Massachusetts

===Colonial period (1620–1780)===
In the early 1600s (after contact had been made with Europeans, but before permanent settlements were established), large numbers of the [[indigenous people]] in the northeast of what is now the United States were killed by [[virgin soil epidemics]] such as [[smallpox]], [[measles]], [[influenza]], and perhaps [[leptospirosis]].<ref name="hoxie-164">{{cite book|last=Hoxie|first=Frederick E |title = Encyclopedia of North American Indians|publisher= Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year= 1996|location= Boston|page= 164|isbn= 978-0-395-66921-1 | oclc= 34669430|url= http://books.google.com/?id=o-BNU7QuJkYC&pg=PA164|accessdate= July 30, 2009}}</ref><ref> {{Cite journal | doi = 10.3201/e0di1602.090276 | last1 = Marr | first1 = JS | last2 = Cathey | first2 = JT | title = New hypothesis for cause of an epidemic among Native Americans, New England, 1616–1619 | journal = Emerging Infectious Disease | year = 2010 | month =  Feb | postscript = <!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}.</ref> In 1617–[[1619 |19]], smallpox reportedly killed 90% of the [[Massachusetts Bay]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas |Native Americans]].{{Sfn | Koplow | 2004 | p = 13}}

The first English settlers in Massachusetts, the [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]], established their settlement at [[Plymouth (town), Massachusetts |Plymouth]] in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]].{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | pp = 29–30}}  This was the second successful permanent English colony in North America, after the [[Jamestown Colony]].  The Pilgrims were soon followed by other [[Puritan]]s, who established the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] at present-day Boston in 1630.{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | p = 30}}

The Puritans, who believed the [[Church of England]] was too hierarchical (among other disagreements), came to Massachusetts for religious freedom,{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | p = 29}} although, unlike the Plymouth colony, the bay colony was founded under a royal charter. Both religious dissent and expansionism resulted in several new colonies being founded shortly after Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay elsewhere in New England. Dissenters such as [[Anne Hutchinson]] and [[Roger Williams (theologian) | Roger Williams]] were banished due to religious disagreements; (Hutchinson held meetings in her home discussing flaws in the Puritan beliefs, while Williams believed that the Puritan beliefs were wrong, and the Indians must be respected.) In 1636, Williams founded the colony of [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations| Rhode Island]] and Hutchinson joined him there several years later.{{Sfn | Brown | Tager | 2000 | pp = 30–32}}

In 1691, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were united (along with present-day [[Maine]], which had previously been divided between Massachusetts and [[Province of New York|New York]]) into the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]].{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | p = 66}} Shortly after the arrival of the new province's first governor, Sir [[William Phips]], the [[Salem witch trials]] took place, in which a number of men and women were hanged.{{Sfn | Brown | Tager | 2000 | p = 50}}

During the [[American Revolution|Revolution]],  [[Salem, Massachusetts]] became a center for [[privateer]]ing. Although the documentation is incomplete, about 1,700 [[Letters of Marque]], issued on a per-voyage basis, were granted during the American Revolution. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers and are credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/privateers.html|title=John Fraylor. Salem Maritime National Historic Park|publisher=Nps.gov|accessdate=2012-09-03}}</ref> During the [[War of 1812]], privateering resumed.  The [[Old China Trade]] left a significant mark in two historic districts, [[Chestnut Street District]], part of the [[Samuel McIntire]] Historic District containing 407 buildings, and the [[Salem Maritime National Historic Site]], consisting of 12 historic structures and about 9 acres (36,000 m2) of land along the waterfront in Salem. [[Elias Hasket Derby]] was among the wealthiest and most celebrated of post-Revolutionary merchants in Salem, and owner of the Grand Turk, the first New England vessel to trade directly with China.

The [[1755 Cape Ann Earthquake|most destructive earthquake]] yet known in [[New England]] occurred in 1755, causing considerable damage across Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite document | publisher = USGS | title = Historic Earthquakes | contribution = The Great Earthquake of 1755 | url = http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1755_11_18_hs.php | accessdate = February 7, 2011 | postscript = <!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite news | title = Memorandum | newspaper = [[Boston Gazette]] | date = November 24, 1755 | page = 1 | postscript = <!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}.</ref>

[[File:Percy's Rescue at Lexington Detail.jpg|thumb|left|250px|{{Cite document | title = Percy's Rescue at Lexington | author1-link = Ralph Earl | first1 = Ralph | last1 = Earl | first2 = Amos | last2 = Doolittle | year = 1775 | type = illustration | postscript = <!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}, about the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]].]]
Massachusetts was a center of the movement for independence from [[Kingdom of Great Britain| Great Britain]]; colonists here had long had uneasy relations with the British monarchy, including open rebellion under the [[Dominion of New England]] in the 1680s.{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | p = 66}}  Protests against British attempts to tax the colonies after the [[French and Indian War]] ended in 1763 led to the [[Boston Massacre]] in 1770, and the 1773 [[Boston Tea Party]] escalated tensions to the breaking point.{{Sfn | Brown | Tager | 2000 | pp = 63–83}}  Anti-Parliamentary activity by men such as [[Samuel Adams]] and [[John Hancock]], followed by reprisals by the British government, were a primary reason for the unity of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] and the outbreak of the [[American Revolution]].{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | pp = 88–90}}

The [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] initiated the [[American Revolutionary War]] and were fought in the Massachusetts towns of [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]] and [[Lexington, Massachusetts|Lexington]].{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | pp = 95–96}}  Future President [[George Washington]] took over what would become the Continental Army after the battle. His first victory was the [[Siege of Boston]] in the winter of 1775–76, after which the British were forced to evacuate the city.{{Sfn | Goldfield | Abbott | Anderson | Argersinger | 1998 | pp = 96–97}}  The event is still celebrated in [[Suffolk County, Massachusetts | Suffolk County]] as [[Evacuation Day (Massachusetts) | Evacuation Day]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Massachusetts Legal Holidays | publisher = Secretary of the Commonwealth | accessdate = May 22, 2010 | url = http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cishol/holidx.htm}}</ref>