of the Patuxet band of the Wamponoag people, who have since died off due to contagious disease brought by colonizers) met Chief Chickatawbut in 1621. While the designation "Commonwealth" forms part of the state's official name, in modern times it has no practical implications and Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states. John Adams may have chosen the word in 1779 for the second draft of what became the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution; unlike the "state", the word "commonwealth" had the connotation of a republic at the time. This was in contrast to the monarchy the former American colonies were fighting against. (The name "State of Massachusetts Bay" appeared in the first draft, which was ultimately rejected.) It was also chosen to include the "Cape Islands" in reference to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket—from 1780 to 1844, they were seen as additional and separate entities confined within the Commonwealth. History Pre-colonization Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family, including: Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn were an important part of their diet, the people of these tribes hunted, fished, and searched the forest for most of their food. Villagars lived in lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses. Tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Colonial period In the early 1600s, European colonizers caused virgin soil epidemics such as smallpox, measles, influenza, and perhaps leptospirosis in what is now known as the northeastern region of the United States. Between 1617 and 1619, what was most likely smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans. The first English colonizers in Massachusetts, the Puritans, arrived on the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620. This was the second permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, after the Jamestown Colony. The "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Puritans after their first harvest in the "New World" and lasted for three days. They were soon followed by other Puritans, who colonized the Massachusetts Bay Colony—now known as Boston—in 1630. The Puritans believed the Church of England needed to be purified and experienced harassment due to being disliked by English authority. They decided to colonize to Massachusetts intending to establish what they considered an "ideal" religious society. Unlike the Plymouth colony, the Massachusetts Bay Colony