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VOICE ONE:
New England is an area of small states in the northeastern UnitedStates. A religious group called the Puritans established Britishcolonies there in the sixteen-hundreds. I’m Doug Johnson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmerman. Today we tell about New England on theVOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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Six of the fifty states form New England. They are Connecticut,Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
New England is a place many people like to visit especially inthe fall. That is when the leaves on the trees turn red, yellow andorange. The changing leaves are one of America’s most colorfulnatural shows. Many people also love New England for its mountainsand rocky Atlantic Ocean coastlines.
Four of the six New England states were among the first thirteencolonies of America.
VOICE ONE:
The Puritans were Protestant Christians who suffered persecutionin Britain. They opposed the Church of England. In sixteen-twenty,they and other colonists settled Plymouth Colony in what is nowMassachusetts. It was the second permanent British colony in NorthAmerica. The first was in Virginia.
The Puritans were known as Pilgrims. American Indians helped thePilgrims survive in their new land. Not only did the settlerssurvive, other colonies developed from Plymouth.
Some of America’s earliest heroes came from New England. Men likeSamuel Adams and John Hancock led the movement for independence fromBritain. Their efforts helped lead to the formation of the UnitedStates in seventeen-seventy-six.
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Massachusetts has played an important part in the nation’shistory. Six-million people live there today. The state has manymarks from America’s Revolutionary period. The revolution againstBritain began at the battle of Concord and Lexington inMassachusetts.
The state has also given the country four presidents. John Adamswas the second president. His son, John Quincy Adams, served as thesixth. John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president, was also born inMassachusetts. So was the forty-first, George Bush. His son, theforty-third president, was born in Connecticut.
Massachusetts has beautiful countryside, mountains and oceancoast. The Boston area is the largest industrial area in NewEngland. Boston is the state capital. The city is a historiccultural and trade center.
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People can get a good idea of thehistory by a visit to the Boston Freedom Trail. There are sixteenhistoric sites along the almost five kilometers of the trail. Theseinclude the site of the first public school in the United States.Students first attended the Boston Latin School insixteen-thirty-five. Also along the trail is the Old North Church.In seventeen-seventy-five, lights placed in the church warned thatBritish forces would soon attack.
Boston is a major music center. During July, thousands of peoplesit in the open air to hear the Boston Pops orchestra play freeconcerts on a grassy area called the Esplanade.
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Boston is one of the historic ports of Massachusetts. Another,New Bedford, was a center of whale-hunting. The shores of Cape Codand the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are also popular.Lighthouses that guided ships at sea long ago still stand.
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VOICE ONE:
Rhode Island is America’s smallest state, by land size.One-million people live there. Many companies produce textiles andjewelry. The state is on Narragansett Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.Every summer, thousands of visitors fish, boat and water ski in thebay.
Roger Williams established the major city of Providence insixteen-thirty-six. He helped develop religious freedom in theUnited States.
Rhode Island became the first colony to declare independence fromBritain. In seventeen-seventy-four, Rhode Island banned theimportation of slaves.
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Visitors to Rhode Island often follow the Cliff Walk in Newport.This walk of almost five kilometers provides a chance to see theAtlantic Ocean coast. Restless waves strike the sharp rocks on theshore. Newport is also famous for its music. Next month, artistsincluding Dave Brubeck and Cassandra Wilson will perform at the JVCJazz Festival.
On now to New Hampshire: Withmountains, lakes and coastline, the state offers many summer andwinter activities. The White Mountains in northern New Hampshire,for example, provide fine skiing. In the fall, thousands of peoplecome to New Hampshire to see the colorful leaves of its many kindsof trees.
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The largest city is Manchester, and the capital is Concord. Ineighteen-forty-nine, New Hampshire enacted a law that permittedcities, towns and school systems to support libraries. It was thefirst law of its kind in the United States.
Politics are also important in New Hampshire. The New HampshirePrimary is especially important. Every four years, candidatesseeking the nomination of their party for president campaign in thisnominating election. A number of winners of the New Hampshireprimary have become president.
When it comes to nature, manypeople say a trip to Vermont is like a trip into the past. Treescover most of the land. The state also has more than four-hundredlakes and smaller bodies of water. In summer, travelers can drivefor kilometers on quiet country roads and see only farm animals,covered bridges and white churches.
A popular summer event is the Vermont Mozart Festival on KnollFarm at the town of Fayston. The farm is set among sugar mapletrees. Vermont grows a lot of these trees which produce a sweetsyrup. Most visitors take home at least a few containers of maplesyrup from Vermont.
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Among other industries, workers in Vermont manufacture productsincluding computer parts and machinery. And they mine granite. Thecenter of state government is in Montpelier. Vermont’s many townshold town meetings where citizens take part in local government.
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VOICE ONE:
Maine has more than one-million people and the largest land areaof the New England states. Part of the state extends so far north,it is surrounded by two Canadian provinces. Like Vermont, Maine hasbig areas of wilderness. Forests grow on about ninety percent of itsland. The forests provide trees for the wood products industry inMaine. City life is found in the capital, Augusta, and in Portland.
Fishing villages line the Atlantic coast of Maine. Travelers canfind many hotels and other places to stay near harbors and oceaninlets.
Visitors enjoy seeing the Portland Head Light. This lighthouse isthirty-one meters tall. It was built in seventeen-ninety-one.
As you might expect, Maine is known for its seafood. Rocklandholds the Maine Lobster Festival each year. This festival tocelebrate — and eat — the shellfish will take place July thirtieththrough August third.
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More than three-million people live in Connecticut. It is a majorcenter for travel, business and industry.In its early days, citizensof Connecticut colony lived under the rule of a legal documentcalled the Fundamental Orders. Later, writers of the United StatesConstitution used the Orders as an example.
Later still in Connecticut, the inventor Eli Whitney developedprocesses that took a step toward modern production methods.Insurance companies in Connecticut wrote the first policies to helpprotect against the expense of car and airplane accidents. Over theyears, because of the many insurance companies, Hartford becameknown as the Insurance City.
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In that city, one can see the home of the writer Mark Twain. Hewrote “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures ofTom Sawyer.” Twain lived in Hartford during the lateeighteen-hundreds.
Travelers to Connecticut can also see the Mystic Seaport, in thecity of Mystic. The Seaport looks like a whaling village of theeighteen-hundreds. A wooden ship with sails called the Charles W.Morgan seems to guard the port. It looks as if it could go to sea atany moment, guided by the spirits of whalers of centuries ago.
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The New England states are both historic and modern. They offerquiet countryside and ocean sights. They also offer energeticsports, lively music and many other activities. There is alwayssomething to see or do in New England.
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VOICE ONE:
THIS IS AMERICA was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced byCaty Weaver. I’m Doug Johnson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmerman. Join us again next week for anotherreport on life in the United States in Special English, on the Voiceof America.