This article presents the History of New Englan, the oldest clearly-defined region of the United States, unique among U.S. geographic regions in that it is also a former political entity. While New England was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, English Pilgrims, fleeing religious persecution in Europe, arrived nearly four hundred years ago at the beginning of the 17th century. It was one of the first regions of the original North American British colonies to demonstrate ambitions of independence from the Crown in the 18th century, although it would later collectively oppose the War of 1812 with Great Britain. In the 19th century, it played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States, became a source of some of the first examples of American literature and philosophy, and showed the first signs of the effects of the Industrial Revolution in North America.