New England Confederation union for "mutual safety and welfare" formed in 1643 by representatives of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. They met in Boston and adopted a written constitution binding the colonies in a league as "The United Colonies of New England." The chief purpose of the league was coordination of defense and the settlement of boundary disputes; the internal affairs of each colony were to be left to its own management. The first experiment in federation in America, the league was based upon compromise. Its chief weaknesses lay in... Read more