Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the capital and the largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city is also the county seat of Suffolk County. It is the unofficial capital of the region known as New England as well as one of the oldest and wealthiest cities in the United States, with an economy based on education, health care, finance, and high technology.

History

Boston's history spans nearly four centuries, and intertwines with the history of the United States.

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Founded on September 17, 1630, on a narrow peninsula called Shawmut by Native Americans who lived there, Boston is named after Boston, England, a town in Lincolnshire from which several prominent colonists originated. Early colonists believed that Boston was a community with a special covenant with God. Winthrop's sermon, "a City upon a Hill," captured this idea. These values molded an extremely stable and well-structured society in Boston. Indeed, Puritan values of hard work, moral uprightness, and education remain a part of Boston's culture.

Related Topics:
September 17 - 1630 - Native American - Boston, England - Lincolnshire - City upon a Hill

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Boston was the birthplace of the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and several early battles of the Revolution, (such as the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston) occurred in or near the city. During this period, Paul Revere made his celebrated midnight ride.

Related Topics:
American Revolution - Boston Massacre - Boston Tea Party - Battle of Lexington and Concord - Battle of Bunker Hill - Siege of Boston - Paul Revere

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Following the Revolution, Boston became one of the world's wealthiest international trading ports, exporting products such as rum, fish, salt and tobacco. It was chartered as a city in 1822, and by the mid-1800s it was one of the largest manufacturing centers in the nation, noted for its garment production, leather goods, and machinery industries.

Related Topics:
Rum - Fish - Salt - Tobacco - 1822 - 1800s - Garment - Leather

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Boston has been the site of several notable 'firsts'. The Boston Latin School (1635), was the first school in America; Harvard College (1636) in Cambridge, just across the Charles River, was the first institution of higher learning. On November 1, 1848, the first medical school for women, the Boston Female Medical School, (which later merged with the Boston University School of Medicine), opened. On September 1, 1897, Boston debuted the first underground streetcar subway in North America; today, it is called "The T" and run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Related Topics:
Boston Latin School - 1635 - Harvard College - 1636 - Cambridge - November 1 - 1848 - Medical school - Boston University - September 1 - 1897 - Streetcar - North America - Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

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Recently, Boston has experienced a loss of regional institutions and traditions, which once gave it a very distinct social character, as it has become part of the more homogenized BosWash megalopolis. Despite these losses, Boston's ambiance has improved in recent years — city streets bustle with a vitality not seen since the 1920s, crime and poverty remain low for an American city, and once again Boston has become a hub of intellectual, technological, and political ideas. According to Money Magazine, Boston is one of the world's 100 most expensive cities {{ref|MoneyMagazine}}.

Related Topics:
BosWash - Megalopolis - 1920s

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