Federated state of the USA (21,465 km 2 with 6,497,967 inhabitants in 2008), one of the 13 originating in the Union, the most populous and the most important of the 6 that make up the New England. Capital Boston. It extends between the mountains Appalachian and the Atlantic, including the broad, prominent scythe of Cape Cod and the islands facing it in Nantucket Sound. The climate is characterized by harsh winters and quite hot summers; abundant rainfall is concentrated in the first summer. Boston is the economic and cultural hub of the state, one of the richest and most advanced in the federation. Agriculture, despite having limited economic importance, is characterized by good production, in horticulture and fruit growing, often practiced in greenhouses. The woods cover two thirds of the territory; active fishing (port of Gloucester). The main industrial sectors are electronics, mechanics and textiles (cotton and wool mills).
According to abbreviationfinder, the history of Massachusetts began on 21 December 1620 with the landing of 102 emigrants, i Pilgrim Fathers, followed in 1629 by another 900 Puritans, led by J. Winthrop. The first period saw the hard struggle of the settlers against the harshness of the soil, the recurring threat of the natives, the pressure of other religious groups: a struggle which, conducted in agreement with the other Nordic colonies (Connecticut, Plymouth, New Haven : the confederation of New England, 1643), gave Massachusetts the most important place in the work of colonization and placed it on a level of autonomy in front of the English Crown, which bordered on actual independence. Hence a series of conflicts, of which the best known episode is the conflict between the royal prosecutor E. Andros and I. Mather, which led in 1688 to a revolt and the imprisonment of Andros. The compromise of 1691 gave Massachusetts a new charter, but also a royal governor. The first half of the 18th century. it was a period of transition from primitive puritan rigidity and intransigence to a more modern and flexible life. The strong industrial and commercial aristocracy of Massachusetts was born, which lived its heroic period in the struggle for independence. Organized as a state since 1776, Massachusetts immediately entered the federation; accepted the Constitution of Philadelphia and – home of J. Adams and JQ Adams – it was the stronghold of the federalists until 1815. Meanwhile, Boston was filled with a splendid cultural life.
According to countryaah, Massachusetts has the following main cities:
Boston
City of the USA (599.351 residents In 2007), capital of Massachusetts, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in the homonymous vast bay, animated by river estuaries (Neponset, Charles, Mystic) and peninsulas (on the central one, Trimountain or Tremont, the first urban nucleus was formed), connected to each other by bridges and underwater tunnels. The development of the city has given rise to a vast metropolitan area (with over 4,425,000 residents), Where the eastern and southern districts host most of the tertiary and industrial activities, while the western and northern ones perform predominantly residential functions. Traditional manufacturing activities concern the engineering, chemical, textile, food, publishing and clothing sectors; high-tech productions (concentrated along Route 128, similar in importance to the Silicon Valley Californian) and tertiary (financial) activities. Traditional market of wool, leather and imported raw materials, Boston is a notable port and hub of land communications.
Boston was founded by a group of English Protestants led by John Winthrop and landed in June 1630. It maintained its strictly puritanical character as long as the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company remained in force, which guaranteed the city almost absolute freedom. In 1684 the English Crown imposed a colonial governor by royal appointment and his power prevailed more and more, as an aristocracy was formed eager to model itself on that of the motherland. The reaction and the desire for autonomy, increased by maritime and commercial competition, manifested themselves in the twenty revolutionary years (1761-84), when Boston resisted the Parliament that imposed new taxes and the massacre of B.took place. (1770), bloody conflict between the population and the royal troops.
On December 16, 1773, a group of citizens threw the cargo of tea of three English merchant ships (B. teaparty) overboard, starting the struggle for independence. General T. Gage then landed with numerous troops, but captained by G. Washington the rebels forced the English to abandon Boston forever. In the meantime, a new bourgeois class was affirming itself, enriching itself with the trafficking of fast sailing ships (clippers) and the first steamships. Families of large wealth and refined culture gave the city a conservative but also liberal character. Boston enlivened the Secession war with his spirit, but his interests as a city were not unrelated to the opposition to slavery. Many illustrious names in US political and cultural history come from the Bostonian liberal upper class.
Boston retains some buildings from the colonial era: Christ Church (1723); Old State House (1748); Faneuil Hall (1762-63, rebuilt in 1890); King’s Chapel (1749-58, P. Harrison). Between the end of the 18th century. and 1872, the year of a devastating fire, the city made use of the work of important architects such as C. Bulfinch (State House, 1793-1800; Harrison Gray Otis Houses, 1796-1806), A. Parris (St Paul’s Church, 1819; Quincy Market, 1825), A. Gilman (Hotel Pelham, 1857) and Gridley JF Bryant (Old City Hall, 1865). The major enterprises of the subsequent building renovation include some important institutions, such as the Boston Public Library (1890, McKim), the second largest in the USA; the I. Stewart Gardner Museum (1903); the Museum of Fine Arts (1915, G. Lowell). An intense project activity has always characterized and renewed the city: City Hall (1967, Kallman, McKinnell & Knowles); Boston State Service Center (1973, P. Rudolph); John Hancock Tower (1976, LM Pei); extension of the Museum of Fine Arts (1981, LM Pei); Genzyme Center (2003, Behnisch Architects); Institute of Contemporary Art (2006, Diller, Scofidio and Renfro).
Cambridge
City of the United States in the state of Massachusetts, located near the Atlantic on the left bank of the Charles River, in contrast to Boston with which it is joined by numerous bridges forming with it a single urban organism. Founded in 1630 with the name of New Towne on the initiative of Governor Winthrop, the following year the inhabitants moved to the contiguous islet of Shawmut, founding Boston in a more suitable position for settlement. In the following years, some ancient alumni of the English University of Cambridge founded a school (College) which was called New Cambridge, a name that was assumed by the center, which soon (1636) increased due to the donation of the library and its goods made by the Puritan pastor John Harvard; it therefore took from him the name of Harvard College, beyond which the Radcliffe College (for women), the Episcopal theological school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Andover Theological Seminary are to be remembered. The first printing house in the United States was founded here in 1639. The city is usually divided into five parts: Old Cambridge, North Cambridge, East Cambridge, Cambridgeport, Mount Auburn. Cambridge has always retained the characteristic of a cultural center even afterwards; only in recent years has industrial activity come to prevail, transforming the quiet city of study into one of the most economically active centers in the state. Still in 1850 Cambridge had just 500 workers and 15,215 inhabitants (1790: 2115 residents And 1830: 6072). The subsequent increase is partly due to the reclamation of the marshy area next to the city, partly to the development of communications (1912: underground railway leading to Boston in 10 minutes); the inhabitants rose to 39,634 in 1870, to 91,886 in 1900, to 109,694 in 1920 (of which 5334 Negri). In 1927 the population was 123,900. Industry (355 factories) is now above all important for the art of printing, electric machines, wood, sugar and soap; less for the canned meat industry, connected with livestock. industry (355 factories) is now above all important for the art of printing, electric machines, wood, sugar and soap; less for the canned meat industry, connected with livestock. industry (355 factories) is now above all important for the art of printing, electric machines, wood, sugar and soap; less for the canned meat industry, connected with livestock.
Cambridge preserves several old colonial-style houses, including the residences of JR Lowel, and other scholars and writers; moreover the Vassal-Craigie House, occupied by G. Washington who in Cambridge, under an elm that still stands out, assumed command of the revolutionary troops (1775); and later home of the Longfellow. From the very large commune of Cambridge, Newton broke off in 1691, Lexington in 1713, Brighton in 1837, Arlington in 1846.
