New England

:This article is about the region in the United States of America. For other uses, see New England (disambiguation).

Politics

The early European settlers of New England were English Protestants fleeing religious persecution. This, however, did not prevent them from establishing colonies where religion was legislated to an extreme, and where those who deviated from the established doctrine were persecuted greatly.

Related Topics:
English - Protestants

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Town meetings in New England

A derivative of meetings held by church elders, town meetings were an integral part of governance and remain so today in towns across New England. At such meetings, any citizen of the town may discuss issues of the day with other members of the community, and vote on them. This is the most direct democracy in the United States today, and the form of dialogue has been adopted under certain circumstances elsewhere. Such a strong democratic tradition was even apparent in the early 19th century, when Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America that:

Related Topics:
Town meeting - Direct democracy - 19th century - Alexis de Tocqueville - Democracy in America

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In New England, where education and liberty are the daughters of morality and religion, where society has acquired age and stability enough to enable it to form principles and hold fixed habits, the common people are accustomed to respect intellectual and moral superiority and to submit to it without complaint, although they set at naught all those privileges which wealth and birth have introduced among mankind. In New England, consequently, the democracy makes a more judicious choice than it does elsewhere.

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New England and political thought

In the colonial period and the early time of the republic, New England leaders like John Hancock, John Adams, and Samuel Adams joined those in Philadelphia and Virginia to direct the country. At the time of the Civil War, New England and the Midwest combined against slavery, eventually ending the practice in the United States. Henry David Thoreau, one of New England's most iconic thinkers, made the case for civil disobedience, libertarianism, and even had some anarchist tendencies. New England led the rest of the country in abolishing the death penalty for crimes like robbery and burglary in the 19th century. In the 20th century, the region remained a source of political thought and intellectual ferment in the nation, eventually becoming the forefront of the civil rights issue of same sex marriage, with Vermont being the first state to allow civil unions between same sex couples, and Massachusetts being the first state to allow marriage between same sex couples. As of 2005, Connecticut now also allows for civil unions.

Related Topics:
John Hancock - John Adams - Samuel Adams - Henry David Thoreau - Civil disobedience - Libertarianism - Anarchist - Death penalty - 19th century - 20th century - Civil rights - Same sex marriage - Civil unions - Marriage - 2005 - Connecticut

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The following information while true seems to be phrased in a matter that seems to be giving a false conclusion; New England is not liberal. It seems clearly biased.

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While most known for its liberal tendencies, the region still has a history similar to the rest of the country. Puritan New England, of course, was highly intolerant of any deviation from the strict social norms. Arguments against slavery, at first, were not moral, but economic, since owning slaves was expensive and not very useful in the northern climate. During the civil rights era, Boston brewed with tension over school busing to end de facto segregation of its public schools. Despite these examples, the region is still known as one of the more liberal regions of the United States.

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Contemporary New England politics

Today, the dominant party in New England is the Democratic Party, though most states have a significant Republican electorate, especially New Hampshire and Maine which are both represented in the U.S. Senate by two Republicans. As of the 2004 elections, Maine is the only state that has its governorship and legislature controlled by one party (the Democrats). In the 2000 presidential election, Democratic candidate Al Gore carried all of the New England states except for New Hampshire, and in 2004, John Kerry, a native New Englander himself, carried all six New England states for the Democrats.

Related Topics:
Democratic Party - Republican - New Hampshire - Maine - U.S. Senate - 2004 - 2000 presidential election - Al Gore - 2004 - John Kerry

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New Hampshire and Connecticut are the only New England states with capital punishment, although New Hampshire currently has no person on death row and has not had an execution since 1939. Connecticut last had an execution in 2005, the first in New England in forty-five years.

Related Topics:
Capital punishment - Death row - 1939 - 2005

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