How did most people in new england earn a living

Continuous process of acquiring knowledge and skills that relate to one's profession, job responsibilities, or work environment

New England had lots of fresh farm land, Many untouched forests, Places where fish were high in numbers and the extremely precious and expensive beaver pelts and furs of other animals. Many of these thing were somewhat limited in England [Especially furs and pelts] so the demand for some of these items became extremely high. Thus they were able to sell this back to the home country in exchange for tools and weapons.