Outstanding entitlement has been made of Boston, Massachusetts’ capital, throughout its history. Boston’s impressive history can be identified by the nicknames given: ‘Cradle of Modern America’, ‘Hub of the Solar System’ and ‘Athens of America’.
The nickname ‘Cradle of Modern America’ adds up Boston’s relationship to the country as a whole. Boston was the capital of the original Massachusetts Bay Colony founded in 1630, and it is the place where, with the incident of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, the Revolutionary War against British colonial rule was started. Harvard College was founded in 1638, in the Cambridge district over the river. According to Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), physician and writer born in Boston regarded it as the ‘Hub of the Solar System’. Others were calling it the ‘Athens of America’. Today one out of every 10 Bostonian residents is a student at one of the city””s 57 university, college and research establishments. Such prestigious institutions as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have attracted leading industries in electronics, engineering, finance and biotechnology – and given the city a strong future.
Of all the Boston’s many ancestors, the scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) stands out very much. Known for its auto’s Boston today refers to itself as the ‘Walking City’. The Freedom Trail is a physical manifestation of the birth of the modern American Republic – around 4km (2.5 miles) of the city’s streets and sights. Also, Boston’s place in black American history can be discovered by following the 2.5km (1.6-mile) Black Heritage Trail – as the city was a goal of black slaves escaping the oppressive South on the ‘Underground Railway’.
Boston””s sharp Puritan roots have been changed over the centuries, yet it retains an ethic of commitment to life as a whole, be that sports, pastimes, work, cafes, bars or culture. But, after all, the city that imported an English pub (which later became the model for TVs hugely successful Cheers), hosts the Boston Pops concerts and gave the rock music world Aerosmith is hardly going to let the weather dominate it.
Modern Boston is very much a small blueprint of New England. It has the typical east coast climate of hot, humid summers and freezing winters. Perhaps, after all, the city deserves to be called the ””Rome of Massachusetts””, since all New England roads, physical, cultural and historical, lead to it.