Discover Massachusetts – The sixth state of the original thirteen states of the USA

Massachusetts was the sixth state to be ratified in the Constitution on February 6, 1788. 

The first 13 states of the United States of America were comprised of the original British colonies established between 17th and 18th centuries.

Today, the American flag prominently displays 13 horizontal red and white stripes representing the original thirteen colonies.

Fast Facts

• Nickname: The Bay State
• Statehood: 1788; 6th state
• Capital: Boston
• Biggest City: Boston
• Abbreviation: MA
• State Bird: Black-capped chickadee
• State Flower: Mayflower

History

• People started living in what’s now called Massachusetts about 12,000 years ago, when retreating glaciers uncovered the land. Some artifacts have even been discovered in lakes and rivers created by melting glaciers. Thousands of years later Native American tribes including the Wampanoag, Mohegan, and Mohican lived on the land.
• In 1620 a ship called the Mayflower arrived at Cape Cod carrying settlers called Pilgrims. These people were escaping religious persecution in England and created the first permanent European settlement in New England, called Plymouth. Soon after the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving with members of the Wampanoag tribe, which still exists in Massachusetts today.
• Massachusetts has been the scene of many historical events. In 1639 America’s first post office opened in Boston. In 1692 and 1693, untrue rumors led to witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts. And in 1876 Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the first telephone.
• Massachusetts may be most historically significant for the role its people played in the Revolutionary War. Anger erupted in 1770 after five colonists were killed by British soldiers in what’s known as the Boston Massacre. Three years later, colonists disguised as Native Americans threw cases of tea into Boston Harbor to protest high taxes from England. The event is now known as the Boston Tea Party. In 1775 the Battles of Lexington and Concord became the first fight of the Revolutionary War. The movement of the British troops prompted silversmith Paul Revere to make his famous midnight ride to warn the colonists. Five years after the war ended, Massachusetts became the sixth U.S. state in 1788.

Why is it called Massachusetts?

• Massachusetts’ name might come from the Massachusett tribe, whose name can be translated to “near the great hill” or “near the range of hills.” It refers to the Blue Hills, southwest of Boston.
• The state’s nickname the Bay State may originate from its many bays, or it might refer to the Massachusetts Bay Company, which was given a royal charter to colonize the land.

Geography

• Massachusetts is a New England state bordered by New Hampshire and Vermont in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the east, Rhode Island and Connecticut in the south, and New York in the west.
• What looks like a big hook in Massachusetts’ eastern coastline is actually land created by glaciers that exposed many rocky bays. Called the Coastal Lowland, this hilly, wet area includes Cape Cod Bay, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Nantucket Islands.