USA Massachusetts - The History : USA  

USA Massachusetts - The History - Travel guide

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USA Massachusetts - The History

The History

Massachusetts' original tribes included the Massachuset, Nauset (which lived on Cape Cod), and Wampanoag, a powerful Algonquian tribe whose proper territory was the peninsula on the east shore of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, and the adjacent parts of Massachusetts. Between 1614 and 1620, three epidemics swept New England and the Canadian Maritimes, killing many Indians. The Massachuset and Wampanoag tribes were among the hardest hit.

1st Europeans where Norse explorers, or Vikings, probably landed on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, more than 1,000 years ago. Thus, the coast of Massachusetts may have been the first part of what is now the United States seen by Europeans. Colonists, including some Pilgrims, sailed on the Mayflower, reaching Plimoth (Plymouth) in December 1620.

John Winthrop and a large group of Puritans arrived at Salem in 1630, bearing with them the prized charter, a self-contained English colony, governed by its own members, was assured. Winthrop moved from Salem to Charlestown and thence to Boston, other settlements were founded, and by 1640 the immigrants in Massachusetts numbered 16,000, all seeking greater opportunity and a free environment for their dissentient religious views.

Massachusetts historic events include the Stamp Act riots (1765), the Boston Massacre (1770), and the Boston Tea Party (1773), which were precursors to the American Revolution (1775-1783). The first battles of the revolution were fought in Massachusetts, and its role in colonial history can be seen in the many well-preserved landmarks in such historic places as Plymouth, Boston, Lexington, and Concord.

Massachusetts became the 6th State to Unite under America on February 6, 1788.