Why was the New England a good location for industry in the early 19th century?

Many factories were constructed in New England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, beginning with Slater's Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1793. The first reason why New England was a good location for early mills had to do with the availability of water power. Because of glacial activity over the millennia, New England had many streams and rivers near which factories could be built. Water power was used to drive the factories....

Many factories were constructed in New England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, beginning with Slater's Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1793. The first reason why New England was a good location for early mills had to do with the availability of water power. Because of glacial activity over the millennia, New England had many streams and rivers near which factories could be built. Water power was used to drive the factories. In addition, New England was located near the ocean and trade routes across the Atlantic, and New Englanders' clipper slips allowed for the efficient transportation of these goods overseas. Finally, the soil of New England was rocky, making it difficult to grow crops. As a result, over time, the large-scale production of agriculture shifted westward, and New Englanders who had formerly been farmers were looking for other forms of employment. At first, many farmers' daughters worked in textile factories, and later, immigrants to the region formed a large portion of the workforce.