Massachusetts

==Etymology==

The [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] was named after the [[Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands|Indigenous]] population, the [[Massachusett]] or [[wikt:Muhsachuweesut|Muhsachuweesut]], whose name likely derived from a [[Wôpanâak language|Wôpanâak]] word ''muswachasut'', segmented as ''mus(ây)'' "big" + ''wach'' "mountain" + ''-s'' "diminutive" + -''ut'' "locative".<ref>{{cite thesis|url= http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/8740|title= Introduction to Wampanoag Grammar|last= Fermino|first= Jessie Little Doe|year= 2000|publisher= Massachusetts Institute of Technology|hdl= 1721.1/8740|type= Thesis}}</ref> This word has been translated as "near the great hill",<ref>{{cite book| first= William Wallace| last= Tooker| url= https://archive.org/details/jstor-533961| page= [https://archive.org/details/jstor-533961/page/n5 175]| title= Algonquian Names of some Mountains and Hills| publisher= American Folk-lore Society| year= 1904| access-date= June 10, 2015}}</ref> "by the blue hills", "at the little big hill", or "at the range of hills", in reference to the [[Blue Hills Reservation|Blue Hills]]—namely, the [[Great Blue Hill]], located on the boundary of [[Milton, Massachusetts|Milton]] and [[Canton, Massachusetts|Canton]].<ref>Salwen, Bert, 1978. ''Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period''. In "Northeast", ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of "Handbook of North American Indians", ed. William C. Sturtevant, pp. 160–76. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution. Quoted in: Campbell, Lyle. 1997. ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 401</ref><ref>Bright, William (2004). ''Native American Place Names of the United States''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 270</ref> ''Massachusett'' has also been represented as ''Moswetuset''. This comes from the name of the [[Moswetuset Hummock]] (meaning "hill shaped like an arrowhead") in [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], where [[Plymouth Colony]] commander [[Myles Standish]] (a hired English military officer) and [[Squanto]] (a member of the [[Patuxet tribe|Patuxet band]] of the [[Wampanoag|Wamponoag people]], who have since died off due to contagious disease brought by colonizers) met Chief [[Chickatawbut]] in 1621.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://thomascranelibrary.org/htm/436.htm |title= East Squantum Street (Moswetuset Hummock) |year= 1986 |website= Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey |publisher= [[Thomas Crane Public Library]] |access-date= June 24, 2009 |archive-date= June 26, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090626232221/http://thomascranelibrary.org/htm/436.htm }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Neal |first= Daniel |title= The history of New-England |publisher= A. Ward |location= London |year= 1747 |edition= 2 |volume= 2 |page= 216 |chapter= XIV: The Present State of New England |oclc= 8616817 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=u3opAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA216 |access-date= June 24, 2009}}</ref>

Although the designation "Commonwealth" forms part of the state's official name, it has no practical implications in modern times<ref>{{cite web |title= Why is Massachusetts a Commonwealth? |url= http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/legal-and-legislative-resources/why-is-massachusetts-a-commonwealth.html |publisher= Commonwealth of Massachusetts |access-date= April 21, 2015 | quote = The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by a state. Those [U.S. states] that do use it are equal to those that do not. Legally, Massachusetts is a commonwealth because the term is contained in the Constitution.}}</ref> and Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states.<ref>{{cite web |title= Kentucky as a Commonwealth |publisher= Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives |access-date= May 22, 2010 |url= http://kdla.ky.gov/resources/kycommonwealth.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110131061313/http://kdla.ky.gov/resources/kycommonwealth.htm |archive-date= January 31, 2011}}</ref> [[John Adams]] may have chosen the word in 1779 for the second draft of what became the 1780 [[Massachusetts Constitution]]; unlike the word "state", the word "[[commonwealth]]" had the connotation of a [[republic]] at the time. This was in contrast to the [[monarchy]] the former colonies were fighting against during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The name "State of Massachusetts Bay" appeared in the first draft, which was ultimately rejected. It was also chosen to include the "Cape Islands" in reference to [[Martha's Vineyard]] and [[Nantucket]]—from 1780 to 1844, they were seen as additional and separate entities confined within the Commonwealth.<ref>
{{Cite news
 |url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/01/23/why-call-massachusetts-commonwealth-blame-john-adams/8n9gWNMBkFr55xi91HkcnI/story.html |url-access=subscription
 |title= Why do we call Massachusetts a 'commonwealth'? Blame John Adams
 |first= Martin |last= Finucane|work= The Boston Globe
}}
* "A previous draft of the state constitution, proposed by the Legislature and rejected, had used the name 'State of Massachusetts Bay'.<br />At the time, the word was used to mean 'republic', and there might have been some antimonarchical sentiment in using it, according to the [http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm Massachusetts secretary of state's website]."</ref>