primarily by groups of religious dissenters, such as the Puritans who
             sought to establish a theocracy free of the burdens of the decadent English
             church" (Bicheno, 156). These colonies were characterized mostly by farming
             and to some degree were organized around small villages that produced
             foodstuffs and other commodities. Along the coastline, fishing dominated
             economic life, along with shipping and smugglin
             ...