Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Its capital city is Boston. The name is derived from the indigenous population, the "Massachusett". It is one of four states officially known as "commonwealths"; the title has no practical implications with respect to other states.

History

Massachusetts was first settled by the Pilgrims who came on the Mayflower, who settled at Plymouth, and Puritans, who founded the "Massachusetts Bay Colony", both of whom came to America from England seeking religious freedom. It was also a major center of the American Revolution, as events such as the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party helped to create a desire for national independence among the colonists. The first battle of the war was fought mainly in the towns of Lexington and Concord. Shortly after the war ended, the western part of the state was marked by Shay's Rebellion, a major factor leading to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Massachusetts was also the first state to abolish slavery in 1783.

During the 1800s, Massachusetts was marked by increasing industrialization, including the founding of textile mills in towns such as Lowell. Important historical figures during this time included Horace Mann, an important educational reformer, and Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, two of the main contributors to the Transcendental movement.

In the 1900s, Massachusetts moved from a factory-based economy to a more service-based economy, sparked by growth in its local colleges and universities as well as by a collapse in the textile industry during the 1920s. This encouraged increased suburbanization, leading to the current demographic situation in which the population is concentrated in suburbs around the city of Boston. In 1987, the state received federal highway funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known colloquially as the Big Dig. The $14.7 billion grant is the largest federal highway project ever approved.

Politics

Although once a bastion of social conservatism (the term "Banned in Boston" is still in widespread use) Massachusetts is known as one of the most liberal states in the Union, being the most populous state to have all-Democratic congressional representation. Its current senators are John Kerry (who unsuccessfully ran for President in 2004) and Ted Kennedy. Massachusetts was the first (and so far only) state to legalize same-sex marriage. Although governed by a succession of Republican governors in the 1990s and 2000s (William Weld, Paul Cellucci, Jane Swift and Mitt Romney), they have generally been among the most progressive Republican governors in the country.

These days

These days, Massachusetts is largely known for sinfulness and heresy.