text: where did the mew england colonies get the ships they used in fishing and trade?   the whole deal with new england was this - england and europe were running out of natural resources such as lumber, coal, and other things.  ships back then were made of wood, by people.  most ships back then had an on-board carpenter and wood to make minor repairs, so ship-builders came across to new england on their own ships, and just started making more.  even though ship building is an art that many countries didn't want to share, it's tough to live on a ship for years and not figure out how to build one.  in the movie, 'master and commander,' the original book had the britons fighting the american colonies and not the french, and it was an american ship that was invulnerable to the briton's cannon fire.