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==Economy==
==Economy==
[[Image:USCurrency Federal Reserve.jpg|thumb|150px|right| [[Crane & Co.]] in [[Dalton, Massachusetts]] produces the paper-like silk material used for printing [[Federal Reserve note]]s]]
[[Image:USCurrency Federal Reserve.jpg|thumb|150px|right| [[Crane & Co.]] in [[Dalton, Massachusetts]] produces the paper material used for printing U. S. [[Federal Reserve note]]s]]
[http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. Per capita personal income in 2004 was $42,102, making it the 2nd highest in the country behind Connecticut.
[http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. Per capita personal income in 2004 was $42,102, making it the 2nd highest in the country behind Connecticut.


Revision as of 18:19, 21 February 2006

Massachusetts
State
CountryUnited States
Admitted to the UnionFebruary 6, 1788 (6th)
CapitalBoston
Largest cityBoston
Government
 • GovernorMitt Romney (R)
 • Upper house{{{Upperhouse}}}
 • Lower house{{{Lowerhouse}}}
U.S. senatorsEdward Kennedy (D), John Kerry (D)
Population
 • Total6,349,097
Language
 • Official languageEnglish
Traditional abbreviationMass.
Latitude41°10'N to 42°53'N
Longitude68°57'W to 73°30'W

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

Name

Mass-achu-sets

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous population, the Massachusett, whose name can be segmented as mass-achu-sets, where mass is "great", achu is "hill" and sets is a locative suffix. It has been translated as "at the great hill," "at the place of large hills," or "at the range of hills," with reference to the Blue Hills, or in particular, Great 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." Colloquially, it is often refered to simply as "the Commonwealth," although "state" is used interchangeably.

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: Geography of Massachusetts

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

Main article: History of Massachusetts

Economy

Crane & Co. in Dalton, Massachusetts produces the paper material used for printing U. S. 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 2004 was $42,102, making it the 2nd highest in the country behind Connecticut.

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

As of 2005, Massachusetts has an estimated population of 6,398,743, which is a decrease of 8,639, or 0.1%, from the prior year and an increase of 49,638, or 0.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 131,329 people (that is 426,232 births minus 294,903 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 73,741 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 162,674 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 236,415 people.

The population of Massachusetts in 2004 included 881,400 foreign-born residents.

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.

Massachusetts Population Density Map

Race and Ancestry

The racial makeup of Massachusetts:

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 colonial English ancestry still have strong presence in the small towns. 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. 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 intermarried or died out, the Wampanoag tribe maintains a small 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

Massachusetts was initially founded and settled by staunch Puritans in the 17th century and remained a majority-Yankee state for most of its history. Today Protestants make up less than one-third of the state's population, but have a prominent role in finance, big business, the arts, education, and cultural institutions. Catholics now predominate due to massive immigration from Ireland, Quebec, Italy, Portugal, and Puerto Rico. A large Jewish population came to the Boston area 1880-1920. Mary Baker Eddy made the Boston Mother Church of Christian Science the world headquarters. The descendants of the Puritans belong to many different churches; in the direct line of inheritance are the Congregational/United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist churches. 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 (after 2000) legal recognition of gay marriage.

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

  • 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 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 (Since 1985) 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."

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 since gained a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. 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 totally by 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

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). There are 62 colleges located in the greater Boston area alone. The population of metropolitan Boston, in particular, surges during the school year (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston).


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

Trivia

File:Wiki mass.jpg
Greetings from Massachusetts

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).

The House of Representatives in Massachusetts has a wooden cod, known as the "sacred cod". A wooden cod has hung in the house chamber since the 18th century. It was given to the body by local fisherman as a reminder of that important industry. The cod is filled with superstition to its owning body. In 1933 it was stolen by a group of Harvard students and the House did not sit in session until the cod was returned, while a vast search operation was set underway. It was returned within a week and no one was punished. The Senate has also acquired a fish in part mocking the cod, it is called the "holy mackerel".

The front doors of the state house are only opened when a governor leaves office or a head of state comes to visit the State House. It is also traditionally opened for the return of flags from Massachusetts regiments at the end of wars. The tradition of the ceremonial door originated when leaving governor Benjamin Butler kicked open the front door and walked out by himself in 1884.

See also

For historical context, see:

References

Overviews and Surveys

  • Brown, Richard D. and Jack Tager. Massachusetts: A Concise History (2002)
  • Hall, Donald. ed. The Encyclopedia of New England (2005)
  • WPA. Guide to Massachusetts (1939)

Secondary Sources

  • Abrams, Richard M. Conservatism in a Progressive Era: Massachusetts Politics, 1900-1912 (1964)
  • 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
  • Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century (2001)
  • Cumbler, John T. Reasonable Use: The People, the Environment, and the State, New England, 1790-1930 (1930), environmental history
  • Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere's Ride (1994), 1775 in depth
  • Green, James R., William F. Hartford, and Tom Juravich. Commonwealth of Toil: Chapters in the History of Massachusetts Workers and Their Unions (1996)
  • Huthmacher, J. Joseph. Massachusetts People and Politics, 1919-1933 (1958)
  • Labaree,Benjamin Woods. Colonial Massachusetts: A History (1979)
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860 (1921)
  • Peirce, Neal R. The New England States: People, Politics, and Power in the Six New England States (1976), 1960-75 era
  • Porter, Susan L. Women of the Commonwealth: Work, Family, and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts (1996)
  • Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts (1949), Salem witches
  • Tager, Jack, and John W. Ifkovic, eds. Massachusetts in the Gilded Age: Selected Essays (1985), ethnic groups
  • Zimmerman, Joseph F. The New England Town Meeting: Democracy in Action (1999)

 United States

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