New Englanders are reserved compared to other Americans, and are famous for giving wry, terse responses. The first Europeans to settle in the region were escaping religious persecution, so there is a strong culture of minding one’s own business. “Good fences make good neighbours,” penned New Hampshire poet Robert Frost. Pair that with a self-reliant, can-do attitude of Yankee ingenuity and basically, people tend to keep strangers and friends at arm’s length. But, with a little prodding, their droll humour pops and New Englanders prove to be as sturdy as a Shaker chair: straightforward, happy to help, honest, and proud of good work done well. Surprisingly, the one topic Americans everywhere are often happy to chat about is politics: local, state, and national. New Englanders seem to take it as their special responsibility to know what is written in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.