Massachusetts - School-Age

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Flag Map

6th State (February 6, 1788), New England

State Abbreviation: MA

Capital: Boston

Origin of name: From Massachusetts tribe of Native Americans who lived in the Great Blue Hill region, south of Boston. The Indian term means "at or about the Great Hill".

Motto: Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem (By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty)

Nickname: Bay State, Old Colony State, Puritan State, Baked Bean State.

Massachusetts State Symbols

Massachusetts: Great Seal

Bean: Navy Bean

Berry: Cranberry

Beverage: Cranberry Juice

Bird: Black-Capped Chickadee

Building Rock and Monument Stone: Granite

Cat: Tabby Cat (Felis familiaris)

Masachusettes State Symbols

Ceremonial March: The Road to Boston

Cookie: Chocolate Chip Cookie

Dessert: Boston Cream Pie

Dog: Boston Terrier

Explorer Rock: Dighton Rock

Fish: Cod

Flower: Mayflower

Folk Dance: Square Dance

Folk Hero: Johnny Appleseed

Folk Song: Massachusetts, words and music by Arlo Guthrie

Fossil: Theropod Dinosaur

Game Bird: Wild Turkey

Gem: Rhodonite

Glee Club Song: The Great State of Massachusetts

Historical Rock: Plymouth Rock

Horse: Morgan Horse

Insect: Ladybug

Marine Mammal:: Right Whale (Eubabalena Glacialis)

Mineral: Babingtonite

Muffin: Corn Muffin

Ode of the Commonwealth: Ode to Massachusetts

Patriotic Song of the Commonwealth: "Massachusetts (Because of You Our Land is Free)", words and music by Bernard Davidson

Poem: Blue Hills of Massachusetts (includes State Seal of MA.)

Rock: Roxbury Puddingstone

Shell: New England Neptune

Soil: Paxton Soil Series

Song: Song: All Hail To Massachusetts

Tree: American Elm

Video

Things to Know

The Pilgrims left Europe in 1620 to seek religious freedom. They made a treacherous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on a ship called the Mayflower. The Mayflower was named after a flower known as "Trailing Arbutus," an evergreen with a white flower that has a pink center. The Pilgrims established their settlement at Plymouth, MA in 1620.

They were followed shortly by the Puritans, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans named their colony after a local Indian tribe whose name means "a large hill place." The birthplace of many of the ideals of the American Revolution, Massachusetts attracted people who believed in self-government.

Massachusetts became a leader in resisting British oppression. In 1773, the Boston Tea Party protested unjust taxation. The Minute Men started the American Revolution by battling British troops at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

Senators from Massachusetts.

Massachusetts produces the nation's largest cranberry crop.

Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts opened on April 20, 1912 and is major league baseball's oldest ballpark.

Massachusetts is home to 150 public and private institutions of higher learning and is recognized worldwide for its academic heritage and reputation. Some of the well-known ones are Harvard, MIT, Holy Cross, Tufts, Boston College, Boston University, and the University of Massachusetts.

Major Rivers: Charles River, Connecticut River, Hoosic River, Housatonic River, Merrimack River.

Presidents From Massachusetts

John Adams (1735 - 1826), 2nd President of the United States.

John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848), 6th President of the United States.
Son of John Adams (2nd U.S. President)

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933 ), 30th U.S. President

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th president of the United States.

George H. W. Bush (1924-2018 ), 41st U.S. President, Milton, Massachusetts.

Famous Bay Staters

Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), American Revolutionary patriot and statesman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of Massachusetts.

Benjamin Franklin, (1706 - 1790), printer, author, philosopher, diplomat, scientist, and inventor.

John Hancock (1737 - 1793), merchant, statesman, first signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first governor of the state of Massachusetts.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864), novelist.

Paul Revere (1735 - 1818), silversmith and patriot.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), poet.
Read the poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Longfellow.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), essayist, naturalist, and philosopher.

Clara Barton (1821-1912), American Red Cross founder.

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), poet.

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), writer
Virtual visit of Orchard House the home of the Alcott family.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), woman suffragist

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Video

Things to Do

Poem: Blue Hills of Massachusetts (includes State Seal of MA.)

Massachusetts State Bird and State Flower color page

Massachusetts Flag Map color page

Make a Hornbook
The Pilgrims taught young boys and girls to read using hornbooks.
How to Make a Hornbook.

Sites to See

Read The Ladybug Story
The true tale of how a group of school children used the legislative process to make the ladybug the Official Bug of the State of Massachusetts.

Boston Cooking School Cook Book
Lots of old-time recipes from Fannie Farmer, published in 1918.

The Making of the Modern American Recipe - Smithsonian Magazine

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