Massachusetts - măsəchooˈsĭts, most populous of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by New York (W), Vermont and New Hampshire (N), the Atlantic Ocean (E), and Rhode Island and Connecticut (S).
Facts and Figures Area, 8,257 sq mi (21,386 sq km). Pop. (2000) 6,349,097, a 5.5% increase since the 1990 census. Capital and largest city, Boston. Statehood, Feb. 6, 1788 (6th of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Mt. Greylock, 3,491 ft (1,065 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Bay State. Motto,Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem [By the Sword We Seek Peace, But Peace Only under Liberty]. State bird, chickadee. State flower, mayflower. State tree, American elm. Abbr., Mass.; MA Geography The eastern part of the commonwealth (its official designation), including the
Cape Cod peninsula and the islands lying off it to the south—the
Elizabeth Islands,
Martha's Vineyard, and
Nantucket—is a low coastal plain. In this area short, swift rivers such as the Merrimack have long supplied industry with power, and an indented coastline provides many good natural harbors, with Boston a major U.S. port. In the interior rise uplands separated by the rich Connecticut River valley, and farther west lies the Berkshire valley, surrounded by the Berkshire Hills, part of the Taconic Mts. The western streams feed both the Hudson and the Housatonic rivers. The state has a mean altitude of c.500 ft (150 m), and Mt. Greylock in the Berkshires is the highest point (3,491 ft/1,064 m). The climate is variable. Boston is the capital and largest city. Other important cities include
Worcester,
Springfield,
Lowell,
New Bedford,
Cambridge,
Brockton,
Fall River, and
Quincy. The state is famed for its historic points of interest, among them being those at Sturbridge, Concord, and Lexington; at three national historical parks—Boston, Lowell, and Minute Man; and at eight national historic sites—Adams, Boston African American, Frederick Law Olmsted, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Longfellow, Salem Maritime, Saugus Iron Works, and Springfield Armory (see
National Parks and Monuments, table). Cultural attractions include the noted Tanglewood music festival (see
Berkshire Festival) and the many educational facilities of the state. As a recreation and vacation land, Massachusetts has great stretches of seashore in the east and many lakes and streams in the wooded Berkshire Hills in the west. There are numerous state parks, forests, and beaches, and Cape Cod is the site of a national seashore. Provincetown, on Cape Cod, and Rockport, on Cape Ann, are artist colonies; Marblehead is a noted yachting center. Economy Massachusetts is traditionally industrial, and, with its predominantly urban population, is one of the most densely settled states in the nation. Its many, diverse manufactures include electrical and electronic equipment, industrial equipment, technical instruments, plastic products, paper and paper products, machinery, tools, and metal and rubber products. Shipping, printing, and publishing are also important, and the jewelry industry dates from before the American Revolution. Leading agricultural products include cranberries, greenhouse and nursery items, apples, and milk and other dairy goods. Commercial fishing, chiefly from Gloucester and New Bedford, and shellfishing have declined in recent years. Lime, clay, sand, gravel, and stone dominate the state's small mineral output. High-technology research and development, finance, and trade are all prominent in the commonwealth's economy. The service sector, in which tourism is primary, now employs over one third of Massachusetts workers. Government, Politics, and Higher Education The governor of Massachusetts is elected for a four-year term. The legislature (the General Court) has a senate of 40 members and a house of representatives with 160 members, all of whom serve two-year terms. Massachusetts sends 10 representatives and 2 senators to the U.S. Congress and has 12 electoral votes. The state is predominantly Democratic, but since 1991 it has had only Republican governors: William Weld (1991–97), Paul Cellucci (1997–2001), Jane Swift (2001–3), and Mitt Romney (2003–). Massachusetts is historically the capital of American higher education. Besides Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge, noted institutions include Amherst College, at Amherst; the Univ. of Massachusetts, at Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and Worcester; Boston College, at Chestnut Hill; Boston Univ., Simmons College, and Northeastern Univ., at Boston; Brandeis Univ., at Waltham; Clark Univ., College of the Holy Cross, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, at Worcester; Mount Holyoke College, at South Hadley; Smith College, at Northampton; Tufts Univ., at Medford; Wellesley College, at Wellesley; Wheaton College, at Norton; Williams College, at Williamstown; and the nine institutions of the Massachusetts State Colleges. The state is also renowned for its private secondary schools, such as Phillips Academy (Andover) and for research centers such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, at Falmouth. History Early European Exploration and Colonization The coast of what is now Massachusetts was probably skirted by Norsemen in the 11th cent., and Europeans of various nationalities (but mostly English) sailed offshore in the late 16th and early 17th cent. Settlement began when the
Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower and landed (1620) at a point they named
Plymouth (for their port of embarkation in England). Their first governor, John Carver, died the next year, but under his successor, William Bradford, the
Plymouth Colony took firm hold. Weathering early difficulties, the colony eventually prospered. Other Englishmen soon established fishing and trading posts nearby—Andrew Weston (1622) at Wessagusset (now Weymouth) and Thomas Wollaston (1625) at Mt. Wollaston, which was renamed Merry Mount (now
Quincy) when Thomas Morton took charge. The fishing post established (1623) on Cape Ann by Roger Conant failed, but in 1626 he founded Naumkeag (
Salem), which in 1628 became the nucleus of a Puritan colony led by John Endecott of the New England Company and chartered by the private Council for New England. The Puritan Colonies In 1629 the New England Company was reorganized as the
Massachusetts Bay Company after receiving a more secure patent from the crown. In 1630 John Winthrop led the first large Puritan migration from England (900 settlers on 11 ships). Boston supplanted Salem as capital of the colony, and Winthrop replaced Endecott as governor. After some initial adjustments to allow greater popular participation and the representation of outlying settlements in the General Court (consisting of a governor, deputy governor, assistants, and deputies), the "Bay Colony" continued to be governed as a private company for the next 50 years. It was also a thoroughgoing Puritan theocracy (see
Puritanism), in which clergymen such as John Cotton enjoyed great political influence. The status of freeman was restricted (until 1664) to church members, and the state was regarded as an agency of God's will on earth. Due to a steady stream of newcomers from England, the South Shore (i.e., S of Boston), the North Shore, and the interior were soon dotted with firmly rooted communities. The early Puritans were primarily agricultural people, although a merchant class soon formed. Most of the inhabitants lived in villages, beyond which lay their privately owned fields. The typical village was composed of houses (also individually owned) grouped around the common—a plot of land held in common by the community. The dominant structure on the common was the meetinghouse, where the pastor, the most important figure in the community, held long Sabbath services. The meetinghouse of the chief village of a town (in New England a town corresponds to what is usually called a township elsewhere in the United States) was also the site of the town meeting, traditionally regarded as a foundation of American democracy. In practice the town meeting served less to advance democracy than to enforce unanimity and conformity, and participation was as a rule restricted to male property holders who were also church members. Because they were eager for everyone to have the ability to study scripture and always insisted on a learned ministry, the Puritans zealously promoted the development of educational facilities. The
Boston Latin School was founded in 1635, one year before
Harvard was established, and in 1647 a law was passed requiring elementary schools in towns of 50 or more families. These were not free schools, but they were open to all and are considered the beginning of popular education in the United States. Native American resentment of the Puritan presence resulted in the Pequot War (see
Pequot) of 1637, after which the four Puritan colonies (Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven) formed the
New England Confederation, the first voluntary union of American colonies. In 1675–76, the confederation broke the power of the Native Americans of southern New England in
King Philip's War. In the course of the
French and Indian Wars, however, frontier settlements such as
Deerfield were devastated. The population of the Massachusetts Bay Colony naturally rejoiced at the triumph of the Puritan Revolution in England, but with the restoration of Charles II in 1660 the colony's happy prospects faded. Its recently extended jurisdiction over Maine was for a time discounted by royal authority, and, worse still, its charter was revoked in 1684. The withdrawal of the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had long been expected because the colony had consistently violated the terms of the charter and repeatedly evaded or ignored royal orders by |
