Why did new england's industries have slow growth?

New England's industries experienced slow growth during the 19th and early 20th centuries due to several factors:

1. Geographical Challenges: New England has a rugged terrain and a lack of vast fertile land, which made large-scale agriculture difficult. This limited the availability of raw materials, such as cotton, that were necessary for some of the growing industries, like textiles.

2. Labor Shortages: While New England had a significant skilled labor force due to its good education system, it faced labor shortages as its population was not as large or growing as rapidly as other parts of the country. Moreover, many people emigrated westward for the opportunity to farm on cheaper and more abundant land, which further depleted the local workforce.

3. Energy Resources: With little coal or oil, New England couldn’t easily fuel large-scale manufacturing like other regions could. While it had water resources that were initially harnessed for water-powered mills, it eventually lagged behind once steam and electricity became dominant power sources.

4. Transportation Difficulties: The region’s coastline, rivers, and terrain posed challenges for transportation. Although it developed an extensive maritime trade, New England’s internal transport infrastructure was less developed, making it difficult to move goods and raw materials efficiently.

5. Competition: New England's industries faced increasing competition from other regions of the United States that had more natural resources, such as the Midwest and the South. These areas could produce goods more cheaply due to their more abundant land, lower labor costs, and easier access to raw materials.

6. Capital Investment: There was also a trend of capital investment moving towards the West and the South where the potential return on investment was higher due to the aforementioned factors.

7. Technological Advancements: As technologies advanced, other regions were quicker to adopt and benefit from these advancements, due in part to New England's existing investments in older forms of industry which they were slower to replace or upgrade.

As a result of these and other factors, industry growth in places like New England was more gradual compared to other regions of the United States, which were able to exploit their natural and human resources more effectively for industrial expansion.