliest days of European settlement: in 1616 Captain John Smith described the area in a pamphlet "New England." The name was officially sanctioned in 1620 by the grant of King James I to the Plymouth Council for New England. The region was subsequently divided through further grants, including the 1629 royal grant of "Hampshire" which was issued for "making a Plantation & establishing of a Colony or Colonyes in the Countrey called or knowen by ye name of New England in America." The role plantations played in New England's economy in the past was not as significant as the role agriculture played in Southern colonies. The soil was also very rocky and wasn't good for farming