Massachusetts

Separatists fleeing religious persecution in England arrived aboard the Mayflower at Plymouth Harbor in 1620. A year after the Pilgrims arrived, they celebrated their first successful harvest, now known as Thanksgiving, in an alliance with the local Wampanoag tribe. Another colony called the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a group of English Puritans, later arrived and eventually absorbed Plymouth to form one royal colony.

[SEE: What Massachusetts Is Doing to Combat the Coronavirus]

In 1770, the colonists began defying Great Britain’s rule, resulting in the Boston Massacre. In 1773, the resistance reached new heights when colonists dressed as Native Americans threw chests of tea into Boston Harbor, in an outcry against British taxation. This Boston Tea Party sparked the American Revolution, and Massachusetts’ John Hancock was the first founding father to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Massachusetts, the second of the 13 original colonies, became the sixth state in the union in February 1788.

Today, the fields of education and health services employ the most people in Massachusetts. Another top industry is manufacturing, especially computer and electronic products. Massachusetts’ technology sector has flourished in recent years and is among the most concentrated in the nation. With a balance of historical destinations and picturesque beaches at Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, the tourism industry also is a major economic powerhouse.

Legislatively, Massachusetts has paved the way for other states: It led the way in universal health care coverage, with a plan enacted in 2006 that inspired former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. It was also the first state to legalize gay marriage and the second to pass discrimination laws for individuals who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual.