Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization.

The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620

by the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, taking its name from the
Indigenous Massachusett people, also established settlements in Boston and Salem. In 1692, the
town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass
hysteria, the Salem witch trials.[50] In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of
Liberty"[51] for the agitation there that later led to the American Revolution. In 1777, General Henry
Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which, during the Industrial Revolution, catalyzed numerous
important technological advances, including interchangeable parts.[52] In 1786, Shays' Rebellion, a
populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States
Constitutional Convention.[53] In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept
Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, originated from the pulpit of Northampton preacher Jonathan
Edwards.[54]