Massachusetts

Massachusetts
State
Country	United States
Admitted to the Union	February 6, 1788 (6th)
Capital	Boston
Largest city	Boston
Government
• Governor	Mitt Romney (R)
• Upper house	{{{Upperhouse}}}
• Lower house	{{{Lowerhouse}}}
U.S. senators	Edward Kennedy (D) John Kerry (D)
Population
• Total	6,349,097
• Density	809.8/sq mi (312.68/km2)
Language
• Official language	English
Latitude	41°10'N to 42°53'N
Longitude	68°57'W to 73°30'W

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the United States of America.

Name

Mass-adchu-et

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous population, the Massachusett, whose name can be segmented

mass-adchu-et

where mass is "great", adchu is "hill" and et is a locative suffix. It has been translated as

at the great hill, or at the place of large hills, or at the range of hills

with reference to the Blue Hills, or in particular, Big Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton, to the southwest of Boston.

Commonwealth

Main article: Commonwealth and State naming debate

Massachusetts officially designates itself a "commonwealth", although "state" is commonly used.

Geography

A portion of the north-central Pioneer Valley near South Deerfield, much more rural than Springfield, in the southern part of the valley, or Boston, which is on the coast.

Main article: Massachusetts Geography

Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. At the southeastern corner of the state is a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod. The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket lie to the south of Cape Cod.

Massachusetts is known as the Bay State because of the several large bays that give its coastline its distinctive shape: Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay on the state's east coast, and Buzzards Bay to the south. A few cities and towns on the Massachusetts–Rhode Island border are also adjacent to Narragansett Bay.

Boston is the largest city, located at the inmost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 5,800,000) does not live in the city; eastern Massachusetts on the whole is fairly densely populated and largely suburban. Western Massachusetts is more rural and sparsely populated, especially in the Berkshires, the branch of the Appalachian Mountains which forms the western border of the state. The most populated part of western Massachusetts is the "Pioneer Valley," alongside the Connecticut River, which flows across Western Massachusetts from north to south.

History

See also: Category:History of Massachusetts

Early settlement

Various Algonquin tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. In the Massachusetts Bay area resided the Massachusett. Near the Vermont and New Hampshire borders and the Merrimack River valley was the traditional home of the Pennacook tribe. Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and southeast Massachusetts were the home of the Wampanoag, whom the Pilgrims met. The extreme end of the Cape was inhabited by the closely related Nauset tribe. Much of the central portion and the Connecticut River valley was home to the loosely organized Nipmuc peoples. The Berkshires were the home of both the Pocomtuc and the Mahican tribes. Spillovers of Narragansett and Mohegan from Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively, were also present.

The Massachusett, as were all the native Americans on the coast of New England, were heavily decimated by waves of smallpox both before and after the arrival of Captain John Smith in 1614. They had developed no immunity to the disease, a common story when Europeans visited parts of the world remote from Europe. If the tribe had survivors, there is no record of them after this point.

Europeans: Pilgrims, Puritans and Yankees (1620-1629)

The Pilgrims from the Humber region of England established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, arriving on the Mayflower. One of their first tasks was to form a government, the Mayflower compact. They also suffered grievously from the native smallpox, but they were assisted in their time of trouble by the Wampanoags under chief Massasoit. In 1621 they celebrated their first Thanksgiving Day together to thank God for their survival. About half survived the first year.

The English settlers soon spread rapidly into clearings and fields depopulated by smallpox, their numbers swelled by the harsh treatment of puritans by King Charles I. The natives called them the Yengeeze, their pronunciation of English, which became yankee. A shared culture prevailed for a time.

Massachusetts Bay Colony period (1629-1686)

The Pilgrims were soon followed by puritans from the River Thames region of England, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This colony eclipsed Plymouth in population and economy, the chief factor being the good harbor at Boston. When the English Revolution beganin 1642, Massachusetts Bay Colony became a Puritan stonghold.

Relations with the natives were still good at this time. In 1646 the Long Parliament gave John Eliot a commission and funds to preach to the Wampanoags. He succeeded in converting a large number. The colonial government placed them in a ring of villages around Boston as a defensive strategy. They were called praying indians. The oldest, Natick, was built in 1651.

Although the Puritans came to Massachusetts for religious freedom, they were not tolerant of any religion other than theirs. Pilgrims, as well as Anglicans, Quakers, and a handful of other denominations were grudgingly accepted in the Puritan communities for a time. Then Quakers were banned, and in 1660 four were hanged on Boston Common (see Mary Dyer). People such as Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, and Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and went South because of the Puritans' lack of religious tolerance. Williams ended up founding the colony of Rhode Island and Hooker founded Connecticut.

The colonists' policy toward natives fared no better than their religious tolerance. They treated natives as simpletons, leading at last to a sanguinary attempt to drive the English into the sea under Massasoit's son, Philip. King Philip's War (1675-76), the bloodiest Indian war of the early colonial period, included major campaigns in the Pioneer Valley and Plymouth Colony. It took many years for the colonies of southern New England to recover from the effects of the war.

The praying indians had attempted to give warning, but they were scorned and ignored. When the blow fell in 1675 the praying indians were caught in the middle. Most left Massachusetts.

The colonists took those who stayed into internment on Deer and Long Islands in Boston Harbor, partly for their own protection. The government succeeded in preventing the colonists from massacring them there, but they died of deprivation and disease. Only 400 emerged in 1677, to reoccupy Wampanoag lands in southeastern Massachusetts.

Much of early Boston, like New York, was built by slave labor. Massachusetts, like all the other colonies, had previously expanded its population by using indentured servitude. But starting in the 1670s, Massachusetts followed the general colonial practice of adopting slave codes, which removed the limitation on the term of slavery for non-whites only. It became fashionable for respectable familes to own one or more household slaves.

Dominion of New England (1686-1692)

In 1685 King Charles II of England died. His brother, an outspoken Catholic, acceded to the throne and began to militate against Protestant rule, including the Protestant control of New England.

In May 1686, the Massachusetts Bay Colony ended when its charter was annulled. King James II appointed Joseph Dudley to the new post of President of New England. Dudley established his authority later in New Hampshire and the King's Province (part of current Rhode Island), maintaining this position until Edmund Andros arrived to become the Royal Governor of the Dominion of New England. Dudley continued on as a member of Governor Andros's council.

At the accession of the English monarchs King William and Queen Mary, the Boston colonials rebelled. Andros and his officials were held on Castle Island and in 1689 were sent back to England as prisoners. Andros was exonerated and went on to become Governor of Virginia.

Andros's post was given to the Simon Bradstreet until 1692. He merged Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony in 1691. In 1692 a new governor, William Phips, was appointed with a new colonial charter. He governed the colony by leaving it alone. Consequently, during the Salem Witch Trials, Phips only intervened when his own wife was accused.

Royal Colony of Massachusetts (1692-1774)

Notable governors during this period were Thomas Hutchinson, Francis Bernard, and Thomas Gage. Gage was the last British governor of Massachusetts.

Revolutionary Massachusetts (1760s-1780s)

Massachusetts was the first colony to revolt against the Crown, and thus the instigator of the American Revolution. On February 9, 1775, the British Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in rebellion, and sent additional troops to restore order to the colony.

In Boston on March 5, 1770, 5 protestors were shot by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre.

Several early Revolutionary battles took place in Massachusetts, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord (where the famous shot heard 'round the world was fired), the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. After Lexington militia swarmed to Boston, surrounding the British in the city. General George Washington soon took charge, and when he acquired cannon in spring 1776, the British were forced to leave, marking the first great American victory of the war. This was the last fighting in the state but the Massachusetts state navy did manage to get itself destroyed by the British fleet.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780-present)

A Constitutional Convention drew up a Constitution drafted mainly by John Adams, and the people ratified it on June 15, 1780. At that time, Adams along with Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin wrote in the Preamble to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, 1780:

We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of His Providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprize, on entering into an Original, explicit, and Solemn Compact with each other; and of forming a new Constitution of Civil Government, for Ourselves and Posterity, and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, Do agree upon, ordain and establish, the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts was the first colony to assert that, under its own Constitution, slavery did not exist, as all men had been declared free. The colonies were somewhat behind Great Britain, which had already prohibited slavery and the slave trade.

Massachusetts led the country in abolitionism. Massachusetts was among the first states to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops. Massachusetts was the first state to recruit, train and arm a black regiment, with white officers, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Scholarly books on Massachusetts History

• Adams, James Truslow. Revolutionary New England, 1691-1776 (1923)
• Adams, James Truslow. New England in the Republic, 1776-1850 (1926)
• Andrews, Charles M. The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths (1919) short survey by leading scholar.
• Axtell, James, ed. The American People in Colonial New England (1973), new social history
• Baum, Dale. The Civil War Party System: The Case of Massachusetts, 1848-1876 (1984) new political history
• Bremer, Francis J. John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father (2003)
  • Hosmer, James Kendall ed. Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England," 1630-1649 - Vol. 1; Hosmer, James Kendall ed. Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England," 1630-1649 - Vol. 2
• Brewer, Daniel Chauncey. Conquest of New England by the Immigrant (1926).
• Deutsch, Sarah. Women and the City: Gender, Space, and Power in Boston, 1870-1940 (2000)
• Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere's Ride (1994)
• Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century (2001)
• Hart, Albert Bushnell ed.Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, Colony, Province and State Vol. 1 (1927)
• Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England (1998), new social history*
• Lazerson, Marvin, Origins of the Urban School: Public Education in Massachusetts, 1870-1915 (1971)
• Lockridge, Kenneth A. A New England Town: The First Hundred Years: Dedham, Massachusetts, 1636-1736 (1985), new social history
• Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860 (1921)
• Palfrey, John Gorham. History of New England vol 1 (1858), classic political narrative.
• Porter, Susan L. Women of the Commonwealth: Work, Family, and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts (1996)
• Tager, Jack, and John W. Ifkovic, eds. Massachusetts in the Gilded Age: Selected Essays (1985) essays by scholars on ethnic groups
• Taylor, Robert J. Western Massachusetts in the Revolution (1954)
• WPA. Guide to Massachusetts (1939)
• Zimmerman, Joseph F. The New England Town Meeting: Democracy in Action (1999)

Other notable history

• Battles of the American Revolution - Battles of Lexington and Concord, Siege of Boston, Battle of Bunker Hill.
• Shays' Rebellion - Western Massachusetts uprising after the Revolution.
• First Governor of the Commonwealth - John Hancock was the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• U.S. Constitution - On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
• Slavery - According to a 1790 census, Massachusetts had a zero population of slaves.
• District of Maine - On March 15, 1820, Maine was separated from Massachusetts, of which it had been a non-contiguous part, and entered the Union as the 23rd State. (See Missouri Compromise)
• Massachusetts contains many historic houses.
• Invention of sports:

• Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts.
• Volleyball was invented in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
• The earliest reference to Baseball was also in Massachusetts, in Pittsfield.

Economy

Crane & Co. in Dalton, Massachusetts produces the paper for Federal Reserve notes

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $39,504, making the state the 4^th wealthiest in the nation.

Its agricultural outputs are seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, cranberries, and vegetables. Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, scientific instruments, printing, and publishing. Thanks largely to the Ocean Spray cooperative, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry producing state in the union (after Wisconsin). Other sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, health care, financial services and tourism.

See also: Massachusetts locations by per capita income

Demographics

Population

Historical populations
Census year	Population
1790	378,787
1800	422,845
1810	472,040
1820	523,287
1830	610,408
1840	737,699
1850	994,514
1860	1,231,066
1870	1,457,351
1880	1,783,085
1890	2,238,947
1900	2,805,346
1910	3,366,416
1920	3,852,356
1930	4,249,614
1940	4,316,721
1950	4,690,514
1960	5,148,578
1970	5,689,170
1980	5,737,037
1990	6,016,425
2000	6,349,097

The population of Massachusetts in 2004 was 6,416,505 according to the US Census Bureau. There were 881,400 foreign-born residents living in the state in 2004. Since 1990 the population has increased 400,000, a growth of 6.7%

The bulk of the state's population surrounds Greater Boston, with approximately 5,800,000 people, and the North and South Shores. Historically, the coast has been much more urban than Western Massachusetts, which is very rural, save for the cities of Springfield and Worcester.

Race and Ancestry

The racial makeup of Massachusetts:

• 81.9% White
• 6.8% Hispanic
• 5.4% Black
• 3.8% Asian
• 0.2% Native American
• 2.3% Mixed race

The five largest reported ancestries in Massachusetts are: Irish (22.5%), Italian (13.5%), English (11.4%), French (8%), German (5.9%).

Massachusetts is the most Irish state in the nation and the only state in which people of Irish ancestry (especially in the Boston suburbs) are a plurality. Massachusetts Yankees of English ancestry still have strong presence in the state, including in Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. Franco-Bay Staters are the largest group in much of western and central Massachusetts. Boston has a large African-American population and its largest immigrant group is Haitians. Fall River and New Bedford on the south coast have large populations of people with Portuguese and Brazilian heritages, with a growing Brazilian population in the Boston area. Census figures become less reliable due to the large, partly undocumented Brazilian population, estimated by some studies to approach 250,000 in Massachusetts. Census data does not account for this significant segment of the community because of confusing terminology, as Brazilians speak Portuguese and often do not consider themselves specifically Hispanic, Latino, White or African American. Lowell, in the northeast of the state, is home to the second largest Cambodian (Khmer) community in the country, outside of Long Beach, California. Although most of the Native Americans were decimated by disease and warfare, the Wampanoag tribe maintains a reservation at Aquinnah, on Martha's Vineyard and a non-recognized reservation at Mashpee. The Nipmuck maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state.

Religion

Although Massachusetts was initially founded and settled by staunch Protestants (Puritan separatists) in the 17th Century and remained a majority-White Anglo Saxon Protestant state for most of its history, it has since become the second most Catholic state in the Union (second only to next-door Rhode Island in its percentage of Catholic population) due to massive Catholic immigration (especially from Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Quebec, Puerto Rico) over the years. Christian Science began in Massachusetts. Today nearly half of the residents of Massachusetts are Roman Catholics and Protestants make up less than one-third of the state's population. The descendants of the Puritans are the Congregational/United Church of Christ members, who remain prominent in the state. Massachusetts also has one of the nation's largest Unitarian Universalist populations. Both of these denominations are noted for their strong support of social justice, civil rights, and moral issues, including strong and early advocacy of abolition of slavery, women's liberation, and legal recognition of gay marriage, though this may differ from their historical practices.

The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts (as of 2001) are shown in the table below:

• Christian – 79%
  • Catholic – 47%
  • Protestant – 31%
    • Congregational/United Church of Christ – 4%
    • Baptist – 4%
    • Episcopal – 3%
    • Methodist – 2%
    • Pentecostal – 2%
    • Other Protestant or general Protestant – 16%
  • Other Christian – 1%
• Jewish – 2%
• Unitarian – 1%
• Other Religions – 1%
• Non-Religious – 17%

Government

File:MassachusettsStateHouse.JPG

State House (Boston)

Main article: Massachusetts Government

See also: Massachusetts Constitution and Governor of Massachusetts

The capital of Massachusetts is Boston and the current governor is His Excellency Mitt Romney (Republican). All governors of Massachusetts are given the title His Excellency, a carry-over from the Commonwealth's British past, despite titles being uncommon in American political traditions. The state does not maintain an official governor's residence. Massachusetts's two U.S. senators are Edward Kennedy (Democrat) and John Kerry (Democrat); as of the 2001 redistricting, Massachusetts has ten seats in the United States House of Representatives (all Democratic), giving Massachusetts the largest one-party delegation in Congress (i.e. twelve Democrats). The state legislature is formally styled the "Great and General Court" and is manned mostly by Democrats; the highest court is the "Supreme Judicial Court."

Legal holidays observed

Date	Holiday
January 1	New Year's Day
3rd Monday in January	Martin Luther King Day
3rd Monday in February	Washington's Birthday
March 17	Evacuation Day*
3rd Monday in April	Patriot's Day
Last Monday in May	Memorial Day
June 17	Bunker Hill Day*
July 4	Independence Day
1st Monday in September	Labor Day
2nd Monday in October	Columbus Day
November 11	Veteran's Day
4th Thursday in November	Thanksgiving Day
December 25	Christmas

Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday.

* Celebrated only in Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop) and the city of Somerville.

Politics

"Banned in Boston"

During the first half of the 1900s Boston was socially conservative, and strongly under the influence of Methodist minister J. Frank Chase and his New England Watch and Ward Society, founded in 1878. In 1903, the Old Corner Bookstore was raided and fined for selling Boccaccio's Decameron. Howard Johnson's got its start when Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude was banned in Boston, and the production had to be moved to Quincy. In 1927, works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson were removed from bookstore shelves. "Banned in Boston" on a book's cover could actually boost sales. Burlesque artists such as Sally Rand needed to modify their act when performing at Boston's Old Howard. The clean version of a performance used to be known as the "Boston version." By 1929, the Watch and Ward society was perceived to be in decline when it failed in its attempt to ban Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, but as late as 1935 it succeeded in banning Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour. Censorship was enforced by city officials, notably the "city censor" within the Boston Licensing Division. That position was held by Richard J. Sinnott from 1959 until the office was abolished on March 2, 1982. In modern times, few of such puritanical social mores persist.

Liberal reputation

Massachusetts has a since gained a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. These liberal tendencies of Massachusetts extend throughout American history: in the 19th century, Massachusetts was a center of abolitionism, having been the first state to abolish slavery by law. During the Colonial period, Massachusetts was one of the leading states in the fight for independence.

Massachusetts is the home of the Kennedy family of political fame, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections. As of 2005, it is by far the largest U.S. state represented by only one party in the U.S. Congress. Although Republicans have held the governor's office continuously since 1991, many of these (especially William Weld, the first of the recent lineage of Republican governors) are considered among the most progressive Republicans in the nation. Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions.

In presidential elections, Massachusetts supported Republicans until 1912, from 1916 through 1924, in the 1950s, and in 1980 and 1984. From 1988 through 2004, Massachusetts has supported Democratic presidential candidates, giving native son John Kerry his largest margin of victory among states with a 25 percentage point margin and 61.9% of the vote. Every county in the Commonwealth supported the Democratic candidate.

Defamation of the Commonwealth

In 2002, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania partially blamed the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal on Boston saying "...it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." These remarks resurfaced in July of 2005 when an editorial in the Boston Globe republished Santorum's comments. Although he was heavily criticized for his remarks, Santorum not only refused to apologize, but, on August 1 2005 he complained that Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts "did nothing" about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002. "They spoke nothing. They sat by and let this happen," Santorum said.

During the 2004 Presidential Election, Massachusetts was the target of many GOP regionalist attacks along the campaign trail. When informed that the Democratic National Convention would be in Boston, House Majority Leader Dick Armey remarked, "If I were a Democrat, I suspect I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in Boston than, say, America." While campaigning in the western part of the country, President Bush would often jab, "My opponent says he's in touch with the West, but sometimes I think he means Western Massachusetts." The stump speech that he used at many of his campaign stops included many such remarks directed at Massachusetts and New England in general.

Contemporary political issues

Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first (and heretofore only) state to issue same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004. See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Famous politicians and public figures

• John Adams, 1st Vice President of the U.S., 2nd President of the U.S., 1800 Federalist presidential nominee
• John Quincy Adams, Congressman, Senator, 6th President of the U.S.
• Samuel Adams, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
• George H. W. Bush, 43rd Vice President of the U.S., 41st President of the U.S.
• Calvin Coolidge, 29th Vice President of the U.S., 30th President of the U.S.
• Michael Dukakis, Governor, 1988 Democratic presidential nominee
• Benjamin Franklin, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
• Elbridge Gerry, Congressman, Governor, 5th Vice President of the U.S., namesake of gerrymandering
• John Hancock, Governor, President of the Continental Congress
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Supreme Court Justice
• James Michael Curley, Governor, Congressman, Mayor of Boston
• Edward M. Kennedy, incumbent U.S. Senator, 1980 Democratic presidential candidate
• John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator, 35th President of the U.S.
• Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (representing New York), 1968 Democratic presidential candidate
• John F. Kerry, Lt. Governor, incumbent U.S. Senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee
• Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Theodore Sedgwick, President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator, 1992 Democratic presidential candidate
• Henry Wilson, U.S. Senator, 18th Vice President of the U.S.

Massachusetts cities, towns and counties

Prominent roads and cities in Massachusetts

Main article: Massachusetts Government § Local government

There are 50 cities and 301 towns in Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties.

Massachusetts shares with the five other New England states, plus New York and New Jersey, a governmental structure known as the New England town.

Education and research

Boston College

The central role of education

Massachusetts contains only 2.5% of the U.S. population, but is home to many of its most renowned preparatory schools, colleges, and universities[1] (see full list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts). Eight Boston-area institutions (Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and UMass/Boston) are recognized research universities; in the eyes of many they became engines of economic growth following World War II, and currently contribute $7 billion annually to the local economy [2]. The population of metropolitan Boston surges noticeably during the school year due to the concentration of colleges and universities in the area (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston).

Prominent colleges and universities

According to U.S. News & World Report, five of the nation's top-50 national universities are located in Massachusetts:

• Boston College
• Brandeis University
• Harvard University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
• Tufts University.

Massachusetts is also home to some of the nation's top-50 liberal arts colleges:

• Amherst College
• College of the Holy Cross
• Mount Holyoke College
• Smith College
• Wellesley College
• Emerson College, and
• Williams College.

Public schools

Massachusetts is known for having one of the best public school systems in the nation. It has one of the lowest high-school dropout rates in the nation and is tied with New Jersey for having the 2nd highest percentage of students who go on to college after high-school. It is also one of the highest scoring states on advanced placement tests. In 2004, Massachusetts' high school students ranked 1st in the nation for test scores relating to the fields of math and science.

Professional sports

• Baseball
  • Boston Red Sox
  • Cape Cod Baseball League
  • Lowell Spinners
  • North Shore Spirit
  • Brockton Rox
  • Worcester Tornadoes
• Basketball
  • Boston Celtics
  • Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield)
• Football
  • New England Patriots
• Hockey
  • Boston Bruins
  • Lowell Lock Monsters
  • Springfield Falcons
• Lacrosse
  • Boston Cannons
• Soccer
  • New England Revolution
  • Western Mass Pioneers
• Volleyball
  • Volleyball Hall of Fame (Holyoke)

Trivia

The Commonwealth's nickname is the Bay State. Other nicknames are the Old Colony State, and less commonly the Puritan state and the Baked Bean state. On December 18, 1990, the Legislature decided that the people of the Commonwealth would be designated as Bay Staters.

The United States Postal Service abbreviation for Massachusetts is MA and its traditional abbreviation is Mass.

Seven ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Massachusetts in honor of this state.

When the Governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the office of Governor remains vacant (for the rest of the 4 year term), the Lieutenant Governor doesn't succeed, only decharges powers & duties as Acting Governor (for rest of the 4 year term).

See also

• Moxie
• Patriot's Day
• Puritanism and Transcendentalism
• Salem Witch Trials
• Thanksgiving

For historical context, see:

• Governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Colonial America
• Slavery in Colonial America
• American Revolution
• History of the United States

References

• Bond, C. Lawrence, Native Names of New England Towns and Villages Translating 145 Names Derived from Native American Words, privately published by Bond, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1991

External links

• State web site
• Maps of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Obituary Links Page
• GenealogyBuff.com - Massachusetts Library of Files
• Historic descriptions of Massachusetts cities, towns, mountains, lakes, and rivers

United States