Economic depression followed the war, and in 1786 Massachusetts farmers under Daniel Shays rose against the state legislature in a demand for debt relief. ( Formation of the federal government (1789) brought economic and political stability to the country, and prosperity returned to Massachusetts. Agricultural prices rose, and trade and manufacturing expanded.

When the War of 1812 began, Massachusetts led the New England states in opposing what they considered a rash and unnecessary conflict. It was on the proposal of the state legislature that the Hartford Convention was held in 1814.

In the 19th century, Massachusetts-with writers such as Hawthorne, Longfellow, Whittier, Emerson, Holmes, Lowell, and Thoreau—was the center of literary activity in the United States. Boston was recognized as the cultural capital of the country and was called “the Athens of America."

Massachusetts early became a stronghold of the abolition movement. William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper, The Liberator, was founded in Boston in 1831. The state strongly supported the Union in the Civil War. In the latter half of the 19th century a flood of immigrants supplied cheap labor for Massachusetts factories and the state became a leading producer of textiles and shoes.

The 20th Century. Unionism took a firm hold in Massachusetts in the 20th century. In 1919 the members of the Boston police force, denied the right to join a union, went on strike. Governor Calvin Coolidge won national attention when he called out the state militia to maintain order.

A tropical hurricane struck the New England coast in September, 1938, doing severe damage in Massachusetts. More than 3,000 homes and cottages were destroyed; 21,500 more were damaged.

During the depression of the 1930's many textile plants closed and many moved from Massachusetts to the South. Industry revived during World War II, but in the postwar period the decline of textile and shoe manufacturing hurt the economy. Diversification of industry begun in the 1950's, particularly the establishment of electronics and other science-based industries in the Boston area, returned Massachusetts to its place among the nation's leading manufacturing states.

During the 1970's, racial problems centering on the issue of school busing for integration caused strife in Boston, where most of the state's black population was concentrated. Also in the 1970's, there was a severe downturn in the economy, with the unemployment rate reaching 12 per cent in 1975. By the mid-1980's, however, an economic boom was well under way, stimulated in part by growth in the state's technically advanced industries. The boom proved short-lived, and the economy was in a severe recession by the early 1990's. Further growth in the technology and tourism industries helped the economy recover.

In November, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that homosexual couples should be allowed to marry and not allowing them to do so was a violation of the state's constitution. On May 17, 2004, marriage licenses were offered by the state to couples of the same sex.

In April, 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to require residents to obtain health care. Legislation signed by Governor Mitt Romney required health insurance to be bought by July 1, 2007, and called for the state government to subsidize the cost of coverage for low-income residents.

In November, 2006, Deval L. Patrick became the first African American governor of the state.