Massachusetts
Massachusetts (/ˌmæsəˈtʃuːsɪts/ , /-zɪts/ MASS-ə-CHOO-sits, -zits; Massachusett: Muhsachuweesut [məhswatʃəwiːsət]), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,[b] 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,[note 1] 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.
This article is about the U.S. state. For the Indigenous people, see Massachusett. For other uses, see Massachusetts (disambiguation).
Massachusetts
February 6, 1788 (6th)
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Kim Driscoll (D)
Elizabeth Warren (D)
Ed Markey (D)
9 Democrats (list)
10,565[2] sq mi (27,363 km2)
7,800[3] sq mi (20,202 km2)
2,715 sq mi (7,032 km2) 26.1%
190 mi (296 km)
115 mi (184 km)
508 ft (150 m)
3,489 ft (1,063.4 m)
0 ft (0 m)
7,001,399[5]
891/sq mi (344/km2)
$89,026[6]
- English 75.00%
- Spanish 9.55%
- Portuguese 3.43%
- Chinese 2.05%[12]
Mass.
41°14′ N to 42°53′ N
69°56′ W to 73°30′ W
Make It Yours,
The Spirit of America[15]
New England Neptune, Neptunea lyrata decemcostata[13][40]
Basketball[41]
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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.[43] In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty"[44] 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.[45] Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing, and trade,[46] Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution.[47] Before the American Civil War, the state was a center for the abolitionist, temperance,[48] and transcendentalist[49] movements.[50] During the 20th century, the state's economy shifted from manufacturing to services;[51] and in the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology,[52] and also excels in artificial intelligence,[53] engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.[54]
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.[55] Massachusetts has a reputation for social and political progressivism;[56] 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.[57] 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,[58] with the largest financial endowment of any university in the world.[59] 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.[60] Massachusetts's public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.[61]
Massachusetts is the most educated[62] 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.[62] Consequently, Massachusetts typically ranks as the top U.S. state, as well as the most expensive state, for residents to live in.[63]
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The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the Indigenous population, the Massachusett or Muhsachuweesut, whose name likely derived from a Wôpanâak word muswachasut, segmented as mus(ây) "big" + wach "mountain" + -s "diminutive" + -ut "locative".[64] This word has been translated as "near the great hill",[65] "by the blue hills", "at the little big hill", or "at the range of hills", in reference to the Blue Hills—namely, the Great Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton.[66][67] Massachusett has also been represented as Moswetuset. This comes from the name of the Moswetuset Hummock (meaning "hill shaped like an arrowhead") in Quincy, where Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish (a hired English military officer) and Squanto (a member of the Patuxet band of the Wamponoag people, who have since died off due to contagious diseases brought by colonizers) met Chief Chickatawbut in 1621.[68][69]
Although the designation "Commonwealth" forms part of the state's official name, it has no practical implications in modern times,[70] and Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states.[71] John Adams may have chosen the word in 1779 for the second draft of what became the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution; unlike the word "state", the word "commonwealth" had the connotation of a republic at the time. This was in contrast to the monarchy the former colonies were fighting against during the American Revolutionary War. The name "State of Massachusetts Bay" appeared in the first draft, which was ultimately rejected. It was also chosen to include the "Cape Islands" in reference to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket—from 1780 to 1844, they were seen as additional and separate entities confined within the Commonwealth.[72]
