| Massachusetts |
| Massachusetts is one of the smallest states in America, but because of its rich history and large capital, it has many important things to see. Its capital of Boston is one of America's largest and oldest cities and is one of the most important places in American history. The state as a whole has most of its population living along the mostly urban eastern coast, while the western part of the state is more rural. |
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| Above are the largest buildings in downtown Boston. Boston was built on the eastern shore of Massachusetts, so there are many small bays and channels that run through the city. Boston can get extremely cold in the winter time, which was when I visited. On the upper right you can see ice forming in the area around the bridge. |
| Boston actually started out as a religious city created by the Puritans from England. The Puritans wanted to create a country based on Christianity and founded Boston in 1630. The Puritans created the first public school in Boston and the first college of America. Above you can see an old church on the left, in the middle is the Custom House Tower completed in 1849. On the right is a photo of Harvard University, founded by the Puritans. |
| While the Puritans wanted to create a country based strongly on religion, just south of Boston a group known as the Pilgrims had traveled to America to seek religious freedom. The pilgrims landed in southern Massachusetts in 1620 and first stepped foot on Plymouth Rock as they disembarked their ship the Mayflower. Plymouth Rock can still be seen today, but many are disappointed by its small size. The rock itself is not beautiful or amazing, just very important to American history. On the top left you can see the building that houses Plymouth Rock today. On the right is the rock itself, marked with the date of the Pilgrims arrival in 1620. Below on the left is a replica of the Mayflower that was built in the mid 1950s. The tower you see is a memorial built to honor the Pilgrims and is located in Provincetown at the very end of Cape Cod. |
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| On the left you can see an old historic building in downtown Boston that is now surrounded by skyscrapers. On the right is the Massachusetts state capital building located on Bunker Hill in Boston. It was built in the late 1700s. |
| In the early 1800s, Boston quickly became one of the largest trading ports because it was North America's closest seaport to Europe. Today, Boston still is a very important city for trading. On the upper left is a dry dock that is used to repair ships. Above is a ship located in a small Navy base in Charlestown, a district of Boston. On the left is the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship in the world. The USS Constitution was commissioned in 1797, one of the country's first ships. It was used in the war of 1812 and is America's most famous naval ship. This ship hasn't set sail since 1997 to celebrate it's 200th year, so it might not be sent to Iraq. |
| After the middle of the 18th century, relations between the 13 colonies and the British began to get sour as an attempt to control the colonies was done through taxes that the colonists considered illegal. These tensions created the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and others events that led to the American Revolution. In 1776 the United States declared independence and entered the Revolutionary War. Much of this history in Boston can be seen via the Freedom Trail, which is a path that goes through Boston and stops at the most famous landmarks. The top left landmark is called Bunker Hill Monument. It is the starting point of Freedom Trail and was erected to serve as a memorial for the first major battle in the Revolutionary war. On the right is the second landmark on the Freedom Trail, called Copp's Hill which is Boston's second oldest graveyard.. |
| Above is a statue of Samuel Adams standing in front of Faneuil Hall. Faneuil Hall was often used by Samuel Adams to rally support for the declaration of Independence. On the right is a memorial for the Boston Massacre. It is located on a small median between major intersections in downtown Boston, so it can be difficult to find. The Boston Massacre occured in 1770 when British troops fired into an angry crowd killing 7 people and injuring six civilians. |
| Another famous American was Paul Revere, who became recognized after his midnight ride to warn Lexington about the march of the British army. On April 18th 1775, the British army began to move to Lexington to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Paul Revere had another American place lanterns in the Old North Church to warn others of the marching British. Paul was with a party of 3 people, and on the way to Lexington they were detained by the British. Two escaped carrying the message to Lexington while Paul Revere was held but released after gunshots began to go off. Paul Revere made it to Lexington on his own just in time to see the battle of Lexington Green. On the top left is the church were signal laterns had been placed, on the upper right is Paul Revere's house. |
| After the American Revolution took place in 1776, the war began and ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Many of the Americans I mentioned above are considered the founding fathers, or sons of liberty. The third oldest graveyard in Boston is called the Granary Burying Ground, and many of these patriots are buried there. The top photo is the graveyard itself surrounded by large buildings. On the left is Paul Revere's grave, the center is Samuel Adams, and to the right is John Hancock's grave, the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. |
| These last surrounding photos are of Cape Cod where the Pilgrims landed in the southeastern part of the state. The two photos above are towards the end of the cape, the terrain there looked more like Texas than to what I had expected. Along the roads in Cape Cod are signs warning about high winds and blowing sand. On the left is a photo of the sunset in one of Cape Cod's beaches. Because Cape Cod is a Peninsula, you can enjoy both sunrises and sunsets there. The bottom left is the moon rising above the trees in front of an American flag. The final picture to the bottom right is a lighthouse at night. |
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