Massachusetts
wild turkey | fish = Cod | flower = Mayflower | insect = Ladybug | mammal = Right whale, Morgan horse, Tabby cat, Boston Terrier | reptile = Garter snake | tree = American elm | beverage = Cranberry juice | colors = Blue, green, cranberry | dance = Square dance | food = Cranberry, corn muffin, navy bean, Boston cream pie, chocolate chip cookie, Boston cream doughnut | fossil = Dinosaur Tracks | gemstone = Rhodonite | mineral = Babingtonite | poem = Blue Hills of Massachusetts | rock = Roxbury Puddingstone | shell = New England Neptune, ''Neptunea lyrata decemcostata'' | ship = ''Schooner Ernestina'' | slogan = ''Make It Yours'',''The Spirit of America'' | soil = Paxton | sport = Basketball | image_route = MA Route 28.svg | image_quarter = 2000 MA Proof.png | quarter_release_date = 2000 }} Massachusetts (, ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York to its west. Massachusetts is the sixth-smallest state by land area. With over seven million residents as of 2020, it is the most populous state in New England, the 16th-most-populous in the country, and the third-most densely populated, after New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization. The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims of the ''Mayflower''. In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, taking its name from the Indigenous Massachusett people, also established settlements in Boston and Salem. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that later led to the American Revolution. In 1786, Shays' Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing, and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. Before the American Civil War, the state was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. During the 20th century, the state's economy shifted from manufacturing to services; and in the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology, and also excels in artificial intelligence, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.
The state's capital and most populous city, as well as its cultural and financial center, is Boston. Other major cities are Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge. Massachusetts is also home to the urban core of Greater Boston, the largest metropolitan area in New England and a region profoundly influential upon American history, academia, and the research economy. Massachusetts has a reputation for social and political progressivism; becoming the only U.S. state with a right to shelter law, and the first U.S. state, and one of the earliest jurisdictions in the world, to legally recognize same-sex marriage. Boston is considered a hub of LGBT culture and activism in the United States. Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, with the largest financial endowment of any university in the world. Both Harvard and MIT, also in Cambridge, are perennially ranked as either the most or among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts's public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.
Massachusetts is the most educated and one of the most highly developed and wealthiest U.S. states, ranking first in the percentage of population 25 and over with either a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, first on both the American Human Development Index and the standard Human Development Index, first in per capita income, and as of 2023, first in median income. Consequently, Massachusetts typically ranks as the top U.S. state, as well as the most expensive state, for residents to live in. Provided by Wikipedia
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Published 1929
“...Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of Massachusetts...”
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Published 1775
“...Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Oct.-Dec. 1774...”
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“...Massachusetts. General Court....”
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Published 1963
“...University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Center for Equal Education....”
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“...Phi Beta Kappa. Massachusetts Alpha (Harvard University)....”
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Published 1908
“...United States Census Office 1st Census, 1790. Massachusetts...”
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Published 1834
“...Massachusetts. General Court. Committee on the Library....”
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Published 1908
“...United States Census Office 1st Census, 1790. Massachusetts...”
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“...Massachusetts Temperance Convention...”
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Published 1796
“...Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture....”
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Connect online to the Making of the Modern World (The Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature)
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Published 1793
“...Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture....”
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Published 1770
“...Massachusetts. General Court. House of Representatives....”
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Get full text
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Published 1836
“...Massachusetts. General Court. House of Representatives....”
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“...Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association....”
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“...Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance...”
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“...Massachusetts. General Court....”
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Published 1813
“...United States District Courts Massachusetts...”
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“...Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts....”
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“...Convention of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts....”
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