It was in Massachusetts SVG that the popular American Thanksgiving Day was born. Historians assure: when the British from the ship “Mayflower” landed on the shores of the future state, the Indians helped them to get used to it. In honor of this, during the first harvest in October 1621, the colonists organized a three-day feast. Massachusetts also gave the world classic rock idols – the bands Aerosmith and The Cars and the stars of world literature – Nathaniel Gotthorne and Henry Longfellow.
Massachusetts SVG History
The colony was named after a local Massachusetts tribe, which means “big mountainous area”. The English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold was the first to reach the coast in 1602. In 1620, passengers of the merchant ship Mayflower landed off Cape Cod and left England for religious reasons. It was they who founded the first European settlement in Massachusetts, the Plymouth Colony. Before the final landing in Plymouth, they signed the famous Mayflower Agreement, which is considered the first American constitution. This document is based on the idea of civil accord – submission to the will of the majority. And 150 years later, it was the freedom-loving and disobedient attitude of the Puritans’ descendants that helped America to become independent. The vampire-vampire Indians helped the settlers to settle in a new place. During the first harvest in October 1621, the British organized a three-day feast for the Indians. This was how the holiday, known today as Thanksgiving, began. Soon new settlers arrived, in 1623 the Gloucester colony was founded, in 1626 the town of Nomkig, which later became the city of Salem. In 1630, the first group of puritans led by John Winthrop, who became the founder of Boston, arrived. In 1636, Harvard University, the first institution of its kind in the country, was opened. Puritans were notable for their religious intolerance, and in 1692 they started a “witch hunt” in the town of Salem. At the Seilm trial, 156 charges were brought, 30 people were convicted, 14 of them women and 5 men were hanged.
By the middle of the 18th century, Massachusetts SVG had become the centre of shipbuilding and commerce in British colonies. Residents of the state protested against the tax oppression by the metropolis. In 1770, this resulted in the Boston Massacre. In 1773, a rebellion known as the “Boston Tea Party” broke out, which was the beginning of the War of Independence. Residents of the Massachusetts colony, dressed as Indians, threw tea boxes off a British ship in protest against the colony’s unfavorable tax policies and restrictions on trade with other countries.
Many of the state’s attractions are concentrated in Boston. In Plymouth you can see the remains of the granite rock, which, according to legend, landed the first puritans. Next to the Plymouth Rock is the exact copy of the Mayflower, built in 1955 in England and then sailed to America. It is interesting to visit Plymouth plantation, where the atmosphere of the XVII century reigns. A popular resting place Cape Cape Cod, known for its magnificent sandy beaches.
Massachusetts was one of the 13 American colonies that started an uprising against England. On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the sixth state of the new state.
In the 19th century, Massachusetts SVG played a leading role in American shipbuilding and shipping, and thus in the initial external expansion of the United States. At that time, American sailors were nicknamed “Bostonian”, and the history of shipbuilding was enriched by several types of ships, including “Boston whaler”, which were considered to be one of the best at sea, bypassing even English ships.