Claim: New England does not contain the state of Massachusetts.

New England is a geographical region comprising six states of the northeast United States : Connecticut , Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island , and Vermont . It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and south , and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north , respectively . The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast , and Long Island Sound is to the south . Boston , the capital of Massachusetts , is New England 's largest city . The largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston , which also includes Worcester -LRB- the second-largest city in both Massachusetts and New England -RRB- , Manchester -LRB- the largest city in New Hampshire -RRB- , and Providence -LRB- the capital and largest city of Rhode Island -RRB- , with nearly a third of the entire region 's population .   In 1620 , Puritan Separatist Pilgrims from England first settled in the region , forming the Plymouth Colony , the second successful English settlement in the Americas , following the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia founded in 1607 . Ten years later , more Puritans settled north of Plymouth Colony in Boston , thus forming Massachusetts Bay Colony . Over the next 126 years , people in the region fought in four French and Indian Wars , until the British and their Iroquois allies defeated the French and their Algonquin allies in North America . In 1692 , the town of Salem , Massachusetts and surrounding areas experienced one of the most infamous cases of mass hysteria in the history of the Western Hemisphere , the Salem witch trials . In the late 18th century , political leaders from the New England Colonies known as the Sons of Liberty initiated resistance to Britain 's efforts to impose new taxes without the consent of the colonists . The Boston Tea Party was a protest to which Britain responded with a series of punitive laws stripping Massachusetts of self-government , which were termed the `` Intolerable Acts '' by the colonists . The confrontation led to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 , and the expulsion of the British authorities from the region in spring 1776 .   The region played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States , and was the first region of the U.S. transformed by the Industrial Revolution , centered on the Blackstone and Merrimack river valleys .   The physical geography of New England is diverse for such a small area ; southeastern New England is covered by a narrow coastal plain , while the western and northern regions are dominated by the rolling hills and worn-down peaks of the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains . With the Atlantic fall line lying so close to the coast , numerous industrial cities were able to take advantage of water power along the numerous rivers , such as the Connecticut River , which bisects the region from north to south .   Each state is principally subdivided into small incorporated municipalities known as towns , many of which are governed by town meetings . The only unincorporated areas in the region exist in the sparsely populated northern regions of Maine , New Hampshire , and Vermont . The region is one of the U.S. Census Bureau 's nine regional divisions and the only multi-state region with clear , consistent boundaries . It maintains a strong sense of cultural identity , although the terms of this identity are often contrasted , combining Puritanism with liberalism , agrarian life with industry , and isolation with immigration .