Question: Cotton Mather was politically influential in what oldest defined region in the US?

full_context: Document 1: Henry Vane the Younger: Sir Henry Vane (baptised 26 March 1613 – 14 June 1662), son of Henry Vane the Elder (often referred to as Harry Vane to distinguish him from his father), was an English politician, statesman, and colonial governor. He was briefly present in North America, serving one term as the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and supported the creation of Roger Williams' Rhode Island Colony and Harvard College. A proponent of religious tolerance, he returned to England in 1637 following the Antinomian controversy that led to the banning of Anne Hutchinson from Massachusetts.
Document 2: History of New York (state): The history of New York begins around 10,000 BC, when the first Native Americans arrived. By 1100 AC, New York's main native cultures, the Iroquoian and Algonquian, had developed. European discovery of New York was led by the French in 1524 and the first land claim came in 1609 by the Dutch. As part of New Netherland, the colony was important in the fur trade and eventually became an agricultural resource thanks to the patroon system. In 1626 the Dutch bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans. In 1664, England renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York (later James II & VII.) New York City gained prominence in the 18th century as a major trading port in the Thirteen Colonies.
Document 3: Kenneth Silverman: Kenneth Eugene Silverman (February 5, 1936 – July 7, 2017) was an American biographer and educator. He won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bancroft Prize for his 1984 biography of Cotton Mather, "The Life and Times of Cotton Mather". Silverman, who specialized In Colonial American literature, was a professor of English at New York University until his retirement in 2001.
Document 4: September 2, 1692 letter by Cotton Mather: In a letter dated September 2, 1692, Cotton Mather wrote to judge William Stoughton. Among the notable things about this letter is the provenance: it seems to be the last important correspondence from Cotton Mather to surface in modern times, with the holograph manuscript not arriving in the archives for scholars to view, and authenticate, until sometime between 1978 and 1985.
Document 5: Onesimus (Boston slave): Onesimus (late 1600s–1700s) was an African-born man held as a slave by Puritan minister Cotton Mather, who helped mitigate the impact of a smallpox outbreak in Boston by introducing Mather to the principle of inoculation. In a 2016 "Boston Magazine" survey, he was declared one of the "Best Bostonians of All Time".
Document 6: Richard Mather: Richard Mather (1596 – 22 April 1669) was a Puritan minister in colonial Boston, Massachusetts. He was father to Increase Mather and grandfather to Cotton Mather, both celebrated Boston divines.
Document 7: Wonders of the Invisible World: The Wonders of the Invisible World was a book written by Cotton Mather and published in 1693. It was subtitled, "Observations As well Historical as Theological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils". The book defended Mather's role in the witchhunt conducted in Salem, Massachusetts. It espoused the belief that witchcraft was an evil magical power. Mather saw witches as tools of the devil in Satan's battle to "overturn this poor plantation, the Puritan colony", and prosecution of witches as a way to secure God's blessings for the colony.
Document 8: Increase Mather: Increase Mather (June 21, 1639 O.S. – August 23, 1723 O.S.) was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay (now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts). He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials. He was the son of Richard Mather, and the father of Cotton Mather, both influential Puritan ministers.
Document 9: Cotton Mather: Cotton Mather, FRS (February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728; A.B. 1678, Harvard College; A.M. 1681, honorary doctorate 1710, University of Glasgow) was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. He left a scientific legacy due to his hybridization experiments and his promotion of inoculation for disease prevention, though he is most frequently remembered today for his vigorous support for the Salem witch trials. He was subsequently denied the Presidency of Harvard College which his father, Increase Mather, had held.
Document 10: Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony): The Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early European settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The Pilgrims' leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownist English Dissenters who had fled the volatile political environment in England for the relative calm and tolerance of 16th–17th century Holland in the Netherlands. The Pilgrims held Puritan Calvinist religious beliefs but, unlike other Puritans, they maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. As a separatist group, they were also concerned that they might lose their English cultural identity if they remained in the Netherlands, so they arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America. The colony was established in 1620 and became the second successful English settlement in North America (after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607). The Pilgrims' story became a central theme of the history and culture of the United States.
Document 11: History of New England: 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.
Document 12: Colonial history of the United States: The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European settlements from the start of colonization in the early 16th century until their incorporation into the "United States of America" in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands launched major colonization programs in eastern North America. Small early attempts sometimes disappeared, such as the English Lost Colony of Roanoke. Everywhere, the death rate was very high among the first arrivals. Nevertheless, successful colonies were established within several decades.
Document 13: Massachusetts: Massachusetts ( or ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which once inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston. Over 80% of Massachusetts's population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. During the 20th century, Massachusetts's economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a global leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.
Document 14: List of people from New England: All of the following people were born in New England or spent a significant portion of their life in New England, making them a well-known figure in the region. This includes people who were born in or lived in the U.S. states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Some of them, like Robert Frost, who was actually born in California, emigrated to New England and are now considered to be icons of the region. All of them exemplify some aspect of the region in one way or another.
Document 15: Christmas in Puritan New England: Christmas celebrations in New England were illegal during parts of the 17th century, and were culturally taboo or rare in former Puritan colonies from foundation until the 1850s. The Puritan community found no Scriptural justification for celebrating Christmas, and associated such celebrations with paganism and idolatry. The earliest years of the Plymouth Colony were troubled with non-Puritans attempting to make merry, and Governor William Bradford was forced to reprimand offenders. English laws suppressing the holiday were enacted in the Interregnum, but repealed late in the 17th century. However, the Puritan view of Christmas and its celebration had gained cultural ascendancy in New England, and Christmas celebrations continued to be discouraged despite being legal. When Christmas became a federal holiday in 1870, the Puritan view was relaxed and late 19th century Americans fashioned the day into the Christmas of commercialism, spirituality, and nostalgia that most Americans recognize today.
ground_truth: New England