Boston, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is a city in the United States, the capital of the state of Massachusetts. Located on the Atlantic coast, in New England, at the mouth of the Mystic and Charles Rivers, it is the most populous city in the state. The city spans a relatively small territory and includes the boroughs of East Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, Dorchester, Brighton, West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and Hyde Park. The climate, humid and temperate, is characterized by cold winters (the average temperature in January is -1 ° C) and moderately hot summers (21 ° C in July); annual rainfall is 1090 mm. Boston is New England’s largest financial and industrial center. The economy of the city is oriented towards the service sector, more than half of its active population occupies positions related to tertiary activities.

The apex of the Boston industrial network is represented by information technology, which here reaches unparalleled levels of technological research. The rest of the industrial production is oriented towards fabrics, rubber and clothing. The development of the publishing sector is also noteworthy.

An important center of study, the city has two prestigious universities, Boston University, founded in 1839, and Northeastern University founded in 1898. Also close to the city are Cambridge University and Harvard University., from 1636.

Its many academic institutions and institutes, its historic attractions, its financial power and its quality of life, make this city a magnificent place to live, work or visit, Boston continues to be one of the best American cities to live..

This extraordinary city has earned the nickname ‘Athens of America’ for the beauty of its historic center and the intensity of its cultural and scientific activities. Numerous museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts. Other notable buildings, dating back to the colonial era, are the Old North Church and the Massachusetts State House.

Paul Revere House, the oldest building in the city, is located in the North End, a few blocks away from the Old North Church, on which the two lanterns were hung that warned Paul Revere of the advance of the English.

The Freedom Trail begins at Boston Common, the first public park in the USA, and the city’s green lung, as well as a favorite area for relaxation and recreation.

North of the park shines the golden dome of the new State House. King’s Chapel was Boston’s first Anglican church. The Old Corner Bookstore, one of the best bookstores in the city, was Boston’s literary center as early as the 19th century. Other highlights on the Freedom Trail are the Benjamin Franklin statue, the Old South Meeting House, Faneuil Hall, a meeting place for settlers, and Bunker Hill, the scene of a major battle during the American Revolutionary War. The long history of the city also and above all relives in the historic district of Beacon Hill (slightly away from the Freedom Trail), which from the seventeenth century to the present has been preserved intact, with romantic noble residences that embellish both sides of the cobbled streets.

Boston history

Before the area was overrun by European explorers and settlers, the region of Massachusetts, where Boston is now located, was inhabited by Algonquian Indian tribes, mainly in parts of the coast and in the river valleys of the interior. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, due to diseases introduced by Europeans, there was a drastic decrease in the number of Indians.

The first settlers arrived in 1630, were followers of Puritanism, led by John Winthrop, and hailed from Salem. In 1750 it was already a commercial center, where many industries developed. During this time the city already had 15,000 inhabitants, and its life was strongly influenced by political clashes with England, and by the power exercised by congregationalism. In 1661, missionary John Eliot published the first book in the Western Hemisphere, a bible. He traveled through the Boston area converting many Indian tribes with the help of the Bible. After a long wandering, he settled with Natick’s Indian believers. But most of them died when they were exiled to Deer Island, after the “War of King Philip.” In 1773, the first signs of insurrection appeared in Boston. The city was the center of opposition to England. This opposition would later culminate in the War of Independence.

In the decade from 1760 to 1770, Boston was the main center of opposition to English hegemony, which tried to impose its laws, not counting the opinion of the American colonists. After numerous clashes with British troops, the episode of the Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773, it was a protest against the tea tax that was imposed by the British, and was the cause and starting point for the insurrection of all. the other colonies against British power. After the insurrection there were the battles of Lexington and Concord, and subsequently the battle of Bunker Hill which took place on June 17, 1775, in Boston; nine months later, the British withdrew from the city,

During the American Civil War, Boston and Massachusetts sent various regiments to fight, among them the 54 of Massachusetts, the first regiment composed of black men in the history of the United States, or the 56 and the Harvard Regiment, also known as the Regiment. 20 Massachusetts Infantry Volunteers.

In the second half of the 19th century, Boston incorporated some of the neighboring cities, including them in the metropolitan area. Hundreds of immigrants began to arrive, first from Ireland, people fleeing the hunger of that country, and later from Canada, Russia and Italy. When the waves of Irish immigrants arrived, several thousand were quarantined on Deer Island, and more than 800 died as a result of the harsh conditions on the island. Such was the immigration from Ireland that currently, the Irish-born community has considerable influence in the life of the city. In 1900 Boston was the capital of New England, and had achieved a leading position in various sectors such as finance, education and medicine. In 1950 the city reached its maximum population level, with 801,444 inhabitants, a figure that began to decrease continuously since then, it is estimated that in 1990 the population was about 570,000 inhabitants.

Boston, Massachusetts

About the author