[Sidenote: New Haven founded, 1638. _Higginson_, 72-73.] 54. New Haven, 1638.--The settlers of New Haven went even farther than the Massachusetts rulers and held that the State should really be a part of the Church. Massachusetts was not entirely to their tastes. They passed only one winter there and then moved away and settled New Haven. But this colony was not well situated for commerce, and was too near the Dutch settlements (p. 41). It was never as prosperous as Connecticut and was finally joined to that colony. [Sidenote: Reasons for union.] [Sidenote: Articles of Confederation, 1643.] [Sidenote: New England towns. _Higginson_, 47-79.] 55. The New England Confederation, 1643.--Besides the settlements that have already been described there were colonists living in New Hampshire and in Maine. Massachusetts included the New Hampshire towns within her government, for some of those towns were within her limits. In 1640 the Long Parliament met in England, and in 1645 Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans destroyed the royal army in the battle of Naseby. In these troubled times England could do little to protect the New England colonists, and could do nothing to punish them for acting independently. The New England colonists were surrounded by foreigners. There were the French on the north and the east, and the Dutch on the west. The Indians, too, were living in their midst and might at any time turn on the whites and kill them. Thinking all these things over, the four leading colonies decided to join together for protection. They formed the New England Confederation, and drew up a constitution. The colonists living in Rhode Island and in Maine did not belong to the Confederation, but they enjoyed many of the benefits flowing from it; for it was quite certain that the Indians and the French and the Dutch would think twice before attacking any of the New England settlements. [Illustration: A CHILD'S HIGH CHAIR, ABOUT 1650.] [Sidenote: Education.] 56. Social Conditions.--The New England colonies were all settled on the town system, for there were no industries which demanded large plantations--as tobacco-planting. The New Englanders were small farmers, mechanics, ship-builders, and fishermen. There were few servants in New England and almost no negro slaves. Most of the laborers were free men and worked for wages as laborers now do. Above all, the New Englanders were very zealous in the matter of education. Harvard College was founded in 1636. A few years later a law was passed compelling every town to provide schools for all the children in the town. CHAPTER 7 NEW NETHERLAND AND NEW SWEDEN [Sidenote: The Dutch East India Company.]