United States, Massachusetts
This state was named after the Massachusetts Indians that lived in the Massachusetts Bay Region. Massachusetts means "large hill place."
Massachusetts has been at the forefront of American history for well over 250 years. The Pilgrims came ashore in 1620, and Massachusetts became the site of the first Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621. In the 1700's, as the economy of the area benefited from abundant fishing, trading, and shipbuilding, the residents became increasingly rebellious against Britain's persistent taxation. In 1773, history was made when Bostonians had their famous Tea Party, boarding a British tea ship, and tossing the tea into Boston Harbor in protest of unfair taxation. As skirmishes with the British became earnest battles of the Revolution, the spirit of the patriots swept the countryside, and when the British were forced out of Boston in 1776, the Americans knew the tides were turning in their favor.
Massachusetts gained statehood in 1788, and has sent three of her own and one adopted son to become President of the United States: John F. Kennedy, John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Calvin Coolidge. Though born in Vermont, Calvin Coolidge served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1919-1921 and went on to be elected President of the United States in 1924.
