Massachusetts, one of the New England states of the American Union, lies between 41° 14' and 42° 53' N. lat., and between 69° 53' and 73° 32' W. long., and has an area of about 8040 sq. m.—larger than Wales. It is irregular in outline, its greatest length being about 182 and its average breadth 47½ miles. It is bounded on the east by Massachusetts Bay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, from which the state derives its familiar name of the Bay State. The surface is uneven, varying from low plains, near the sea-coast, containing numerous small lakes, to a rolling country in the interior, becoming mountainous as the western boundary is
Copyright 1891 in U.S.
by J. B. Lippincott
Company. approached. This mountainous portion is composed of two distinct ranges, being part of the Green Mountains, which here extend southward from the adjacent state of Vermont. The highest of the peaks is Greylock (3505 feet), but most of them are wooded to the summit, and the scenery, while not grand, is of great beauty. The soil is in many portions, particularly in the east, rocky and sterile, and the state contains several quarries of importance yielding granite and syenite, red sandstone, and valuable marble. Along the river-valleys, however, and in certain other sections the soil is fertile. In 1890 there were 63,638 horses, 256,128 cattle, 51,438 sheep, and 91,483 swine. There were 34,374 farms. The fisheries are the most important in the Union. The produce from cod, mackerel, &c., in 1890 was 5,242,054, that from oysters 257,589.
The rivers, while not important for navigation, are the source of valuable water-power which has been utilised in manufacturing, in the annual output of which the state leads all others, except New York and Pennsylvania. The total number of establishments engaged in manufacturing and allied industries in 1890 was 26,923; the capital invested being over 500,000,000; value of goods made and work done, 888,160,403; number of persons employed, 485,182; total wages paid during the year, about $170,000,000. The chief manufactures are textiles, boots and shoes, food preparations, building materials, clothing, iron and other metallic goods, leather, wooden wares, &c. The leading textile industries are cotton (165 establishments, 5,824,518 spindles), woolen and worsted goods (336 establishments, 780,774 spindles). In 1891 there were 2000 miles of railway in the state.
Massachusetts contains fourteen counties and returns 12 members to congress. The state senate consists of 40, the House of Representatives of 240 members. The executive branch of the government is vested in the governor, who is officially styled the governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and whose title is His Excellency; lieutenant-governor, whose title is His Honour; and an advisory council consisting of eight members chosen by districts. The governor, lieutenant-governor, and heads of the executive departments are elected annually. The cities of the commonwealth must have a population of at least 12,000. The towns (corporate bodies having less than 12,000 pop.) are governed by a board of selectmen elected by popular suffrage in an annual town meeting of all the voters in the town, which meeting also makes appropriations for the maintenance of the different departments of the town government. All judges in the commonwealth are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the council, and hold their office during good behaviour. The active state militia in 1890 numbered 380 officers and 4751 enlisted men, a total of 5131. Besides this active militia all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except exempt persons, are enrolled, and subject to military duty in time of exigency. The number so enrolled on 1st January 1890 was 325,185.
Popular education in Massachusetts, through the system of free public schools, is carried to a very high point. In 1888-89 there were in the cities and towns 7023 public, primary, and grammar schools, and 236 high schools. These are supported at public expense by taxation—tuition and textbooks being free. Besides these there were 485 academies and private schools. The amount raised by taxation and paid for all school purposes was 7,350,604, the average attendance being 270,851. Massachusetts maintains six normal schools, and there are in the state two technical institutes and twelve colleges and universities, the latter including Harvard, Williams College, Amherst College, and Boston University and College. The savings-bank system is under state supervision. In 1889 there were 177 such banks in operation, having deposits amounting to 332,723,688; besides 93 co-operative banks or building loan associations, with assets of $1,601,639.
The leading cities of Massachusetts, with pop. in 1890, are Boston, the chief seaport and capital (446,507); Worcester (84,536), with manufactures in metals and machinery; Springfield (44,164) and Holyoke (35,526), on the Connecticut River, the centre of the paper manufacture; Fall River (74,351), Lowell (77,605), and Lawrence (44,559), devoted to cotton manufacturing; Lynn (55,684), Haverhill (27,322), and Brockton (27,278), boot and shoe centres; Salem (30,735) and New Bedford (40,705), both noted seaports of former days and now possessing extensive cotton-mills; Taunton (25,389), with varied manufactures; Gloucester (24,000), noted for its fisheries; and Cambridge (69,837), near Boston, the seat of Harvard University. The state debt, January 1, 1890, was 28,251,288, protected by a sinking fund of 21,015,939. The aggregate valuation in the cities and towns for purposes of taxation, May 1, 1889, was $2,072,170,863. Pop. (1800) 422,845; (1850) 994,514; (1880) 1,783,085; (1890) 2,238,943.
History.—The coast is supposed to have been visited by Northmen about the year 1000, but the first permanent settlement was made at Plymouth, near Cape Cod, December 22, 1620, by the company of the Pilgrim Fathers (q.v.), who were separatists from the English Church, and who sailed from Plymouth, England, in the ship Mayflower. This settlement became the nucleus of the Plymouth colony. In 1628 a company of Puritans under Endicott settled at Salem upon the coast farther north, and, together with settlements at Boston, Lynn, and elsewhere, became the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The union of these two colonies was accomplished under a new charter granted in 1692. Under this last charter the governor, lieutenant-governor, and secretary were appointed by the king. Prior to this none but the Puritan forms of religion had been permitted in the colony of Massachusetts, and its history had been marked by bitter intolerance and cruel persecutions. Now a system was adopted under which the majority of each town or parish chose the minister, who was maintained by the taxes paid by all alike. No consideration was shown to the minorities, and the old Puritan establishment was virtually continued nearly everywhere. The last vestiges of this union between church and state were not swept away until 1833.
During the early years the colonists suffered great privations from the rigours of the climate, and they were also subjected to troubles with the Indians. They were, however, a hardy and industrious race, and gradually grew in numbers and prosperity. They were involved in the difficulties between England and France in the New World, and in the expeditions against the French in Canada, especially at the first siege of Louisburg (q.v.), the citizen soldiers of Massachusetts performed effective service. After the war of the revolution, begun in Massachusetts in 1776 with the battles at Lexington and Bunker Hill, the colony became one of the original thirteen states of the Union, under the name of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. The second half of the 19th century has witnessed the gradual change of Massachusetts from a purely agricultural to a manufacturing state, until now a majority of the whole population is urban; not, however, because less land is cultivated, but simply because manufactures have increased much faster than agriculture. See J. S. Barry, History of Massachusetts (3 vols. 1855-57).