In 1620, the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts ... The conflict generated by Puritanism had divided English society, because the .... of English colonies in the New England region of North America from 1686–89.
New England, or the Northeast United States, have been strongly influenced by Puritans and Pilgrim ideas. Though modern New England is fairly liberal, historically, the Puritan and Pilgrim ideas resulted in a rigid set of social norms and no tolerance for deviance.
In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which authorized the construction of a transcontinental railroad. Four of the five transcontinental railroads were built with assistance from the federal government through land grants.
