Massachusetts

The state flag of Massachusetts.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Its capital city is Boston. Massachusetts became a state on February 6, 1788. The name is derived from the indigenous population, the "Massachusett". It is one of four states officially known as "commonwealths"; there are no practical differences between a "commonwealth" and a "state."

History

Massachusetts was first settled by the Pilgrims who emigrated from England on the Mayflower in 1620 and founded a settlement at Plymouth, and later the Puritans, who founded the "Massachusetts Bay Colony". Both groups came to America 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 Shays' 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. It is called Taxachusetts because of its high tax rate. 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 liberal Republican governors in the country. In 2006 Massachusetts became the second state to elect an African American as governor of their state in America.

The current Governor is Devel L. Patrick, (b. 1956), a Harvard law School graduate, who is the first Democrat to take office in 16 years, and the first African American to win the post. Prior to becoming Governor, Devel Patrick worked for the Coca-Cola Company as Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and General Counsel, and as the Vice President and General Counsel for Texaco. He also served as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under President Bill Clinton. He is married, with 2 daughters. His Republican opponent was former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Murphy Healey. She is 45 years old, married, with 2 sons. The current Lieutenant Governor is Timothy P. Murray.