Scholar: colonial settlement patterns help explain today's regional political divides

Colin Woodard, director of the Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University's Pell Center, told BronxNet that a combination of early colonial settlement models and a continuing belief in the Declaration of Independence help explain persistent regional differences in politics and social outcomes across the United States.

Woodard described distinct colonial projects—New England’s covenanted communities, the aristocratic Chesapeake settlements and New Netherland’s trading-city model around present-day New York—that shaped differing social institutions and cultural expectations that persist at county and regional levels today. He linked those historical settlement patterns to measurable differences in election results, rates of gun violence, life expectancy and intergenerational mobility.

"Our divides go structural and they go way back to... the differences between the rival colonial projects," Woodard said. He also argued that, despite deep divisions on many issues, polling and interviews show a broad attachment to the Declaration’s founding claims of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Woodard cited polling results and historical analysis used by his lab and directed listeners to the Pell Center for further reading (salve.edu/pellcenter). He framed the Declaration’s ideals as a durable national story that can help anchor debate even as regional cultures disagree over means.

No specific policy recommendations were announced on the program; the interview focused on the historical analysis and the research team’s public polling findings.