Massachusetts is a northeastern state in the USA, with Boston as its capital and largest city. It has a small area but a high population density. The state was named after the Massachusett community, and its history includes the founding of Plymouth Colony by Pilgrims in 1621 and rebellion against colonial policy. Massachusetts joined the Union in 1788 and has various state emblems, including the Mayflower, Boston Terrier, and Boston Crème Pie.
Massachusetts is one of the fifty states that make up the United States of America and one of six New England states in the northeastern part of the country, along with Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by New York to the west, Vermont and New Hampshire to the north, Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to the southeast and east. Boston is the capital and largest city. Other major cities in Massachusetts are Worcester, Springfield, Lowell and Cambridge.
Massachusetts is 45th among the 50 states by size with an area of 7,840.02 square miles (20,305.56 square km), but ranks 13th in population at 6,349,097 in the 2000 census. It is fourth among the states in population density. The correct name for a resident of Massachusetts is a Massachusetts.
The earliest inhabitants of the state were Paleo-Indians first, followed by Native Americans of the Algonquian language group. Among them was the community of Massachusett, after which the state is named. It is said to mean “at or around the Great Hill”, referring to the region of the Great Blue Hill where they lived.
Plymouth Colony was founded by Pilgrims in what is now Massachusetts in 1621, with government organized by the famous “Mayflower Compact”. They bonded with the local Wampanoag community and celebrated the first Thanksgiving with them. More colonies were established, including the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Strict colonial policy on England’s part led to rebellion, which resulted in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, and led to such acts as the famous Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. On April 19, 1775, Paul Revere made his famous rush to warn the colonists, and the battles of Lexington and Concord begin, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.
Massachusetts joined the Union on February 6, 1788, the sixth of the original thirteen states to do so. Elements of its history are commemorated in some of its state coats of arms. For example, the state seal depicts a Native American of the Algonquin Nation, holding a bow and arrow in a gesture indicating peaceful intentions, surmounted by a gold right arm holding a broadsword and with the motto, Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem, which means, “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.” The state flower is, fittingly, the Mayflower. And the state is one of the few to have a “historic state rock” – Plymouth Rock.
Other Massachusetts state emblems feature elements currently associated with the state:
State dog: Boston Terrier
State Donut: Boston Crème
State drink: cranberry juice
State Muffins: Corn Muffins
State Bean: Navy Bean — cast for his role in the Boston Baked Beans
State dessert: Boston Crème Pie
State Cookie: Chocolate Chip Cookie — the cookie from the Toll House Restaurant, developed in Whitman, Massachusetts in the 1930s.
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