Boston is one of the oldest cities in America, and the largest port city in New England. It Was founded in September 17, 1630 by a group of Puritan colonists. These colonists are often confused with the Puritans that colonized the Plymouth colony, who are often referred to as the pilgrims, but they are not the same group.
Boston was originally named Trimountaine, but it was eventually changed to be named after Boston, England, From which several of these colonists had come from. These people believed very much in a good education, and As a result, after just five years of Boston’s founding, the first public school in America, Boston Latin, was founded in 1635, and Harvard College came the next year after that. Boston had been the largest town in America until the 1700s.
On March 5, 1770, on King street, a young man named, Edward Gerrish, called out to a British officer, john Goldfinch, and told him that he had not paid his masters bill for the making of a wig. Goldfinch ignored the boy, for he, in fact, did pay the bill. Gerrish left, only to come back with some friends. Eventually Goldfinch grew tired of the harassment and hit Gerrish over the head with his musket. The combination of the cry of pain and the arguments between the officer and Gerrish’s friends drew the attention of nearby people. Eventually the crowd became larger and more threatening. Soon soldiers were sent out to disperse the mob. By the time reinforcements arrived the size of the mob was around 300 to 400 people. The men were told not to fire, but the crowd was taunting the soldiers. After a short pause some soldiers fired there weapons do to annoyance and aggravation. 4 men were killed instantly, 5 died afterwards, and 6 were wounded. However, I have heard that possibly 11 men died, and 6 were wounded. All soldiers that fired a shot were shot as punishment.
After the American revolution, and the Boston massacre, Boston Became one of the wealthiest trading ports in America. In 1822, Boston was officially chartered as a city, and by the mid-1800’s was one of largest industrial areas in the United states. In the early 20th century, Boston was in decline because the factories were old, and businesses were moving out of state for cheaper work elsewhere. In response, Boston launched ‘urban renewal’ projects under the direction of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which was established in 1957. The BRA began projects all over the west end in 1958. Large projects of demolition and renovation took place for many years.
After 30 year of economic downturn, there was a sudden boom in 1970. There were also many new medical health innovations that took place in hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital. Schools such as Harvard University, Boston University, and M.I.T. attracted quite a few students to Boston, and by the 21st century, Boston was considered the intellectual, technological, and the political center of our nation.
Boston is also known as the 4th most densely populated city in the country. Its current population (2009) in 89.6 sqr. miles is over 600,000. On average, the temperature would register near a high of 82°F in July, and in average high of 36°F in January. the lowest ever recorded was -18°F, the highest ever being 104°F. Once in an amazingly hot year, temperatures in February managed to reach 70°F, and 89°F in march.
My dad is from this area(not particularly Boston, but a town about an hour from Boston), so I’m pretty familiar with the “Boston accent”. People in this area tend to use words you might not be too sure what they mean. For example, I’ve heard the word ‘whicked’ used in place of ‘very’ many times before, and my dad uses the word ‘elastic’ for ‘rubberband’ (that might be just him though). They also drop there ‘r’ at times too unless a vowel is present afterward. for example ‘dark’ may be pronounced ‘daak’ and ‘car’ is to ‘caa’. ‘Carrot’ would stay ‘carrot’.
Boston is well known as a safe city for its low crime rate. For example a typical murder rate in a year could be around the 30’s. However this number can fluctuate by as much as 50%, climbing all the way to the 60’s then dropping to the 30’s again. In 1990 the highest count of murders was 152, but in 1999 this number went down to 31. it went up to 60 in 2002, down to 39 in 2003, up again in 64 in 2004, and up slightly more to 75 in 2005.
Now what kind of person would I be if I didn’t mention the Boston Red Sox? This team is home to Fenway Park, which is the oldest stadium still active, it also held the first modern world series in 1903 which they won. They also won in 1912(the same year that the park that is here today opened), 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, and 2007. Now moving on from baseball to football, the New England patriots, originally founded as the Boston Patriots in 1960,was chartered into the AFL the same year, and later to the NFL in 1970. they became the New England Patriots in 1971. The one three super bowls all together(XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX), two of wich are consecutive. They are one of only three teams to ever have an 18-0 winning streak in one season.
Jamestown was named after king James I of England, and was founded on May 24, 1607. It is located in Virginia, and although it is the first permanent settlement it wasn’t the first attempt. Jamestown was actually something around the 19th attempt of colonization in the new world. Jamestown’s primary reasons were to gather Tobacco, as well as wood, money, women who wanted a husband, and other reasons as well.