Note that the European settlement in the north is confined to a narrow coastal plain and river valleys. The valley extending north to Albany is that of the Hudson River. To the east of the Hudson, also extending north, is the valley of the Connecticut River. This latter valley provides fertile land and a route for the settlers of Connecticut, central Massachusetts, and eventually New Hampshire and Vermont.

Moving south the coastal plain becomes wider. The modern states of New Jersey and Delaware are almost fully settled while settlement reaches further west, but not very far, in the coastal plains of Maryland and Virginia. Settlement extends less than 100 miles west of the Chesapeake Bay.

Source: This map was downloaded from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection of the University of Texas at Austin.