Difference between revisions of "Massachusetts"

Revision as of 14:42, June 26, 2008

{{USState |name=Massachusetts |flag=Massachusetts_State_Flag.gif |

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 |name=Massachusetts
 |flag=Massachusetts_State_Flag.gif
-|motto="Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" (By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty)
+|
-|nick=The Bay State
-|capital=Boston
-|language=English
-|governor=Deval Patrick
-|gparty=Democrat
-|senator1=John Kerry
-|s1party=Democrat
-|senator2=Ted Kennedy
-|s2party=Democrat
-|population=
-|date=February 6, 1788 (6th)
-}}
-The '''Commonwealth of Massachusetts''' is a [[state]] in the [[New England]] region of the northeastern [[United States]].  Its capital city is [[Boston]]. Massachusetts became a state on February 6, 1788. The name is derived from the indigenous population, the "[[Massachusett]]".  It is one of four states officially known as "[[commonwealth]]s"; there are no practical differences between a "commonwealth" and a "state".<ref>The other three are Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. An example of a state which really ''is'' legally different from the others is Louisiana; Louisiana state law is based on the French Napoleonic Code. The other forty-nine states (including the four "commonwealths") derived their state laws from English common law.</ref>
-==History==
-Massachusetts was first settled by the [[Pilgrims]] who emigrated from [[England]] on the ''[[Mayflower]]'' in 1620 and founded a settlement at [[Plymouth Colony|Plymouth]], and later the [[Puritans]], who founded the "Massachusetts Bay Colony".  Both groups came to America seeking religious freedom.  It was also a major center of the [[American Revolution]], as events such as the [[Boston Massacre]] and [[Boston Tea Party]] helped to create a desire for national independence among the colonists.  The first battle of the war was fought mainly in the towns of [[Lexington]] and [[Concord]].  Shortly after the war ended, the western part of the state was marked by [[Shays' Rebellion]], a major factor leading to the [[Constitutional Convention]] in 1787.  Massachusetts was also the first state to abolish slavery in 1783.
-During the 1800s, Massachusetts was marked by increasing industrialization, including the founding of textile mills in towns such as Lowell.  Important historical figures during this time included [[Horace Mann]], an important educational reformer, and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] and [[Henry David Thoreau]], two of the main contributors to the [[Transcendentalism|Transcendental]] movement.
-In the 1900s, Massachusetts moved from a factory-based economy to a more service-based economy, sparked by growth in its local colleges and universities as well as by a collapse in the textile industry during the 1920s.  This encouraged increased suburbanization, leading to the current demographic situation in which the population is concentrated in suburbs around the city of [[Boston]].  In 1987, the state received federal highway funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known colloquially as the [[Big Dig]].  The $14.7 billion grant is the largest federal highway project ever approved.
-==Politics==
-Although once a bastion of social conservatism (the term "Banned in Boston" is still in widespread use) Massachusetts is known as one of the most [[liberal]] states in the Union, being the most populous state to have all-Democratic congressional representation.  It is by some called "Taxachusetts" because of its high tax rate.  Its current senators are [[John Kerry]] (who unsuccessfully ran for [[President]] in 2004) and [[Ted Kennedy]].  Massachusetts was the first state to legalize [[same-sex marriage]].  Although governed by a succession of Republican governors in the 1990s and 2000s ([[William Weld]], [[Paul Cellucci]], [[Jane Swift]] and [[Mitt Romney]]), they have generally been among the most liberal Republican governors in the country{{fact}}.
-The current governor, elected in 2006 over Republican and former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Murphy Healey,<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/governor/patrick/</ref> is [[Deval Patrick|Deval L. Patrick]], who was the first Democrat to take the office in 16 years, and the first African American to win the post.<ref>http://www.mass.gov/</ref><ref>http://www.nndb.com/gov/911/000051758/</ref>
-==Notes and references==
-<references/>
-{{USstates}}
-[[Category:States of the United States]]
-[[Category:Massachusetts]]

Difference between revisions of "Massachusetts"

Revision as of 14:42, June 26, 2008

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