The New International Encyclopædia/Massachusetts
MAS′SACHU′SETTS. A North Atlantic State of the American Union, belonging to the New England group. Except the eastern part, which expands along the ocean front. Massachusetts resembles generally a parallelogram and lies approximately between latitudes 42° and 42° 43′ N. It is bounded on the north by the States of Vermont and New Hampshire, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island and the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east by the Atlantic. Its greatest length is 184 miles; the distance from Cape Ann due west to the New York State line, 138 miles; the extreme width is 113¾ miles, and the average width in the west 47¾ miles. The total area is 8315 square miles, of which the water surface amounts to 275 square miles. The irregular coast line gives an ocean frontage of nearly 300 miles, excluding the shore lines of the islands and lesser inlets. There are three great bays: Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts Bay, and Buzzard's Bay.
Topography. The western half of the State has as its distinguishing features the mountain ranges which traverse its western section, the minor valleys between, the general slope eastward to the Connecticut River, and the corresponding westward slope from the opposite side. The eastern section is a rolling and hilly country with a gentle slope to the ocean. From Vermont, the Green Mountains, as a part of the Appalachians, continue southward into Massachusetts, where they lie in two distinct ranges. These stretch southward across the whole width of the State, covering Berkshire County (whence the name Berkshire Hills). The Taconic range follows the western border on the boundary line, and east of this range and parallel with it extend the Hoosac Mountains. The Taconic range attains an extreme elevation of 3535 feet in Greylock or Saddle Mountain, near the northern boundary—the highest elevation in Massachusetts. The altitude falls away slightly to the south, where Mount Washington or Everett, in the southwest corner of the State, rises to a height of 2624 feet. The Hoosac range has a somewhat regular altitude of 1200 to 1600 feet, reaching its maximum in Spruce Hill—2588 feet. The Housatonic Valley has an elevation of 1100 feet at its northern end and falls to 800 in the south. East of these ranges to the Connecticut the slope is southeast, and is deeply cut by rivers. In the Connecticut Valley the trap ridges, so conspicuous in the State of Connecticut from Long Island Sound up, are represented in the centre of the State by Mount Tom, with an altitude of 1214 feet, and Mount Holyoke, 955 feet, which rise as isolated peaks above the surrounding low country. The country on the eastern side of the Connecticut River is a dissected plateau, with an elevation of about 1100 feet at the middle of the State, the surface sloping gradually eastward. Upon the old Cretaceous base level, which forms the top of most of the hills, some older hills stand out as monadnocks, the most conspicuous of which is Wachusett Mountain, 2108 feet in height. In the eastern section the country is generally level or undulating. This low, sandy land continues southeastward into the Cape Cod peninsula, extending in the form of an arm bent at the elbow for a distance of 65 miles, 35 miles eastward and a nearly equal distance northward, curving slightly westward at the extremity. Near this southern projection of the State lie many islands similar in character to the Cape Cod peninsula: Martha's Vineyard, the sixteen Elizabeth Islands, and Nantucket Island.
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| COPYRIGHT, 1891 AND 1903, BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY. |
AREA AND POPULATION OF MASSACHUSETTS
BY COUNTIES.
| County | Map Index. |
County Seat. | Area in square miles. |
Population. | |
| 1890. | 1900. | ||||
| Barnstable | G 4 | Barnstable | 419 | 29,172 | 27,826 |
| Berkshire | A 3 | Pittsfield | 929 | 81,108 | 95,667 |
| Bristol | E 4 | Taunton | 579 | 186,405 | 252,029 |
| Dukes | F 5 | Edgartown | 100 | 4,369 | 4,561 |
| Essex | F 2 | Salem | 514 | 299,995 | 357,030 |
| Franklin | B 2 | Greenfield | 721 | 38,610 | 11,209 |
| Hampden | B 3 | Springfield | 595 | 135,713 | 175,603 |
| Hampshire | B 2 | Northampton | 612 | 51,859 | 58,820 |
| Middlesex | E 2 | Cambridge | 804 | 431,167 | 565,696 |
| Nantucket | G 5 | Nantucket | 51 | 3,268 | 3,006 |
| Norfolk | E 2 | Dedham | 408 | 118,950 | 151,589 |
| Plymouth | F 4 | Plymouth | 672 | 92,700 | 113,985 |
| Suffolk | E 3 | Boston | 51 | 484,780 | 611,417 |
| Worcester | C 2 | Fitchburg | 1,585 | 280,787 | 346,958 |
Hydrography. The rivers of Massachusetts are numerous, but unimportant for purposes of navigation. The Connecticut traverses the State from north to south. It varies in width from 450 feet to 1000 feet, but its flow is broken by falls at various points. On its western side it receives the Deerfield and Westfield, and from the east, Miller's River and the Chicopee. Though navigable for small craft, it is chiefly important for its water power. Between the Taconic and the Hoosac mountains flow north and south, respectively, the Hoosac and Housatonic rivers, the former discharging into the Hudson, the latter into Long Island Sound. The valleys of the Connecticut and its branches and the Housatonic are noted for their picturesque scenery. Descending from New Hampshire, the Merrimac flows for thirty-five miles through the northeastern corner of the State, discharging into the Atlantic. It is navigable for small craft as far as Haverhill, 15 miles from its mouth, but is valuable especially for its water power. Other rivers important also chiefly for their water power are the Concord, emptying into the Merrimac at Lowell; the Charles, discharging into Massachusetts Bay at Boston; and the Blackstone and the Taunton, flowing south into Narragansett Bay. The courses of the rivers are marked by broad reaches and sudden declines, instead of uniform gradients. Numerous small glacial lakes are scattered over the State, especially near Cape Cod. Excellent harbors occur at Boston, Lynn, Marblehead, Salem, and Gloucester, and at the mouth of the Merrimac. Boston Harbor is the most important harbor in the State. It has been protected against sanding up by drumlins and pocket beaches, formed outside the harbor, which act as guards to its entrance. South of Boston the inlets are all of the ‘hook spit’ type, a prominent feature along this part of the coast; but only the harbor of Provincetown is deep enough to accommodate the largest ocean ships. Buzzard's Bay, the third largest indentation of the State, extends thirty miles inland to the west of Cape Cod, and contains New Bedford and Wareham harbors. The former is one of the most important havens in the State.
Climate and Soil. Massachusetts lies in the middle of the north temperate zone, yet, because of its proximity to the paths of the cyclonic and anticyclonic disturbances, it is strongly influenced by the north winds of winter and by the west and southwest winds of summer, bringing the hot continental air to the coast. The average temperature for January is between 25° and 30°, and for July about 70°. In summer the maximum temperature may rise in places above 100°; in winter the mercury sometimes falls to 10° below zero. The average growing season lasts about six and one-half months. There is an average annual rainfall of 40 inches and over, very evenly distributed through the year. The snowfall is rather heavy, ranging from 30 inches at the southern coast to 60 inches in the northwestern counties. The average annual relative humidity ranges from 80 per cent. on the islands at the southeast to less than 70 per cent. in the northwestern counties. The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have an average wind velocity for the year of 14 miles per hour, the highest average recorded in the United States. The normal wind direction for January is northwest, and for July is southwest.
The soil of Massachusetts is largely the result of glacial erosion and deposition. The harder ridges, overridden by the ice, were denuded of all soil; the debris of the granitic hills is too coarse and too new to invite cultivation. The Triassic valley of the Connecticut River gives flat lands of exceeding fertility, while river and lake deposits of worked-over glacial till furnish many alluvial plains of very rich land, but of limited area. Many glacial lakes are partly filled, and are utilized as cranberry marshes.
For Flora and Fauna, see these sections under United States.
Geology. Massachusetts has a very complex geological history. At the beginning of Cambrian time three mountain masses of granitic rock extended across the State to the northeast, alternating with arms of the sea. Cambrian and Ordovician strata were deposited on the shore of the Champlain channel, west of Hoosac Mountain; in a narrow gulf, which extended from Gaspé Point to Worcester; and in a trough extending from western Rhode Island via Portsmouth to Fundy Bay. The Hoosac Mountain and its continuation in the Green Mountains represent the axis of the Appalachian mountain-making in New England, and the older Paleozoic elastics to the west were very strongly metamorphosed—the limestones into marbles, the muds and gravels into slates and schists, and some of the sandstones into quartzites. In Carboniferous time the whole State had been worn down to base level, and coal measures were deposited in the Rhode Island-Nova Scotia basin, and in the Gaspé-Worcester trough. In Triassic time there was an estuary in the Connecticut River Valley extending to the northern boundary of the State, with an average of twenty miles in width. This estuary was gradually filled with sandstones; and during their formation there were great outflows of trap rock. In the later Cretaceous all New England was reduced to base level, the southeastern margin of Massachusetts being under a shallow sea, receiving deposits of clays, as at Gay's Head, in Martha's Vineyard. The State was involved in the uplift of the Appalachian region at the close of the Cretaceous, and was raised into a plateau of moderate elevation. Massachusetts shared with the whole of New England in the denudation and erosion of the Pleistocene glaciation. The ice moved southward and southeastward across the State, discharging into the sea beyond Nantucket and Long Island. It strongly accentuated the southward trending valleys, while the higher ridges were denuded of soil, and the ice, on receding to the north, left the State strewn with a mantle of drift.
Mineral Resources and Mining. Massachusetts has been for many years the largest producer of granite in the United States. In 1901 the output was valued at $2,616,258, which was about half a million more than the average for a number of years and over 14 per cent. of the total granite production of the country. Limestone is quarried, most of the product being burned into lime; the value of the output in 1901, $244,039, was also a decided increase over preceding years. Some marbles are found in the metamorphosed Paleozoic strata, and small but increasing quantities are quarried. The dikes and sills of trap found in the Connecticut Valley are the very finest road metal, and are used as such in considerable quantities. The sandstones are almost wholly the brown-stones of Triassic age in the Connecticut Valley beds. The value of the production decreased continuously from $649,000 in 1890 to about one-fifth that amount in 1899, but the two following years showed a revival of the industry. Glacial clays are widely distributed. Fire clays are found in the coal measures, rich clay beds in the Cretaceous, and later deposits on the southeastern coast or islands. The clays are largely manufactured into brick, the product in 1900 being valued at $2,150,822. Many minerals are found in the State, some of which figure largely in a commercial way. Iron pyrite, used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, is extensively produced, the output in 1899 being 175,075 long tons, which was 23 per cent. of the entire production in the country. Slate is found, and is put on the market occasionally; tripoli is produced in a small way at Framingham, and small quantities of corundum, iron, manganese, and tin are also met with in various localities.
Fisheries. The Massachusetts Bay Colony early recognized the fisheries as one of the leading industries, in fact, second only to farming. Special legislation was adopted whereby they were exempted from taxation, and ship carpenters and fishermen from military duty. Boston began to export fish in 1633, and soon fishing villages sprang up all along the coast for the shore fisheries, and Gloucester became, as it still continues to be, the most prominent port in the world in the cod and mackerel fisheries off Newfoundland and Labrador. Whales were first caught off Nantucket in 1690, and New Bedford became famous in the whale fisheries, its whaling vessels frequenting the remotest seas. This industry, however, has been declining steadily for several years. The United States Fish Commission has extensive hatcheries, laboratory, and school at Woods Hole, and the State has hatcheries at Wilkinsonville and Winchester. In the items of investment and value of products the fishing industry of Massachusetts exceeds that of all the other Atlantic coast States. It has over two-thirds of the investment in, more than half of the quantity of, and nearly half of the value of the products of the coast fisheries of New England. The products of the fisheries are derived chiefly from the numerous off-shore fishing banks extending along the coast from Nantucket Shoals, Mass., to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Only about 20 per cent.—viz. that taken by boats and small vessels in the shore fisheries—is secured from Massachusetts waters. There were 6962 men engaged in 1898 in vessel fishing, 3365 in the inshore or boat fisheries, and 4032 shoremen. This is a less number of men than are employed in the fisheries of Maine, or in one or two of the Middle Atlantic coast States. The capital in 1898 was estimated at $13,372,000—about the same as for 1889. The value of the product for the same year was $4,463,000, a decrease of over a million since 1889. This was due to the fall in price, as the amount of the catch increased during the same period.
Agriculture. Only a small per cent. of the population of Massachusetts is engaged in agriculture, and but 61.2 per cent. of the land area is included in farms. During the last half of the nineteenth century the total acreage of farms diminished 6.2 percent. For the same period the improved acreage decreased 39.4 per cent., and in 1900 only 41.1 per cent. of the farm land was improved. The average size of farms has decreased from 103 acres in 1870 to 83.4 acres in 1900. There is an unusually small number of rented farms, constituting less than one-tenth of the total number. A considerable portion of the State is not well adapted to agricultural pursuits. The most extensive arable districts are in the central and northeastern parts of the State. The value of farm property and products, however, has greatly increased. This is the result of a very decided change in the nature of the industry. Under the competition brought about by the development of the more fertile lands of the West and the increase of transportation facilities, the raising of cereals has been rendered unprofitable. At the same time the growth of a large city population has created a market for fruits and garden and dairy products. The production of these has therefore largely taken the place of the crops formerly raised. From 1880 to 1900 the area devoted to cereals diminished from 104,631 to 53,385 acres. Of the latter area 39,131 acres were in corn. The western counties are best suited to cereals, and the decrease has been least in this section. The acreage devoted to hay and forage in 1900 was 610,023, and this crop contributed 39.1 per cent. of the total value of all crops for that year. There were 27,521 acres devoted to the cultivation of Irish potatoes, and a slightly greater amount to miscellaneous vegetables, the two together, including onions, contributing nearly 24 per cent. of the total value of all crops. A much less acreage (8346) was devoted to small fruits, but the greater per acre value of the product ($175) gives them an important position among the crops of the State. Cranberries are the most important of the small fruits, the marshy lands of Barnstable and Plymouth counties being well adapted to the production of this fruit. Of the orchard fruits the apple is the most important, the apple trees in 1900 numbering 1,852,046, or 78.2 per cent. of all fruit trees. From the earliest colonial days, tobacco has been raised in the valley of the Connecticut River. From 1890 to 1900 the acreage of this crop almost doubled, being 3827 in the latter year. But few States equal Massachusetts in the importance of its floricultural interests. In 1900 there were 734 establishments, the products amounting to $1,639,760. The following census figures show in acres the relative importance of the leading crops:
| 1900 | 1890 | |
| Corn | 39,131 | 34,010 |
| Oats | 6,702 | 14,331 |
| Rye | 4,557 | 10,665 |
| Hay | 610,023 | 627,385 |
| Potatoes | 27,521 | 26,873 |
| Tobacco | 3,827 | 2,012 |
Stock-raising also has suffered from the effects
of Western competition. There was a loss in the
number of sheep during the last half of the
nineteenth century. However, the development of
intensive farming has necessitated an increase
in the number of horses, and the growth of the
dairy industry has naturally resulted in a gain
in the number of dairy cows. Nearly 40 per
cent. of all farms derive their principal income
from the dairy. In 1900 the total value of the
dairy products was $12,885,744, of which amount
89 per cent. was realized from sales. The
production of milk increased 27.9 per cent, during
the decade 1890-1900, and the sales of this
product in the latter year amounted to $9,711,380.
In the same year the products of the poultry
industry amounted to $3,979,022.
The following census figures show the relative importance of the leading varieties of farm stock:
| 1900 | 1890 | |
| Dairy cows | 184,562 | 172,046 |
| Other cattle | 101,382 | 84,082 |
| Horses | 75,034 | 63,638 |
| Mules and asses | 349 | 196 |
| Sheep | 33,869 | 51,438 |
| Swine | 78,925 | 91,483 |
Forests. According to the State census the
forest area in 1895 was 1,460,994 acres, which
acreage, though somewhat greater than that
in 1885, was estimated at a lower value, indicative
of a depreciating grade of timber.
Practically all the primeval growth of commercial
value has been removed. Forest fires are still
frequent. Returns from 59 cities and towns in
1900 showed that there had been 229 fires,
extending over 51,808 acres of forest area.
Manufactures. Manufacturing has been of great importance in Massachusetts almost from the beginning of its history. Only three other States (New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois) exceed it in the value of this output. During the last half of the nineteenth century the value of manufactured products increased more than sixfold, being estimated in 1900 at $1,035,198,989. The wage-earners engaged increased 180.3 per cent. during the same period, or only about 2 per cent. less than the percentage of increase for the total population. The actual number of wage-earners in 1900 was 497,448, or 17.7 per cent. of the total population. Of these 143,109 were women, and 12,556 were children under sixteen years of age. From 1890 to 1900 the percentage of gain for both the value of the products and number of wage-earners did not increase as rapidly as the population or as rapidly as the corresponding percentage for the entire country.
The great growth which the manufacturing industry has attained is the more remarkable because of the dependence on outside sources for raw materials, and because the local markets consume but a small part of the product. The State is not without natural advantages, however, the chief of these being the abundance of water power. The interests of the industry are also greatly facilitated by the excellent advantages of transportation afforded both by rail and by the ocean.
Clothing, boots and shoes, and their materials, represent the most important group of manufactures. Massachusetts has long ranked first in the manufacture of textiles. In 1900 nearly a hundred and fifty thousand wage-earners were engaged in the industry, or 30 per cent. of the wage-earners employed in the State. During the decade 1890-1900 the value of the product increased 15 per cent. Over half of the total product is accredited to cotton goods. The State has ranked first in the manufacture of cotton goods from the beginning of the industry in the colonies. The first cotton mills in the United States were established at Beverly in 1788. Owing to the secrecy surrounding the English invention of power-looms, these were not introduced until 1814. In 1900 there were 7,784,687 spindles in the State. The increase of spindles during the decade ending then was 33.7 per cent, and constituted 40.6 per cent. of the increase for the whole country. The cotton products are equal to 33.2 per cent. of the total for the United States. The increase was greatest for the finer kinds of goods. For fancy woven products it was 132.1 per cent.; napped fabrics, 51 per cent.; cotton duck, 190 per cent.: print cloths, 52 per cent. Ginghams suffered slight decrease during the period. After cotton goods the most important are worsteds and woolens. Woolens had led until 1900, when they were surpassed in value by worsteds. The manufacture of woolens is one of the earliest industries established in the State, dating from 1643. The spinning jenny, operated by water power, was introduced about 1815, and the power-loom for broadcloth in 1826. The industry declined from 1890 to 1900, but the product for that year was more than one-fourth that for the whole country. Worsteds, on the contrary, increased 84.9 per cent. for the same period, as compared with an increase of 39.3 per cent. for all other States. The State now has 31.3 per cent. of all spindles in the United States. Of the other varieties of textiles produced the most important are carpets and rugs, hosiery and knit goods, and silk and silk goods. All of these, with the exception of carpets and rugs, increased in production from 1890 to 1900. There was a decrease during that period in the production of clothing, as also of cordage and twine.
In the manufacture of boots and shoes—both leather and rubber—Massachusetts holds first rank. In 1900 it produced 44.9 per cent. of the total amount of leather boots and shoes for the United States. The industry was begun in 1635. For a long time it was the custom for each workman to make the entire shoe. Not infrequently the industry furnished the farmers with winter occupation. Most of the machinery which now takes the place of hand labor in this line is the invention of Massachusetts men. From 1890 to 1900 the production of leather boots and shoes increased but little, while the value of boots and shoes made from rubber increased 68.4 per cent. Closely related to this industry are the tanning, currying, and finishing of leather, and the manufacture of rubber and elastic goods. With the increase of the tanning industry in the West, where tanning bark is more readily obtainable, the industry is declining, but the production of rubber and elastic goods increased 63 per cent. in value from 1890 to 1900. The first production of india-rubber goods in the United States was at Roxbury in 1833. Massachusetts has continued to hold first place in this industry.
The next most prominent group of manufactures includes foundry and machine-shop products and other specially related products, such as iron and steel, electrical apparatus and supplies, and carriages and wagons. The manufacture of machinery dates from the early days of the colonial period, and has from the first included a great variety of products. From 1890 to 1900 there was a very large gain in them—44.7 per cent. The manufacture of iron was of greater relative importance in the colonial period than in recent times. The industry at first was stimulated by the local deposits of iron ore, but these have been superseded by a higher grade of ore obtained in other regions. The manufactures of electrical apparatus almost doubled during the last census decade. The making of jewelry is a long-established industry. From 1890 to 1900 its manufactures nearly doubled.
Massachusetts has long ranked first in the manufacture of paper and wood-pulp. It produces 71 per cent. of all the fine writing paper made in the United States. In book paper it is also first. Four-fifths of all the loft-dried paper manufactured in the United States from 1860 to 1897 was made within fifteen miles of Springfield. As early as 1728 a Colonial grant was made for the encouragement of the industry. In Cambridge was done the first printing in the Colonies, and all the printing in the Colonies for nearly forty years was done at Cambridge and Boston. The manufacture of lumber and its products, especially furniture, is important; the gain for the latter for the decade 1890 to 1900 was 82.3 per cent. The slaughtering and meat-packing industry is acquiring considerable importance, as are also the refining of sugar and molasses and the production of malt liquors.
Massachusetts has an unusual number of important manufacturing centres. Boston ranks first distinctly, with a manufactured product of over $206,000,000. Its superiority is due largely to the excellence of its transportation facilities. From 1890 to 1900 there was a slight decrease in its total product, although there was a very large gain in the suburban towns—for instance, 198 per cent. in Somerville. The location of a number of the other large centres has been determined by their accessibility to water power—for instance, Lowell and Lawrence on the Merrimac, and Fall River, supplied with water power from Watuppa Pond, each of these being an important cotton manufacturing centre. Lawrence is also a very large producer of worsteds. Holyoke, the largest producer of paper and wood pulp, derives its power from the Connecticut River. New Bedford, another important cotton manufacturing centre; Lynn, a great boot and shoe manufacturing town; and Gloucester, a fish canning and preserving centre, all have advantages of coast navigation, while Haverhill, another leading boot and shoe manufacturing town, is at the head of navigation of the Merrimac River. Among the important centres not located on the coast or on rivers are Worcester, whose largest establishments are foundries and machine shops, and Brockton, another large producer of boots and shoes. Omitting the towns already referred to near Boston, those having the largest gains from 1890 to 1900 were Lawrence, 68.4 per cent.; New Bedford, 50.8 per cent.; Gloucester, 61.7 per cent.; Fall River, 32.4 per cent.; and Brockton, 25.2 per cent.
The table on following page shows the development for the twenty-one leading industries from 1890 to 1900. It will be seen that while the total product for these industries increased greatly, there was an actual decrease in the number of establishments, the tendency toward centralization being most marked in the boot and shoe industry.
Transportation and Commerce. A majority of the many railway lines centre in Boston, and the mileage for the eastern end of the State is greatly in excess of that of the other parts. The first railroad in the United States was the Quincy Railroad, three miles long, constructed in 1826-27 to convey granite from the Quincy quarries for the Bunker Hill Monument. It was not, however, operated by steam. The Boston and Lowell steam railroad was opened in 1835. About the same time roads were built to Providence and to Worcester, and by 1842 the latter line bad been extended to Albany. In 1860 the total mileage for main and branch lines amounted to 1264 miles; in 1880, 1915; in 1890, 2096; and in 1900, 2108. This was equivalent to 26.40 miles for every 100 square miles of the State's area, a rate higher than that of any other State except New Jersey. In 1900 forty-six railroad corporations had lines located wholly or in part within the limits of Massachusetts. However, only eleven of these were engaged in actual railroad operations, the roads of the other thirty-five being operated by certain of the eleven companies. Four of these eleven companies—the Boston and Albany; Boston and Maine; Fitchburg; and New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads—operated over 97 per cent. of the total railroad mileage. The average passenger fare per mile decreased from 2.51 cents in 1871 to 1.75 cents in 1900, and the average freight rate per ton mile was reduced from 3.11 to 1.71 cents. The striking feature in the transportation of to-day, however, is the great rapidity with which electric car lines are being constructed. At the present rate this mileage will soon exceed that of steam railroads.
Massachusetts has followed the example if New Jersey in providing State aid in the construction of public highways, and the policy has resulted in a superior quality of roads.
Maritime commerce dates from the first days of the colony. As early as 1631 Governor Winthrop launched, for coast trade, a bark called the Blessing of the Bay, and a few years later vessels were plying regularly between the various ports. Early in the eighteenth century there was a large West India trade. Many ships were also built for the French and Spaniards, who paid for them largely in rum and molasses. After the Revolution an immense trade with the East Indies and with the African Coast was developed. In fact, the commercial interests of Massachusetts and other New England States played an important part in the formation of the United States Constitution and in the subsequent political life of the States, being especially prominent during the period of the War of 1812. (See History.) Still later, notably between the years 1840 and 1860, the clippers built at East Boston and Newburyport were the fastest ships then known, and carried on no small share of the world's freighting. Forty-four of them were built in 1855 alone, and the tonnage owned in Boston in that year was over five hundred thousand tons. But the outbreak of the Civil War nearly paralyzed the commerce of American shipowners, and it has never been fully revived. Boston (q.v.) is second only to New York in its shipping interests. Steamships and sailing vessels connect it with the principal ports on both sides of the Atlantic. The ports of entry in the State are Barnstable, Boston, and Charlestown; Fall River, Gloucester, Marblehead, New Bedford, Salem, and Beverly; Newburyport, Plymouth, and Edgarton. (See Topography above for an account of the harbors in the State. )
Banks. The first commercial bank in the Colonies is said to have been established in Boston in 1686. The Massachusetts Land Bank was started in 1739, but all colonial banks were prohibited in 1740. The Massachusetts Bank, organized in Boston in February, 1784, was the first local bank in the State and the second in the Union. The Union Bank of Boston was chartered in 1792. By the beginning of the nineteenth century five banks had been incorporated in the State. Massachusetts was the first State to require (1803) semi-annual bank reports to be sworn to by the directors. Thus its banks were put on a firmer basis and passed through the panic of 1808-09 in better shape than the other New England banks as a rule. In 1814 again the Massachusetts banks showed their superior strength. A comprehensive banking law was enacted in 1829, with stringent provisions as to capitalization and limits of circulation. Yet these were evaded during the speculative régime of 1830-36; as a consequence in the financial depression 1837-44, 32 banks failed. In 1838, however, a system of official examination of banks by a board of bank commissioners was adopted. The banking law of 1857 provided for one commissioner. Under this improved system there was only one bank failure in the panic of 1857. The banking capital of the State banks reached its maximum in 1862, when there were 138 banks, with a capital of $67,544,200. When the system of national banks was introduced State banks of discount were prohibited and do not exist at present. The necessity for loans on real estate (which the national banks are prohibited from making) led to the development of trust companies. Savings banks are numerous and popular, and their investment and general management are strictly regulated by law. In 1902 there were 241 national banks, with capital $73,187,000, surplus $27,922,000, cash, etc., $29,027,000, loans $245,841,000, and deposits $231,856,000; 37 trust companies, with an aggregate capital of $12,595,000, surplus of $9,248,500, cash $4,332,363, loans of $105,991,407, and deposits $127,928,218; 41 savings banks, with 1,593,640 depositors and deposits of $560,705,752.
| INDUSTRIES | Year | Number of establishments |
Average number wage-earners |
Value of products, including custom work and repairing | ||
|
1900 | 5,570 | 332,232 | $672,470,907 | ||
| 1890 | 5,699 | 295,911 | 575,226,750 | |||
| Increase 1890 to 1900 | ...... | [1]129 | 37,221 | $97,244,157 | ||
| Per cent. of increase | ...... | [1]2.3 | 12.6 | 16.9 | ||
|
1900 | 19.1 | 66.8 | 65.0 | ||
| 1890 | 21.2 | 66.0 | 64.8 | |||
|
1900 | 512 | 149,346 | $214,600,980 | ||
| 1890 | 562 | 125,514 | 186,552,533 | |||
|
1900 | 8 | 4,480 | 6,966,237 | ||
| 1890 | 7 | 5,109 | 7,275,009 | |||
|
1900 | 177 | 92,515 | 111,125,175 | ||
| 1890 | 187 | 75,544 | 100,202,882 | |||
|
1900 | 37 | 4,678 | 8,868,290 | ||
| 1890 | 33 | 4,270 | 6,496,215 | |||
|
1900 | 54 | 6,667 | 6,620,257 | ||
| 1890 | 74 | 4,562 | 5,082,087 | |||
|
1900 | 20 | 3,110 | 5,957,532 | ||
| 1890 | 20 | 2,993 | 5,557,569 | |||
|
1900 | 131 | 17,717 | 30,888,104 | ||
| 1890 | 165 | 19,452 | 35,771,161 | |||
|
1900 | 45 | 18,867 | 40,557,363 | ||
| 1890 | 33 | 11,835 | 21,933,775 | |||
|
1900 | 313 | 6,776 | 15,032,604 | ||
| 1890 | 265 | 8,608 | 23,106,164 | |||
|
1900 | 19 | 3,303 | 9,635,571 | ||
| 1890 | 32 | 3,351 | 10,510,530 | |||
|
1900 | 640 | 58,645 | 117,115,243 | ||
| 1890 | 1,057 | 67,374 | 116,387,900 | |||
|
1900 | 270 | 4,390 | 18,238,922 | ||
| 1890 | 288 | 4,208 | 15,923,650 | |||
|
1900 | 6 | 5,250 | 16,490,015 | ||
| 1890 | 5 | 4,932 | 9,792,024 | |||
|
1900 | 70 | 5,944 | 13,885,059 | ||
| 1890 | 50 | 3,472 | 8,518,612 | |||
|
1900 | 119 | 7,010 | 26,067,714 | ||
| 1890 | 194 | 7,725 | 27,771,815 | |||
|
1900 | 825 | 32,234 | 56,290,159 | ||
| 1890 | 711 | 23,379 | 38,906,680 | |||
|
1900 | 8 | 6,125 | 13,491,159 | ||
| 1890 | 15 | 5,210 | 11,201,149 | |||
|
1900 | 54 | 5,202 | 10,490,361 | ||
| 1890 | 26 | 2,581 | 5,762,599 | |||
|
1900 | 138 | 5,696 | 10,315,334 | ||
| 1890 | 106 | 3,503 | 5,507,415 | |||
|
1900 | 388 | 3,164 | 6,118,121 | ||
| 1890 | 430 | 4,131 | 7,607,869 | |||
|
1900 | 93 | 9,061 | 22,141,461 | ||
| 1890 | 85 | 7,817 | 21,524,173 | |||
|
1900 | 981 | 10,859 | 28,964,680 | ||
| 1890 | 813 | 8,482 | 18,918,942 | |||
|
1900 | 696 | 5,202 | 12,818,511 | ||
| 1890 | 652 | 6,519 | 13,323,708 | |||
|
1900 | 120 | 6,092 | 11,244,503 | ||
| 1890 | 136 | 3,410 | 6,166,522 | |||
|
1900 | 22 | 2,748 | 31,633,483 | ||
| 1890 | 24 | 1,779 | 20,221,645 | |||
|
1900 | 7 | 592 | 19,626,882 | ||
| 1890 | 4 | 204 | 16,875,538 | |||
|
1900 | 40 | 1,651 | 11,255,613 | ||
| 1890 | 26 | 818 | 5,355,438 | |||
|
1900 | 249 | 2,942 | 7,014,532 | ||
| 1890 | 218 | 1,994 | 5,291,844 | |||
Government. The Constitution is that of 1780 with amendments adopted at different periods since. A proposed amendment must receive a majority vote of the Senators and a two-thirds vote of the House at two consecutive sessions, and afterwards be approved by a majority vote of the people. In order to vote, one must have lived in the State one year and in the town or district six months, and registration is required. Suffrage is further conditioned upon the payment of taxes by the voter and his ability to read English and to write his name.
Legislative. The legislative power is vested in a General Court, composed of a Senate of 40 members and a House of Representatives of 240 members, elected respectively from Senatorial and Representative districts, composed of contiguous undivided towns or wards, and upon the basis of population. The election occurs annually, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The General Court or Legislature meets on the first Wednesday in January and such other times as the members judge necessary, or when called by the Governor. Money bills must originate in the Lower House. The power of impeachment rests with the House, the trial of impeachment with the Senate. A two-thirds vote of each House overrides the Governor's veto. The capital of the State is Boston.
Executive. The Governor and other principal executive officers are elected annually by the people. A council composed of eight members, elected annually by districts, gives the Governor advice upon matters of official duty. The Lieutenant-Governor succeeds to the Governorship in case of its vacancy, and if the office again becomes vacant the council performs the executive functions. The Governor and council grant pardons for offenses.
Judiciary. The supreme judicial court consists of a Chief Justice and six associate justices. The superior court consists of a Chief Justice and 15 associate justices. All judges in the State are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the council, and they hold office during good behavior. Each county has a probate court and court of insolvency, distinct in their jurisdiction, powers, etc., but having the same judge and register. These courts are held by the judge of probate and insolvency appointed for the county; but the judges of the several counties may, in ease of necessity or convenience, interchange services.
Local Government. The General Court establishes municipal governments in towns exceeding 12,000 population, with the consent and upon the application of a majority of the inhabitants. All bylaws of such city governments, however, are at all times subject to annulment by the General Court. Sheriffs, registers of probate, and clerks of the courts are elected by the people of the several counties. District attorneys are chosen by the people of the districts.
Statutory Provisions. The legal rate of interest is 6 per cent. Willful desertion for three years, failure to provide for that period, and habitual drunkenness are among causes for which divorce is granted. Under the local option law more than two-thirds of the cities and towns prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors.
The State has 14 Representatives in the Lower House of the National Congress.
Finance. Massachusetts has always been one of the leading States in matters of finance and taxation, and its methods have been often followed by other States. In 1646 the Colony introduced a system of direct taxation and a poll tax, and soon after a ‘faculties’ tax, which had income as a basis. The first treasurer's report, though crude, was published in 1655. When, in 1690 Massachusetts was reorganized under a provincial charter, direct taxation upon property and a poll tax were again made the main foundation of the revenue system. In the middle of the eighteenth century lotteries were established for many extraordinary and even normal needs of the treasury. The system was abandoned in 1765 only to be reëstablished at the advent of the Revolution. In 1786 the direct debt of the State was $5,000,000 and as much more was the State's share of the national debt. The immediate current liabilities were $1,500,000. In 1790, however, a large part of this debt was assumed by the Federal Government. By 1794 the State debt was almost canceled. A well regulated system of taxation of corporations grew up in Massachusetts in the early part of the nineteenth century. Banks were taxed after 1812, and insurance companies after 1832. The public debt grew during the Civil War. It amounted at one time to more than $32,000,000. By 1871, however, it had been reduced to $16,573,000, for the payment of which there was created a sinking fund of $8,261,000. The public debt grew again rapidly in the seventies because of many railroad loans and other public improvements, but it was always well protected with a sinking fund. On December 31, 1901, the funded debt for which the State was directly responsible was $25,738,223. The contingent debt for which the State loaned its credit to various cities was $51,958,412. The total cash in the treasury was $6,630,106; the securities were valued at $29,723,729. The general revenues for the year 1901 were $22,086,174 (30 per cent. from loans, 25 per cent. from corporation taxes, 14 per cent. from taxes on banks and insurance companies, and only 8 per cent. from general property tax). The expenditures were $20,859,496. Besides there were a number of special funds for various purposes, receipts on which amounted to $25,257,825 and payments to $25,719,889.
Militia. According to the census of 1900 there were 632,369 men of militia age in the State. The militia in 1901 numbered 5119.
Population. The population by decades has been as follows: 1790, 378,000; 1800, 422,000; 1810, 472,000; 1820, 523,000; 1830, 610,000; 1840, 737,000; 1850, 994,000; 1860, 1,231,000; 1870, 1,457,000; 1880, 1,783,000; 1890, 2,238,000; 1900, 2,805,000—negroes, 31,974. In 1790 Massachusetts ranked fourth in population, then gradually fell to the eighth place in 1840, since which period its rank has been sixth or seventh. In density it stands first, with a population of 348 to the square mile. The percentage of increase in the last decade was 25.3, being exceeded by that of only four other States east of the Mississippi River. The increase in the class of native born of native parents was small (about 76,000), and of the foreign born, large. The increase of the native born of foreign parents was equal to the other two classes combined. Until near the middle of the last century the people of Massachusetts were almost wholly of English descent. Two movements, however, have wrought a vast change with respect to race. The first of these was the migration westward of the native population. The other was the great influx of foreigners, largely from Ireland and Canada, those from the latter country being mainly of French descent. The foreign born in 1900 numbered 840,000, or 30 per cent. of the total population, while 897,000 were native born children of foreign parents, thus making the present population of the State predominantly of a non-English type. The influence of the westward emigration from the State and the increased opportunity for females to find employment in the mills and at domestic service has resulted in a preponderance of this sex, the percentage of females being 51.3—greater than in any other State. The decided growth of the manufacturing industry has resulted furthermore in placing the State second in the percentage of its urban population. There are 50 towns having over 8000 inhabitants, which is a larger number than in any other State. In 1900 the population of Boston was 560,892; Worcester, 118,421; Fall River, 104,863; Lowell, 94,969; Cambridge, 91,886: Lynn, 68,513; Lawrence, 62,559; New Bedford. 62,442; Springfield, 62,059; Somerville, 61,643; Holyoke, 45,712; Brockton, 40,063; Haverhill, 37,175; Salem, 35,956; Chelsea, 34,072; Malden, 33,664; Newton, 33,587; Fitchburg, 31,531; Taunton, 31,036; Gloucester, 26,121.
Religion. In the colonial period the population belonged mainly to the Congregational Church. Before the end of the eighteenth century the Baptists and Methodists had become prominent and are now leading denominations. In the early part of the nineteenth century Massachusetts became the centre of Unitarianism in the United States. The Episcopalians have a considerable following. With the coming of large numbers of Irish about the middle of the nineteenth century the Catholic Church for the first time became prominent, and it is now much stronger than any one of the Protestant denominations.
Education. The establishment of public schools was regarded as an important matter from the first settlement. The first free school was organized in 1635, and Harvard College was founded in 1636. In 1647 a statute was enacted that each town having 50 families should maintain a school to teach the children to read and write, and each town having 100 families a grammar school to fit youths for college. This statute was amplified and amended, until the system has become one of the best in the world. The State Board of Education was created in 1837. Horace Mann was its first secretary, and his reports and labors gave impulse and vigor to the schools of the entire Union. The educational system of the State holds its high rank by virtue of its superior organization and supervision, its adequate financial support, and its admirable adaptability to the needs of all. The local unit of organization is the town (township), each town having a school committee appointed by the people and a skilled superintendent appointed by the committee. The State Board is the central coördinating and supervisory body and between it and the local organizations stand the agents of the State Board, each of whom has his particular district or his special phase of educational work to oversee. Thus uniformity and efficiency in supervision are secured. Financial support is secured by taxation and by the income from the State school fund. This fund was established in 1834 from proceeds derived from the sale of lands in the State of Maine, and from the claims of Massachusetts upon the United States for military services, and it has been greatly augmented from numerous sources, the total on December 31, 1900, amounting to $4,370,000. The fund has derived its great efficiency from the admirable manner in which its income has been distributed, having been used from the beginning so as to stimulate the towns to greater exertion for educational purposes. It has lifted the standard in the poorer localities by increasing their allowances at the expense of the more wealthy municipalities. At present towns with a taxable valuation of over $3,000,000 derive no benefits from the fund, while the poorer localities, in addition to lump sum allotments, which vary inversely to the property valuation, receive also assistance for superintendents' and teachers' salaries and certain other purposes. With this financial backing, every town is enabled to maintain a long school term. The minimum established by law is eight months. In 1900 only 14 towns out of 339 fell under this limit, while the average for all exceeded nine months from 1890 to 1900. The system also enables fair wages to be paid the teachers, the men (constituting one-tenth of the total number) receiving an average of $136 per month, and the women an average of $52 per month. The scope and completeness of the school system of Massachusetts are realized when it is seen that, in addition to the grammar schools, there are 261 high schools, every child having the advantage of free high-school tuition; that 49 towns and cities maintain night schools; that 36 towns and cities maintain a kindergarten system; that every town with a population above 20,000 affords manual training in its high schools; and that the training of teachers is provided for by the maintenance of ten normal schools. All this is supplemented by private schools. The proportion of pupils in the private schools to those in public schools is as 1 to 7. While there was a reduction from 1890 to 1900 in the number attending private schools of academic rank, there has been a decided increase in the number attending other private schools. If one applies the test of enrollment and attendance he finds that out of a total of 630,000 children between the ages of five and eighteen years, 474,891 are enrolled in the public schools, and 73,205 in the private schools, making a total enrollment of 548,096. The attendance at the public schools for the last decade has averaged over 90 per cent. of the enrollment. The average taxation cost for all school purposes per each child in the average membership of the public schools is $33.92.
While the State system of education does not include higher institutions of learning excepting normal colleges, these have been amply provided by private enterprise. Detailed information concerning these institutions will be found under their separate headings. The oldest collegiate institution is Harvard University, Cambridge (non-sectarian). The others (exclusive of those for women), in the order of their founding, are: Williams College (Congregational), Williamstown; Amherst College (Congregational), Amherst; College of the Holy Cross (Roman Catholic), Worcester; Tufts College (Universalist), Tufts College Station; Boston College (Roman Catholic); Boston University (Methodist Episcopal); and Clark University (non-sectarian), Worcester. The colleges for women are, in similar order: Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley; Wellesley College, Wellesley; Smith College, Northampton; and Radciffe College, Cambridge, all non-sectarian. The theological institutions are: Andover Theological Seminary (Congregational), Andover; Newton Theological Institution (Baptist), Newton; Harvard Divinity School (non-sectarian); New Church Theological School, Cambridge; Boston University School of Theology (non-sectarian under Methodist auspices); Protestant Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge; Tufts College Divinity School (Universalist), Tufts College Station. There are two law schools, that of Harvard and that of the Boston University. The schools of medicine are: Harvard Medical School, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Boston, Tufts College Medical School, and Boston University School (homœopathic). There are also Boston Dental College, Harvard Dental School, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. The schools of science are six in number, viz.: Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston; Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge; Clark University, Worcester; Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The New England Conservatory of Music at Boston and the Boston University College of Music have high standards of requirement.
Charitable, Penal, and Reformatory Institutions. The State schools for the deaf are the American School at Hartford, the Clark School at Northampton, the New England Industrial School at Beverly, the Horace Mann School at Boston, the Boston School for the Deaf, and the Sarah Fuller Home at Medford. The blind are educated at the Perkins Institute and Massachusetts School for the Blind. The feeble-minded are provided for at the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded, located at Waltham. Other charitable institutions are the State Hospital (almshouse), at Tewksbury; State Primary School at Monson; State Farm at Bridgewater; insane hospitals at Taunton, Northampton, Danvers, and Westboro; and the Hospital for Inebriates at Foxboro. The total number of inmates of the nine foregoing institutions increased from 2750 in 1863 to 3860 in 1900. Besides the above there are many city and town almshouses and hospitals and insane asylums. The number of inmates of the former increased as shown above; that of the latter increased from 420 to 4294. The net cost of all paupers in Massachusetts—State and town—increased from $2,442,000 in 1890 to $3,487,000 in 1900. The cost per each inhabitant of Massachusetts increased during the same period from $1.06 to $1.26. The increase in the number of the inmates of the insane hospitals and asylums in that decade has averaged about 300 annually, resulting in a very greatly overcrowded condition in these institutions. There are about 900 of the insane still in the city and town almshouses, but a recent law provides that these shall be supported and cared for by the State after January 1, 1904. There are separate hospitals for epileptics and tuberculous patients. The State maintains a reformatory for men at Concord, and a reformatory for women at Sherborn. Convicts in the State prison, reformatories, jails, and houses of correction work only under the public account system, except in ease of the industries of cane-seating and making umbrellas. Both in the State and county institutions the labor of prisoners is under the supervision of the General Superintendent of Prisons. The State Board of Charities, consisting of nine members, is vested with greater power than is commonly exercised by similar boards in other States. And they have succeeded in bringing about decided improvements in the administration of charitable affairs, such as, for instance, the curtailment of unnecessary aid which creates rather than lessens pauperism; or, again, the more judicious treatment of children who may require the attention of State authorities. The tendency in the latter kind of cases is to find homes for, or board children in, private families rather than in institutions, great care being taken to find proper homes and to keep in close touch with the children placed therein. As a consequence, although the number of children in State care has increased from 2065 in 1866 to 3742 in 1900, the children in institutions have decreased in number during that time from 1437, or 70 per cent., to 558, or 15 per cent. of the total.
History. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold (q.v.) effected a settlement on Cuttyhunk Island, between Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound, but the colony was abandoned after three weeks. The first successful attempt at colonization was made by a band of Pilgrims, 102 in number, who came from Leyden in Holland. They were a Puritan sect, known as Separatists or Brownists, who had fled from England to Holland in 1608 to escape persecution, and, weary of living in a foreign land, had determined to found a place of refuge in America. Through a company of merchant adventurers, a patent was obtained from the Council for New England for a settlement within the limits of ‘Virginia.’ They set sail from Delft Haven, July 22, 1620, and from Plymouth in England on the sixth of September. It was their intention to settle south of the Hudson River, but storms drove the Mayflower to the neighborhood of Cape Cod, and on December 11th (new style December 21st, the anniversary of Forefathers' Day being celebrated on December 22d) the emigrants landed at Plymouth Rock.
Before landing they drew up and subscribed to a compact or frame of government for the new settlement, and elected John Carver Governor for one year. Shortly after landing they entered into a treaty of peace with the Indian chief Massasoit and his tribe, which remained unbroken for a long time. Within four months forty-four of the colonists died from exposure to the cold and the lack of wholesome food, and for two years they suffered many privations, but in 1623 they were relieved by a bountiful harvest. Others from the Leyden Church joined them, and by 1631 six hundred persons—nearly the whole of that body—had emigrated. In 1624 the property of the Colony, which had been held as common, was divided among the settlers; in 1627 the rights of the trading company were bought out, and two years later a patent confirming the colonists' right to the territory they had occupied was issued to Governor Bradford and others. The Colony grew up in practical independence, and, organized as a perfect democracy, it carried on its government without any royal sanction. By 1640 there were eight towns with 2500 inhabitants in the Plymouth Colony. Outside the limits of the Colony several scattered settlements were made in Boston Harbor between 1623 and 1628.
In 1628 an expedition organized by an English company and commanded by John Endicott landed at Salem. The company had obtained a grant of the territory lying between the Atlantic and Pacific and extending to a point three miles south of the river Charles and three miles north of the river Merrimac. After persistent efforts a royal patent was obtained for ‘the Governor and company’ of the Massachusetts Bay, and the associates were constituted a body politic, with a Governor, deputy, and eighteen assistants to be annually elected, and a general assembly of the freemen, with legislative powers to meet four times in a year, or oftener if necessary. Measures contrary to English laws and statutes were forbidden by the charter, but religious liberty was not named in the document, though this was the ultimate aim of the emigrants. In 1629 the colony was reënforced and the government and patent of the company were transferred from London to New England. The old officers resigned, giving place to others chosen from among those who were about to emigrate, John Winthrop being elected Governor. The Colony grew rapidly. The conflict between the Puritans and Charles I. brought about a large emigration to Massachusetts, and between 1630 and 1640 about 20,000 persons arrived in the Colony. Charlestown, Boston, Watertown, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mystic, Saugus (Lynn), and other places were settled at this period. The settlers of Massachusetts Bay, as distinguished from the Plymouth pilgrims, were wealthy, and as a rule of a higher social class. They came in congregations under the lead of their ministers, who were graduates of the English universities. Fraternal relations were quickly established between the two colonies, however. Education was fostered from the beginning. Harvard College was founded in 1630, and in 1642 a system of public schools was organized. Having no charter to occasion disputes, Plymouth Colony prospered peacefully and monotonously, and its history is unmarred by records of religious narrowness; but Massachusetts Bay was in turmoil from the first, owing to its theocratic government and the stern and arbitrary conduct of the magistrates. It was the desire to escape from the yoke of the Massachusetts theocracy that led to the settlement of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Prejudiced by the dissensions between magistrates and people, and by the fear that the Colony would become independent, the Crown demanded back the charter in 1634; but the colonists evaded the order, made preparations to resist, and were fortunate in having attention diverted from them by the political troubles in England. To strengthen itself, the Bay Government exacted an oath of allegiance in 1633-34, and that he had opposed this oath as well as the patent was the main reason for the banishment of Roger Williams (q.v.). The banishment of Anne Hutchinson (q.v.) and the hanging of Quakers were excused by the authorities on the ground that their teachings endangered the stability of the government; and the same spirit was at the basis of the act which made church membership a qualification for the franchise, and finally made the Congregational the established Church of the Colony (1651). In 1643 Massachusetts Bay united with Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven to form the New England Confederacy, for protection against the Indians and the Dutch.
The restoration of the Stuarts was followed by fresh disputes with the Crown, but in 1662 the King confirmed the Massachusetts charter, and made a conditional promise of amnesty for past political offenses. He insisted, however, upon his right to interfere in the affairs of the Colony, required the complete toleration of the Church of England, the taking of an oath of allegiance, and the administration of justice in his name. Commissioners were sent over from England to investigate the affairs of the Colony, but they met with defiance from the magistrates and could accomplish nothing. The contest with the Crown continued in spite of the pressure of the Indian War (1675-76), in which the New England colonies were plunged. (See Philip, King.) Charles II. was incensed at the independent course of the Colony in assuming certain sovereign powers, as it had done in coining money, or taking possession of the Maine settlements. The English merchants were irritated by the active trade that was carried on illegally with the West Indies and Europe, Edmund Randolph (q.v,) urged on the English Government against the Colony, and Massachusetts, under its theocracy, on its side, would make no concession. In 1684 the charter of the Colony was declared forfeited, the General Court was dissolved, and a royal commission superseded the charter government. In 1686 Sir Edmund Andros was made Governor, and ruled without restraint and without sense. When news of the landing of William of Orange in England arrived, the people of Boston threw Andros into prison, reinstated the old magistrates, and revived the General Court. In 1692 a new charter was granted uniting Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth. Its terms, however, were less favorable than the old charter, in that the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Secretary were to be appointed by the King, and the members of the Assembly were to be elected by freeholders instead of church members. In 1692-93 the witchcraft delusion broke out in Salem and vicinity, but the excitement was short-lived, and was confined to a limited area. (See Witchcraft.) In 1703-04 and 1722-25 there were wars with the Indians. The Colony aided England zealously in her contest with France, notably in the capture of Port Royal (1690), and of Louisburg (1745). (See Pepperrell, William.) In the early French and Indian wars the settlers of western Massachusetts suffered greatly at the hands of the Indians; towns like Haverhill and Deerfield were subjected to pillage, many of the inhabitants were massacred, and the survivors led away into captivity. In 1765 the population of Massachusetts was about 240,000, falling into well defined classes, but all equal in political power, and held firmly together by the consciousness of a common origin and the possession of a common creed. The austerity of seventeenth-century Puritanism had passed away in great measure, but Church and State were still connected, and the Great Revival of 1740 showed how deeply faith lay rooted in the hearts of the people. The first printing press had been brought over in 1639, and a newspaper, the Boston News Letter, was issued in 1704. Educational institutions were being constantly founded. Property was well diffused, though for half a century after 1690 the Colony suffered from a reckless financial policy, which flooded the country with paper money. In resistance to the arbitrary acts of the British Parliament, Massachusetts was the pioneer. The struggle against the writs of assistance and the famous speech of James Otis (May, 1761) marked the opening of the contest which ended in independence. The opposition to the Stamp Act, the Boston massacre, the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor, the closing of the port of Boston, and the virtual annulment of the charter, followed in rapid succession. In October, 1774, the General Court resolved itself into a Provincial Congress and proceeded to erect an independent State government. The organization of a militia and the storing of supplies led to Lexington and Concord. (For military operations during the Revolution, see United States.) In the war Massachusetts took the leading part, though her population was by no means united in the cause of the Revolution. Among the Loyalists who were banished or who voluntarily abandoned their homes were many of the most prominent and wealthy families. In 1780 a constitution was adopted, and by the Bill of Rights, prefixed to it, slavery, as was subsequently decided by the courts, was abolished. In 1786 the rising known as Shays's Rebellion, occasioned by heavy taxes and the poverty of the people, occurred in the western part of the State. The Anti-Federalist element in the State was powerful till 1797, and the United States Constitution was ratified in January, 1788, by the close vote of 187 to 168. After 1797 the Federalist Party became predominant, the opposition to the War of 1812 was bitter, and delegates from Massachusetts participated in the Hartford Convention (q.v.). The State remained stubbornly Federalist long after the party had disappeared everywhere else, and as a result it took little interest in national affairs. With the passing of the Federalist Party greater liberty of thought came into the fields of politics and religion. In 1815 ‘dissenters’ were released from paying taxes to support Congregational ministers, and in 1833 the Congregational Church was disestablished. Educational development continued under all régimes. In 1793 Williams College and in 1821 Amherst College were founded, and in 1837 a State board of education was created. The anti-slavery movement had its birth in Massachusetts, and at Boston William Lloyd Garrison (q.v.) began the publication of the Liberator on January 1, 1831. Abolitionism grew rapidly after 1840, and was favored in its growth by such episodes as the capture of the runaway slave Shadrach in the streets of Boston in 1851, and of Anthony Burns in 1854. In the Civil War, under the administration of the patriotic Governor, John A. Andrew, the State contributed nearly 160,000 men to the Union armies.
One of the most important public works ever undertaken by the State was the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel which was completed in 1873. Legislation since the Civil War has dealt largely with the questions of the liquor trade, the regulation of corporations, municipal government, the civil service, and labor. As early as 1853 a law reducing the working day from twelve hours to ten was passed. Since then the State has been active in caring for the industrial classes, to such an extent, indeed, that after 1895 the depressed condition of the textile trades was attributed by some to the fact that employers were unduly hampered by oppressive State regulations passed to protect labor, and could not meet the competition of the rising manufactures of the South. In 1898 and subsequent years a succession of strikes among the mill operatives caused great distress among the working classes. The period after the Civil War witnessed the rise of many political movements. The temperance question came into prominence in 1867; the question of the admission of women to the suffrage was agitated up to 1880; the National Labor Party exerted great influence in 1878. From 1858 to 1874 the State government was Republican. In 1874 the Democrats elected their candidate for Governor on an anti-prohibition platform; in 1882 they were victorious with Benjamin F. Butler as their candidate. In 1890 the revelation of corruption in the Legislature brought about the choice of a Democratic Governor in the person of William E. Russell, whose great popularity caused him to be reëlected in 1891 and 1892. Since then the State has been Republican by heavy majorities. In national elections Massachusetts has been Federalist, Whig, and Republican, with the exception of the years 1804 (Jefferson), 1820 (Monroe), 1824 and 1828 (John Quincy Adams). The list of colonial and State governors of Massachusetts is as follows:
| PLYMOUTH COLONY | ||
| John Carver | 1620-21 | |
| William Bradford | 1621-33 | |
| Edward Winslow | 1633-34 | |
| Thomas Prence | 1634-35 | |
| William Bradford | 1637-38 | |
| Thomas Prence | 1638-39 | |
| William Bradford | 1639-44 | |
| Edward Winslow | 1644-45 | |
| William Bradford | 1645-57 | |
| Thomas Prence | 1657-73 | |
| Josiah Winslow | 1673-81 | |
| Thomas Hinckley | 1681-86 | |
| Sir Edward Andros (Governor-General) | 1686-89 | |
| Thomas Hinckley | 1689-92 | |
| Plymouth Colony absorbed by Massachusetts Bay. | ||
| MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY | ||
| John Endicott | 1629-30 | |
| John Winthrop | 1630-34 | |
| Thomas Dudley | 1634-35 | |
| John Haynes | 1635-36 | |
| Henry Vane | 1636-37 | |
| John Winthrop | 1637-40 | |
| Thomas Dudley | 1640-41 | |
| Richard Bellingham | 1641-42 | |
| John Winthrop | 1642-44 | |
| John Endicott | 1644-45 | |
| Thomas Dudley | 1645-46 | |
| John Winthrop | 1646-49 | |
| John Endicott | 1649-50 | |
| Thomas Dudley | 1650-51 | |
| John Endicott | 1651-54 | |
| Richard Bellingham | 1654-55 | |
| John Endicott | 1655-65 | |
| Richard Bellingham | 1665-73 | |
| John Leverett | 1673-79 | |
| Simon Bradstreet | 1679-84 | |
| Joseph Dudley (President) | 1684-86 | |
| Sir Edmund Andros (Governor-General) | 1686-89 | |
| Thomas Danforth (acting) | 1689-92 | |
| William Phips | 1692-94 | |
| William Stoughton | 1694-99 | |
| Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont | 1699-1700 | |
| William Stoughton (acting) | 1700-01 | |
| The Council | 1701-02 | |
| Joseph Dudley | 1702-1715 | |
| The Council | 1715 | |
| Joseph Dudley | 1715 | |
| William Tailer (acting) | 1715-16 | |
| Samuel Shute | 1716-23 | |
| William Dummer (acting) | 1723-1728 | |
| William Burnet | 1728-1729 | |
| William Dummer (acting) | 1729-30 | |
| William Tailer (acting) | 1730 | |
| Jonathan Belcher | 1730-41 | |
| William Shirley | 1741-49 | |
| Spencer Phipps (acting) | 1749-53 | |
| William Shirley | 1753-56 | |
| Spencer Phipps (acting) | 1756-57 | |
| The Council | 1757 | |
| Thomas Pownall | 1757-60 | |
| Thomas Hutchinson (acting) | 1760 | |
| Sir Francis Bernard | 1760-1769 | |
| Thomas Hutchinson | 1769-1774 | |
| Thomas Gage | 1774 | |
| The Council | 1774-80 | |
| STATE | ||
| John Hancock | 1780-85 | |
| James Bowdoin | 1785-87 | |
| John Hancock | 1787-93 | |
| Samuel Adams | 1793-97 | |
| Increase Sumner | Federalist | 1797-99 |
| Moses Gill (acting) | “ | 1799-1800 |
| Caleb Strong | “ | 1800-07 |
| James Sullivan | Democratic-Republican | 1807-08 |
| Levi Lincoln (acting) | “ | 1808-09 |
| Christopher Gore | Federalist | 1809-10 |
| Elbridge Gerry | Democratic-Republican | 1810-12 |
| Caleb Strong | Federalist | 1812-16 |
| John Brooks | “ | 1816-23 |
| William Eustis | Democratic-Republican | 1823-25 |
| Marcus Morton (acting) | “ | 1825 |
| Levi Lincoln | Democrat and Federalist | 1825-34 |
| John Davis | Whig | 1834-35 |
| Samuel T. Armstrong (acting) | “ | 1835-36 |
| Edward Everett | “ | 1836-40 |
| Marcus Morton | Democrat | 1840-41 |
| John Davis | Whig | 1841-43 |
| Marcus Morton | Democrat | 1843-44 |
| George N. Briggs | Whig | 1844-51 |
| George S. Boutwell | Democrat and Free Soil | 1851-53 |
| John H. Clifford | Whig | 1853-54 |
| Emory Washburn | “ | 1854-55 |
| Henry J. Gardiner | American | 1855-58 |
| Nathaniel P. Banks | Republican | 1858-61 |
| John A. Andrew | “ | 1861-66 |
| Alexander H. Bullock | “ | 1866-69 |
| William H. Claflin | “ | 1869-72 |
| William B. Washburn | “ | 1872-74 |
| Thomas Talbot (acting) | “ | 1874 |
| William Gaston | Democratic | 1875-76 |
| Alexander H. Rice | Republican | 1876-79 |
| Thomas Talbot | “ | 1879-80 |
| John D. Long | “ | 1880-83 |
| Benjamin F. Butler | Democrat and Independent | 1883-84 |
| George D. Robinson | Republican | 1884-87 |
| Oliver Ames | “ | 1887-90 |
| J. Q. A. Brackett | “ | 1890-91 |
| William E. Russell | Democrat | 1891-94 |
| Frederick T. Greenhalge | Republican | 1894-96 |
| Roger Wolcott | “ | 1896-1900 |
| Winthrop Murray Crane | “ | 1900-03 |
| John L. Bates | “ | 1903- |
Bibliography. Hitchcock, "Report on Geology, Minerals, Botany, and Zoölogy of Massachusetts," in Massachusetts Geological Survey (Boston, 1833); Massachusetts Zoölogical and Botanical Survey Reports (Boston, 1839 et seq.); Emerson, Report on Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts (2d ed., Boston, 1875); Crosby, Geology of Eastern Massachusetts (Boston, 1880); Douglas, Financial History of Massachusetts (New York, 1892); Weeden, Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789 (Boston, 1890); Martin, Evolution of the Massachusetts Public School System (New York, 1894); Howe, Birds of Massachusetts (Cambridge, 1901); Hutchinson, History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (London, 1828); Bradford, History of Massachusetts for Two Hundred Years (Boston, 1835); Young, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers (Boston, 1841); Holland, History of Western Massachusetts (Springfield, 1855); Barry, History of Massachusetts (Boston, 1855-57); Oliver, The Puritan Commonwealth (Boston, 1856); Palfrey, History of New England (Boston, 1858-64); Schouler, History of Massachusetts in the Civil War (Boston, 1868-71); Austin, History of Massachusetts (Boston, 1876); Goodwin, The Pilgrim Republic (Boston, 1888); Fiske, The Beginnings of New England (Boston, 1889); Hale, Story of Massachusetts (Boston, 1892); Adams, Three Episodes of Massachusetts History (Boston, 1892); id., Massachusetts: Its Historians and Its History (Boston, 1893); Massachusetts Historical Society Collections (Boston, 1806 et seq.); Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings (Boston, 1855 et seq.).