As a proud native son, we refer to it as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It may seem a small thing, but I always understood having thrown off the shackles of a foreign power it meant that government was for and of the people and not a monarch nor was sovereignty granted by a government but by the citizens. Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia are all commonwealths as well. I guess to me this means something as I frequently walked to work as a high school student by the site of the Boston Massacre and other historical sites.

And veering closer to the matter at hand thanks for the links....