“The Yankee,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed of his fellow New Englanders, “is one who, if he gets his teeth set on a thing, all creation can’t make him let go.” That sentiment only begins to describe the spirit of independent thinking that binds the residents of the six northeastern states. From the Harvard professor researching a novel economic theory to the Vermont farmer stubbornly holding onto his grandfather’s dairy farm, New Englanders don’t like to be told what to do — or for that matter, that it can’t be done.

And it’s lucky that we are this way. A stubborn independence was certainly what made the Pilgrims tough it out through harsh New England winters to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1620, one of the first permanent settlements in North America. It’s what made the Minutemen flock to Lexington and Bunker Hill 150 years later to take up arms and kick off the American Revolution, an event that would forever change the world. And centuries later, it’s what has led New Englanders to hold onto and preserve much of the historic character of the region.

All over New England, an emphasis on small-town aesthetics and historical preservation has saved the landscape from skyscrapers and strip malls. Walking down the gas-lit streets of Beacon Hill in downtown Boston, you can almost hear the clip-clop of Paul Revere’s horse on the cobblestones (or is that the mouse clicks of a young professional in an Internet café?). Even in the most remote corner of New Hampshire or Vermont, you are likely to find an inn where Washington or some other patriot (allegedly) slept, or a musket piece fired at the Battle of Bunker Hill taking pride of place in a historical museum. And that’s to say nothing of the homes and churches preserved from the 17th century that animate the lives of common Americans from that era.

As rich as it is in colonial history, however, New England’s spirit of independence didn’t end on Independence Day. The emphasis on intellect and thinking up new ways to do things has always been in the forefront of the New England mind, from the clipper ships that revolutionized shipping in the 19th century to the Internet, which was created not by Al Gore, but in part in the minds of some computer geeks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shrines to a number of poets and creative freethinkers lie throughout the region — celebrating the likes of Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Frost, and Jack Kerouac.

And New England still has more colleges and universities per capita than anywhere else in the world, bringing learning and culture to the farthest corners of the region. Everyone knows Harvard, Yale, and Brown, which bring to their cities a yearly influx of energetic Ivy League students, recognized nationwide as the best and brightest of their class. But less known are dozens of smaller — though in many cases just as prestigious — liberal arts colleges throughout the area, which infuse the countryside with big-city culture and sophistication.

Then there is the land. Whether it’s a lonely lighthouse on a rocky cliff, a weather-beaten farmhouse surrounded by black-and-white spotted Holsteins, or the quintessential town common with the white-steepled church, the New England landscape is one of the most recognizable in the world. These stereotypes are not only accurate, they are also preserved in hundreds of variations throughout the region, making driving down back roads or coastal highways a constant excuse to pull over for a photo op — especially during the autumn months when the region mounts its annual famed tour-de-force of fall foliage.

While you are driving, you might find some landscapes you didn’t expect. The region, after all, encompasses 70,000 square miles of striking diversity. The most densely populated urban corridor, Boston, is only a few hours drive from the most rural state in the nation, Vermont. Rhode Island cranberry bogs are only a stone’s throw from the rolling hills of Connecticut and the sandy beaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. And in the far north are miles upon miles of remote hiking and canoeing in the craggy mountains of New Hampshire and the deep woods of Maine, a landscape varied enough to challenge even the most seasoned outdoor adventurer.

In these and thousands of other ways, New Englanders continue to show off their independent way of thinking, making a trip to the six-state region inspiring in countless different ways.