How Did New England Get Its Name?

Have you ever wondered how New England got its name? The answer is New England was named by English explorer Captain John Smith during his expedition to North America in 1614.

Smith embarked on the expedition after he was forced to leave Jamestown due to his unpopularity with the other colonists.

The expedition became Smith’s one and only trip to New England. The goal of the expedition was to catch whales and search for gold on behalf of the Plymouth Company. Smith also used the time to scout out potential locations for a future English colony.

Smith and his crew arrived in New England in April of 1614 and sailed along the coast looking for a suitable location for a settlement. Smith recorded his observations of the region in a manuscript, later published under the title A Description of New England.

Map of New England by Captain John Smith circa 1616
Map of New England by Captain John Smith circa 1616

In the manuscript, Smith explains that he named the area New England because it is the same latitude as Sir Francis Drake’s 1579 settlement on the west coast, which was known as Nova Albion (Albion is the oldest-known name for the island of Britain):

“New England is that part of America in the ocean sea opposite Nova Albion in the South Sea, discovered by the most memorable Sir Francis Drake in his voyage about the world, in regard whereto this is styled New England, being in the same latitude. New France, off it, is northward; southward is Virginia and all the adjoining continent, with New Granada, New Spain, New Andolosia, and the West Indies” (Smith 2.)

Smith explored the region until August when he returned to England with a cargo full of furs and fish. He later published his manuscript in 1616, which is when New England officially became known as New England. The manuscript also included a map which named the region New England.

The name apparently stuck because when the Mayflower pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in 1620, they also referred to the region as New England when Governor William Bradford described first landing at Cape Cod in his manuscript Of Plimoth Plantation:

“But at length they found water & refreshed them selves, being ye first New-England water they drunk of, and was now in their great thirst as pleasant unto them as wine or beer had been in for-times” (Bradford 81.)

Sources:
Smith, John. A Description of New England. George P. Humprey, 1898.
Gambino, Megan. “John Smith Coined the Term New England on This 1616 Map.” Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Nov. 2014, smithsonianmag.com/history/john-smith-coined-the-term-new-england-on-this-1616-map-180953383/
“John Smith.” Historic Jamestowne, historicjamestowne.org/history/pocahontas/john-smith

About Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

Rebecca Beatrice Brooks is the author and publisher of the History of Massachusetts Blog. Rebecca is a freelance journalist and history lover who got her start in journalism working for small-town newspapers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire after she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in journalism. Visit this site's About page to find out more about Rebecca.

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