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The New Englanders, however, were Puritans. The church and its services
were a very important part of their daily lives. The requirement of
church attendance was one reason for grouping their homes near the
meeting-house. Moreover, the region in which they settled had a stony
soil, difficult to cultivate. Their farms required careful cultivation,
and therefore could not be very large. The New Englander was content to
live near the coast. Means of traveling to the interior were not easy,
for the rivers, with few exceptions, were short and rapid. The sea
fisheries tempted the settlers to remain near the coast, and fishing,
with ship-building and commerce, became their important industries.
Town Meetings and Officers.--For these reasons New England was a
region of small farms and towns, and the local government which grew up
was adapted to these conditions. The voters of each town (or township)
met annually, or oftener, in "town meeting." Here their common local
affairs were discussed and regulated.


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