The maritime trade dominated Massachusetts’s economy for 200 years because of the state’s poor agriculture. “Massachusetts went to sea…not of choice, but of necessity,” wrote historian Samuel Eliot Morison in The Maritime History of Massachusetts (1921). Also of importance to Massachusetts sailors was the West Indies trade, a paramount market for New England goods. It was from the profits of the maritime trade that great fortunes were made by families who became known as the Brahmins. After the War of 1812, these merchant families used their profits as capital to bring the Industrial Revolution ... (100 of 7,543 words)Manufacturing, trade, and other services
1Excluding military abroad. 2Original state; date shown is that of ratification of Constitution. 3The wild turkey is the state game bird. | |
| Capital | Boston |
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| Population1 | (2010) 6,547,629; (2013 est.) 6,692,824 |
| Total area (sq mi) | 8,262 |
| Total area (sq km) | 21,398 |
| Governor | Charlie Baker (Republican) |
| State nickname | Bay State Old Colony State |
| Date of admission | Feb. 6, 17882 |
| State motto | "Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem (By the Sword We Seek Peace, But Peace Only Under Liberty)" |
| State bird3 | black-capped chickadee wild turkey |
| State flower | mayflower (trailing arbutus) |
| State song | “All Hail to Massachusetts” |
| U.S. senators | Ed Markey (Democrat) Elizabeth Warren (Democrat) |
| Seats in U.S. House of Representatives | 9 (of 435) |
| Time zone | Eastern (GMT − 5 hours) |
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Boats in a harbour, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
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New England.
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Berkshire Hills in autumn, western Massachusetts.
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Farmland along the Connecticut River near Sunderland, Mass.
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Waterfront at Newburyport, northeastern Massachusetts, U.S.
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Fisherman’s Memorial, Gloucester, Mass.
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Workers in a cranberry bog, Plymouth, Mass.
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Massachusetts State House, Boston.
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Old State House, Boston.
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College Row, Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.
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Chapin Hall, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
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Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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Quincy Market and (right) Faneuil Hall, Boston.
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John F. Kennedy Museum and Library, Boston.
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House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Mass.
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Seamen’s Bethel (chapel), New Bedford, Mass.
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The Old Manse, Concord, Mass.
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Fenway Park, Boston.
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Mayflower II, replica of the original Mayflower, Plymouth, Mass.
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Minuteman Statue, Lexington, Mass.
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Boott Cotton Mills, Lowell, Mass., mid-19th century.
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View of Boston, with the Charles River and Cambridge, Mass. (left-central background).
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Boston region.
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Results of the American presidential election, 2004
Presidential Candidate Political Party Electoral Votes Popular Votes George W. Bush Republican 286 62,028,285 John Kerry Democratic 251 59,028,109 Ralph Nader Independent 463,647 Michael Badnarik Libertarian 397,234 Michael Peroutka Constitution 143,609 David Cobb Green 119,862 Leonard Peltier Peace and Freedom 27,607 Walter F. Brown Independent 10,822 John Edwards (not a candidate) 1 Source: Federal Election Commission. -
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A discussion concerning one of the world’s greatest art collections, from the documentary Collective Vision: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
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An overview of the Children’s Museum in Boston, from the documentary Mind over Matter: The Boston Children’s Museum.
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Views of freedom among Native Americans and the Pilgrim and Puritan colonies.