MAINE

MAINE. For many, Maine appears on the map as a peninsula, the northeasternmost extension of the United States. However, there is nothing peninsular about Maine. In fact, geographically, it is the southern edge of a much larger land mass that extends south from Hudson Bay and the Canadian shield and from the east through the great timber lands of eastern Canada and the complex coastline of the western North Atlantic. Maine's history has been shaped by these natural characteristics and the social and economic conditions spawned by its unique positioning. Maine is at once at the center of a vibrant natural corridor that produces staple products and on the outermost edge of a great political institution.

Maine's first inhabitants, the Paleoindians (a term used to describe early inhabitants of America, not yet distinguished into modern tribal groups), arrived in the area in the wake of the retreating glaciers 11,000 to 10,000 years ago, where they encountered a relatively barren landscape. The changing environment brought about a new culture, known as the Archaic, between 10,000 and 8,500 years ago. This new culture exploited new resources based on changing forest and sea conditions and developed advanced woodworking skills. Agriculture arrived in what is now New England a few hundred years before European contact. The Native peoples in Maine developed the common corn–beans–squash regimen of crop production. However, those east of the Kennebec River remained dependent upon hunting and gathering.

The Colonial Period

The first documented case of European exploration in the Gulf of Maine was by Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524. This was followed by a series of failed colonizing attempts between 1602 and 1607. Most Europeans were unable to adapt to the harsh environment and the lack of familiar natural resources. The first successful settlements along the Maine coast were those established by European fishing ventures, which supplied winter residents in order to lay claim to the best fishing grounds earlier in the season. By 1610, the Jamestown Colony began to send fishing vessels to the Maine coast. As the activities increased, year-round fishing stations were established at Damaris-cove Island, Cape Piscataque, Monhegan Island, Pemaquid, and Richmond Island.

European activity in Maine began to increase as more settlers began to recognize the wealth that could be produced from Maine's forests, rivers, and seas. Both internal conflict within England, France, and among Natives, and external conflict between the colonies characterized the settlement of the Maine territory. In order to extend their territorial control, the Massachusetts Bay Colony set up townships at York (1630), Cape Porpus (ca. 1630), Saco (1630), Kittery (ca. 1631), Scarborough (ca. 1631), Falmouth (1633), North Yarmouth (1636), and Wells (1642). The restoration of Charles II to the throne of England was accompanied by further territorial claims from France. By 1670, Maine's settlers moved from a subsistence agriculture base to a profitable export trade of cattle, corn, fish, and lumber products. Both the English and the French inhabitants of Maine lived within a family-based economy with men working in the fields, upon the seas, and in the lumber camps, while women and children worked at home to provide foodstuffs such as milk, butter, and eggs, as well as clothing and tools.

French activities in Maine increased after 1670 when they reoccupied a fort at the mouth of the Penobscot River. For the French, Maine remained primarily a fishing, lumbering, and, most importantly, fur trading center; however, internal conflict between rival French claims hindered French settlement efforts. By the mid-1600s, nearly 75 percent of Maine's original Native inhabitants had died, mostly from European diseases. The survivors were often uprooted and forced to relocate. The arrival of a European-based fur trade further altered the Natives' traditional relationship with the environment. Competition among tribal bands for fur-bearing animals and friction with the colonizing nations transformed the region into a volatile political area, bringing an era of brutal warfare. The Wabanakis in Maine comprised about 20,000 people before contact. Relations with Europeans began to sour early when explorers captured natives for slaves. Conflicting alliances with Europeans fractionalized the Wabanakis and plagues further weakened the solidarity of the "People of the Dawn." As Natives further became dependent upon European firearms and ammunition, the fur trade took on a desperate tone. Beavers grew scarce, forcing the Wabanakis to expand into rival lands. This competition resulted in a series of violent clashes between the tribes known as the "Beaver Wars."

The internal Native conflicts overlapped with a series of European conflicts. Native–English violence during King Philip's War (1675–1676), King William's War (1689–1697), and Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) brought a universal declaration of war by Massachusetts on all Maine Indians in August 1703. Drummer's War (1721– 1727) saw the collapse of Wabanaki military and political power and a dramatic extension of English settlement. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) brought the final collapse of both Native and French military presence in the Maine territory. In May 1759, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Pownall led a force of 400 militia up the Penobscot River to attack Native settlements and construct Fort Pownall near the mouth of the river at Stockton Springs, ending the long land rivalry in Maine. Native families resettled upon ancestral lands, but in small, separate villages. Peace brought further English settlement eastward along the coast and up river valleys.

The American Revolution and Statehood

Maine's participation in the American Revolution reflected its maritime traditions. Tension first appeared over British regulations on timber use and the Royal Navy's monopoly on timber for shipbuilding. Friction over enforcing the Nonimportation Agreement led to the arrival of the British man-of-war Canceaux in Falmouth port. Militia captured its captain and some crew, but the men were quickly released. HMS Margaretta was captured by militia in Machias in June 1775. In October, the Canceaux returned to Falmouth and after warning the residents, bombarded the town and destroyed two-thirds of its structures. The power of the Royal Navy prevented most of Maine's inhabitants from participating directly in the American Revolution.

Maine's location as a borderland between the American colonies and the British holdings in Canada and Nova Scotia led to its use as a launching point of invasion into pro-British territories. Benedict Arnold marched his troops through Maine on his ill-fated attempt to capture Quebec. As they advanced up the Kennebec River in the fall of 1775 and north and west across the heights of land to the Chaudiere River, they encountered harsh weather and difficult travel. Many turned back, weakening the strength of the expedition. In October 1776 and May 1777, pro-American refugees from Nova Scotia launched two raids on Nova Scotia hoping to spark rebellion in the British colony. In the summer of 1779, a British expedition from Halifax arrived in Penobscot Bay and constructed Fort George at present-day Castine. Massachusetts maritime interests reacted by sending an armada of about forty vessels, which arrived on 25 July. Wracked by internal conflict and poor organization, the armada faltered and eventually was trapped by the Royal Navy. The Americans beached and burned their own vessels. The peace treaty of 3 September 1783 renounced British claims on Maine territories, but no definitive line was established as a border between Maine and the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec. Nor was any answer found for the fishing disputes that John Adams brought up during negotiations. Continued conflict over these issues persisted for generations, and even reappear today.

Internal friction began as soon as the Revolution concluded. The political debate quickly turned toward the issue of statehood. Maine's chief economies still relied on the sea, and therefore maritime interests took precedence over others. If Maine became a state independent of Massachusetts, the shippers would be forced to pay additional port charges as they entered Boston and New York. Challenging these maritime interests were back-country settlers, who sought more political power through statehood. These backcountry radicals were spurred on by national events such as Shay's Rebellion (1786–1787). Early test votes showed this division of interests, but equally important, these popular votes demonstrated the indifference many Mainers felt toward the issue: in one significant poll, only 4,598 bothered to vote.

The separatist movement gained momentum after the War of 1812. Maine's role in this conflict was again primarily a maritime one. Maine's economy was deeply affected by the Jeffersonian embargo and smuggling became a chief source of wealth for many small down-east towns that had, over the course of a century, built strong economic and social ties with their neighbors in the British Atlantic colonies. Maine ports also served as launching points for many wartime privateers who raided British shipping. During the war years, Eastport and Castine were invaded and held by British troops and naval vessels. By controlling the northern region of New England, Britain was able to perfect its blockade of the coast of the United States. By war's end, British troops occupied much of the settled area of the state. Britain, however, was eager to end the conflict and return to a profitable trade relation and therefore returned the occupied territory (along with northern Michigan and western New York).

The failure of Massachusetts to protect its Maine district touched off an emotional defense of the separatist movement. The economic rationale for remaining a part of Massachusetts crumbled when Congress passed a new coasting law in 1819, allowing American vessels to sail to any port from Maine to Florida without paying additional port charges or taxation. But the timing of Maine state-hood placed it squarely within the sectional issue of slavery extension. In 1820 Congress adopted the Missouri Compromise, as part of which Maine, a free state, and Missouri, a slave state, were admitted to the union.

Economic Development

Following statehood, Maine entered a phase of rapid economic development. The state's wealth was still tied to its ability to produce staple products, but unlike earlier production, this new phase incorporated commercial production and industrial production. As early as 1785, Acadian families from southern Quebec and northern New Brunswick began to migrate to the rich lands of the St. John Valley. For most of its early history, Maine's agricultural production was small-scale subsistence production

based on a village economy. Spurred on by outside capital investment and new transportation networks in the form of superior roads and railroads, Maine's farms began to commercialize. As elsewhere in the United States, agricultural production was concentrated into larger farms, and specialized production became part of the national market economy.

Forestry also shifted from a small-scale side business of village farmers into a massive industry concentrated in the hands of a few corporations. Lumbering operations expanded as new networks were developed and larger trees could be transported from the deep interior over friction-free snow-and-ice roads. With the introduction of modern sawmill technology in the 1840s, Bangor became the center of Maine's lumbering industry, exporting more wood product than any other port in the world.

The second half of the nineteenth century saw the continuation of this trend as the lumber industry followed national trends in monopoly capitalism. In the 1880s, the wood-product industry shifted from lumber to pulp and paper. This new capital-intensive industry brought more out-of-state investment. Mill towns appeared in Maine's interior, most notably at Millinocket, built and run by the Great Northern Paper Company. Exemplifying the principles of monopoly capitalism, the Portland businessman Hugh J. Chrisholm and several other bankers and businessmen merged more than a score of New England and New York paper producers to form the International Paper Company. The changing costs of the lumbering business forced many smaller companies out of business, concentrating control in the hands of a few major players. Their wealth would not last for long; by 1915, the industry was in a decline as Canadian, Great Lakes states, and, later, southern producers entered the market. Natural depletion and substitute products shifted lumbering interest out of the state to southern and western regions of the nation.

While Maine had many staple economies, including potatoes, blueberries, ice, granite, and others, timber and seafood production proved to be the two most influential in Maine's history. Like the timber trade, the production of marine food products underwent significant changes during the nineteenth century. Traditionally, Maine specialized in salt cod production, but in the late nineteenth century Maine fishermen began to diversify their catch, marketing mackerel, menhaden, herring, sardines, and lobster. The southern plantations in the West Indies and later the American South provided early markets for North Atlantic seafood. But Maine's sea fisheries were part of a larger global economy that included most of the British colonies in the North Atlantic and in the West Indies. Urban expansion drastically increased the domestic market for fish products and Maine fishermen began to provide fish for the growing Catholic population of Boston and New York. During the early years, Maine's sea fisheries were conducted by small family-owned firms. Fish and fish products were carried by small vessels to larger ports in Portland, Gloucester, and Boston and from there to distant markets. This tie to out-of-state distributors characterized Maine's fisheries even more so during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Spurred by transportation developments like railroads, ice-cars, and larger schooners, the production and distribution of marine resources increased and took on an industrial form. Expensive trawl lines and nets replaced traditional forms of fishing. The fisheries became more capital-intensive and fishing production was concentrated in a handful of major firms in Gloucester and Boston. By the 1860s and 1870s, vessels were owned by large corporations. Huge wholesaling corporations were able to use price fixing to manipulate the market in their favor and limit competition. The repeal of government bounties and the replacement of the share system by a wage-labor system further hindered small-scale fishermen and created an industrial economy of fishing.

The Civil War and Postwar Politics

The Civil War played an important part not only in the state's history, but also in its modern folklore. Joshua Chamberlain of Brewer, a Bowdoin College graduate, commanded the Twentieth Maine at a pivotal moment on Little Round Top during the battle of Gettysburg, for which he received a Medal of Honor. Chamberlain went on to become a general and was wounded several times. Approximately 73,000 Mainers saw action during the war and many Maine women served as nurses, including Dorothea Dix of Hampden, who served as superintendent of women nurses during the war.

Maine state political leaders had been important players in the formation of the Republican Party in the 1880s, and their leadership was carried through the war and into reconstruction. Hannibal Hamlin won a strong following as an antislavery candidate in 1850 and later served as Abraham Lincoln's first vice president; William Pitt Fessenden served first as a senator and later as secretary of the Treasury; and James G. Blaine served as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was elected senator in 1876, and served as secretary of state in 1881 and from 1889 to 1892.

The legacy of the Civil War cemented Maine's loyalty to the Republican Party. The Republicans held state political power throughout the rest of the nineteenth century and oversaw the expansion of Maine's natural resource production and the concentration of industrial capitalism discussed earlier. The economic collapse of 1929 called into question Republican leadership and the Democratic lawyer and mayor of Lewiston, Louis J. Brann, was elected to the governor's office in 1932. However, Maine and Vermont were the only two states not to vote to reelect Franklin Roosevelt.

The Twentieth Century

President Roosevelt's New Deal brought in much-needed federal aid and the creation of numerous job opportunities. Although Maine's traditionalist culture accepted these changes slowly, the Civilian Conservation Corp recruited about sixteen thousand young men and women to work alongside the Maine Forest Service and proved to be an exceptional labor source for the creation of the Appalachian Trail. Under the Works Progress Administration, many women found employment in the canning industry and Maine farmers received funding for improvements in irrigation. The Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project, intended to provide hydroelectric power, was never completed, but during its planning stage it employed several hundred Maine workers.

Maine's maritime focus again proved to be of national significance during World War II. Maine had always had a strong shipbuilding tradition and during the war Bath Iron Works, on the Kennebec River, put this tradition into action by constructing 266 ships. In cooperation with Todd Shipbuilding in South Portland, the two firms employed more than 30,000 people, including 4,000 women.

Maine's postwar economic situation was grim, marked by textile mill closures, heavy migration from the state, and decline in its staple production. Rural poverty became endemic and the state's social services fell well behind the national average. In the 1950s, the Republican ascendancy was shaken, and under the leadership of Frank Morey Coffin and Edmund S. Muskie, the Democratic Party took control of the state government in 1954. Muskie's liberal agenda included environmental reform, minimum wage increases, hospital and school reform, and highway construction. During the 1960s, Mainers assumed a leading role in the nation's new environmental movement. As a U.S. senator, Muskie distinguished himself as the champion of national clean air and water legislation.

Maine's tourist industry became a profitable venture in the decades following the Civil War. The industry was a unique mixture of small-scale shops and folk traditions and large promotional developments launched by railroad, steamship-line, and hotel firms, including the Ricker family's Poland Spring House and spring water bottling company. Visitors were attracted by Maine's reputation for natural beauty, a healthy atmosphere, abundant fish and game resources, and its outdoor activities. A national obsession with an outdoor life quickened interest in Maine's wildlands, rivers, and lakes. The state government slowly became involved in the industry after 1870 with a series of legislative acts protecting Maine's natural wilderness and animal populations, while at the same time encouraging further road and hotel construction in previously remote areas.

The tourist industry gathered momentum during the nineteenth century and played a part in Maine's emergence as a leader in environmental protection in the 1960s. Maine residents have often accepted this tourist industry only reluctantly. Some of the biggest debates in its political arena stem directly from the tourist industry. As tourists flooded into southern Maine, many decided to stay and build vacation homes. This influx of wealthy "out-of-staters" drastically increased land taxes, forcing many long-term residents off their land. The conflict in land management between park land and commercial forest remains one of the most important political debates and few Mainers would shy away from offering their opinion.

Maine's economy continues at an uneven pace—strong in the southern cities and much weaker in the north and east. Maine political leaders have encouraged growth based on new communications, new technology, and an advanced service industry. However, traditionalist sentiment is difficult to overcome and the new technological service industry has not yet taken hold in many parts of Maine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Clark, Charles E., James S. Leamon, and Karen Bowden, eds. Maine in the Early Republic: from Revolution to Statehood. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1988.

Clifford, Harold B. Maine and Her People, with a supplement by Charlotte L. Melvin on The Story of Aroostook, Maine's Last Frontier. 4th ed. Freeport, Me.: Bond Wheelwright, 1976.

Cronon, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonialists, and the Ecology of New England. New York: Hill and Wang, 1983.

Duncan, Roger. Coastal Maine: A Maritime History. New York: Norton, 1992.

Judd, Richard W. Common Lands, Common People: The Origins ofConservation in Northern New England. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Judd, Richard W., Edwin Churchill, and Joel W. Eastman, eds. Maine: The Pine Tree State from Prehistory to Present. Orono: University of Maine Press, 1995.

Longacre, Edward G. Joshua Chamberlain: The Soldier and theMan. Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined, 1999.

O'Leary, Wayne, M. Maine Sea Fisheries: The Rise and Fall of aNative Industry, 1830–1890. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1996.

Sanders, Michael S. The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath IronWorks. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.

Smith, David C. A History of Lumbering in Maine, 1861–1960. Orono: University of Maine Press, 1972.

Taylor, Alan. Liberty Men and Great Proprietor: The RevolutionarySettlement on the Maine Frontier, 1760–1820. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990.

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. A Midwife's Tale: The Life of MarthaBallard, Based on Her Diary, 1785–1812. New York: Knopf, 1990.

BrianPayne

See alsoAroostook War ; Kennebec River Settlements ; King Philip's War ; King William's War ; Passamaquoddy/Penobscot ; Wilmot Proviso .

Maine largest of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by New Hampshire (W), the Canadian provinces of Quebec (NW) and New Brunswick (NE), the Atlantic Ocean (the Gulf of Maine; SE), and the Bay of Fundy (E).

Facts and Figures

Area, 33,215 sq mi (86,027 sq km). Pop. (2000) 1,274,923, a 3.8% increase since the 1990 census. Capital, Augusta. Largest city, Portland. Statehood, Mar. 15, 1820 (23d state). Highest pt., Mt. Katahdin, 5,268 ft (1,607 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Pine Tree State. Motto,Dirigo [I Direct]. State bird, chickadee. State flower, white pine cone and tassel. State tree, Eastern white pine. Abbr., Me.; ME

Geography

Located in the extreme northeast corner of the United States, Maine consists largely of a coastal plain of eroded valleys, with more resistant rock forming the generally mountainous west (the Longfellow Mts., an extension of the White Mts. and part of the great Appalachian system), Mt. Desert and other islands in the east, and isolated peaks including Katahdin (5,268 ft/1,606 m), the highest point in the state. Receding glaciers deposited long drift ridges across the countryside and dammed the valleys to form more than 2,200 lakes (Moosehead Lake is the largest) and to establish new, rugged watercourses for more than 5,000 streams and rivers. The major rivers are the St. John (which, with the St. Croix, forms part of the international boundary with New Brunswick), the Penobscot, the Kennebec, the Androscoggin, and the Saco. The sea has encroached on the low coastal valleys, leaving a jigsawed coastline of 3,500 mi (5,630 km), including numerous irregular and rocky islands offshore. East of Casco Bay the coast of Maine is rugged and wild, but farther west the shoreline has sandy beaches and marshy lowlands.

Over 80% of Maine is forested with great stands of white pine, hemlock, spruce, fir, and hardwoods. Sheltered by the woods and with abundant water from numerous lakes, particularly in the northern counties, wildlife includes moose, deer, black bear, and smaller animals; fish and fowl are also plentiful.

The population of Maine is centered on the cleared land along the coast and major rivers. Augusta is the capital; Portland , Lewiston , and Bangor are the largest cities. Maine's two great parks are Acadia National Park on and around Mt. Desert Island; and Baxter State Park, which includes the northern end of the Appalachian Trail at Mt. Katahdin in the N Maine wilderness.

Economy

Maine's generally poor soil, short growing season, and remoteness from industrial and commercial centers have long militated against development and population growth. Lumbering, shipbuilding, and textile production have all enjoyed booms in the past, but changes in technology and competition from other states have always undercut the state's economic position.

In the 1980s, however, Maine successfully transformed a major portion of its economy into trade, service, and finance industries, the greatest growth occurring in and around Portland. Picturesque coastal and island resorts and the promise of tranquil outdoor life hold a strong appeal for tourists, recreational and seasonal visitors, and, increasingly, retirees, and tourism is an important contributor to the state's economy.

Many of Maine's traditional economic activities have experienced difficult times in recent years. Fishing, the state's earliest industry, has declined considerably, although lobsters are still caught in abundance. Lumbering—the first sawmill in America was built in 1623 on the Piscataqua River—dominated industry and the export trade from the days when the white pines provided masts for the British navy, but with the big trees largely exhausted, Maine loggers now produce chiefly pulp for papermaking. The proximity of harbors to forests early encouraged shipbuilding, which reached its peak in the 19th cent. With the disappearance of wooden ships and the related timber trade, commercial activity slackened. Portland, the largest port, now operates far below its substantial capacity, handling chiefly oil for the pipeline to Montreal. Bath Iron Works, which builds warships, remains the state's largest single-site employer.

Manufacturing is still the largest sector in the state's economy. Maine is a leading producer of paper and wood products, which are the most valuable of all manufactures in the state. Food products and transportation equipment are also important, but production of leather goods (especially shoes) has declined. The mineral wealth of the state is considerable. Many varieties of granite, including some superior ornamental types, have been used for construction throughout the nation. Sand and gravel, zinc, and peat are found in addition to stone. However, much of Maine's abundant natural and industrial resources remain undeveloped.

Agriculture has always struggled with adverse soil and climatic conditions. Since the opening of richer farmlands in the West, Maine has tended to concentrate on dairying, poultry raising and egg production, and market gardening for the region. The growing of potatoes, particularly in Aroostook County, was stimulated by the completion of the Aroostook RR in 1894. Blueberries, hay, and apples are other chief crops, and aquaculture is growing in importance.

Government and Higher Education

Maine is governed under its 1820 constitution as amended. The state has a two-house legislature of 35 senators and 151 representatives, all elected for two-year terms; the governor is elected for a four-year term and may be reelected once. Maine politics are noted for their unpredictability. Angus King, an independent, won the governorship in 1994 and again in 1998; he was succeeded by John Baldacci, a Democrat, elected in 2002 and reelected in 2006. In 2010 Republican Paul LePage was elected governor. The state elects two representatives and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has four electoral votes.

Among the state's leading educational institutions are Bowdoin College, at Brunswick; Colby College, at Waterville; Bates College, at Lewiston; the Univ. of Maine, with campuses at Orono and five other locations; and the Univ. of Southern Maine, at Portland.

History

Early Inhabitants and European Colonization

The earliest human habitation in what is now Maine can be traced back to prehistoric times, as evidenced by the burial mounds of the Red Paint people found in the south central part of the state. The Native Americans who came later left enormous shell heaps, variously estimated to be from 1,000 to 5,000 years old. At the time of settlement by Europeans the Abnaki were scattered along the coast and in some inland areas.

The coast of Maine, which may have been visited by the Norsemen, was included in the grant that James I of England awarded to the Plymouth Company, and colonists set out under George Popham in 1607. Their settlement, Fort St. George, on the present site of Phippsburg at the mouth of the Kennebec (then called the Sagadahoc) River, did not prosper, and the colonists returned to England in 1608. The French came to the area in 1613 and established a colony and a Jesuit mission on Mt. Desert Island; however, the English under Sir Samuel Argall expelled them.

In 1620 the Council for New England (successor to the Plymouth Company) granted Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason the territory between the Kennebec and Merrimack rivers extending 60 mi (97 km) inland. At this time the region became known as Maine, either to honor Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I, who was feudal proprietor of the province in France called Maine, or to distinguish the mainland from the offshore islands. Neglected after Gorges's death in 1647, Maine settlers came under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652. King Philip's War (1675–76) was the first of many struggles between the British on one side and the French and Native Americans on the other, all of which slowed further settlement of Maine.

French influence, which had been reasserted east of the Penobscot, declined rapidly after 1688, when Sir Edmund Andros, royal governor of all New England, seized French fortifications there. After the colonists overthrew Andros, Massachusetts received a new charter (1691) that confirmed its hold on Maine. With Sir William Phips , a Maine native, as governor and the territorial question settled, local government and institutions in the Massachusetts tradition took root in Maine. Maine soon had prosperous fishing, lumbering, and shipbuilding industries.

Revolution and Economic Development

Dissatisfaction with British rule was first expressed openly after Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765; in protest, a mob at Falmouth (Portland) seized a quantity of the hated stamps. As conflicts increased between the colonies and England, nonimportation societies formed to boycott English goods sprang up in Maine. During the American Revolution Falmouth paid dearly for its defiance; it was devastated by a British fleet in 1775. In that same year Benedict Arnold led his grueling, unsuccessful expedition against Quebec through Maine.

During the war supplies were cut off and conflicts with Native Americans were frequent, but with American independence won, economic development was rapid in what was then called the District of Maine, one of the three admiralty districts of Massachusetts set up by the Continental Congress in 1775. However, the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812 interrupted the thriving commerce and turned the district toward industrial development.

Statehood and Prosperity

Agitation for statehood, which had been growing since the Revolution, now became widespread. Dissatisfaction with Massachusetts was aroused by the inadequate military protection provided during the War of 1812; by the land policy, which encouraged absentee ownership; and by the political differences between conservative Massachusetts and liberal Maine. The imminent admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state hastened the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, and equality of power between North and South was preserved by admitting Maine as a free state in 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise .

With Portland as its capital (moved to Augusta in 1832) the new state entered a prosperous period. During the first half of the 19th cent. Maine enjoyed its greatest population increase. A highly profitable timber trade was carried on with the West Indies, Europe, and Asia, and towns such as Bath became leaders in American shipbuilding. The long-standing Northeast Boundary Dispute almost precipitated border warfare between Maine and New Brunswick in the so-called Aroostook War of 1839; the controversy was settled by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain in 1842.

Political Issues since the 1850s

Political life was vigorous, particularly in the 1850s when the reluctance of the Democrats, who had been dominant since 1820, to take a firm antislavery stand swept the new Republican party into power. Hannibal Hamlin was a leading Republican politician and was vice president during Abraham Lincoln's first administration. Antislavery sentiment was strong, and Maine made sizable contributions of men and money to the Union in the Civil War. Generals Oliver O. Howard and Joshua L. Chamberlain were from Maine. For decades regulation of the liquor traffic was the chief political issue in Maine, and the state was the first to adopt (1851) a prohibition law. It was incorporated into the constitution in 1884 and was not repealed until 1934.

State politics entered a hectic stage in 1878 when the newly organized Greenback party combined with the Democrats to carry the election, ending more than 20 years of Republican rule. The following year the coalition was accused of manipulating election returns, a charge sustained by the state supreme court, which seated a rival legislature elected by the Republicans. In 1880 the fusionists were again successful, but from that time until the 1950s the state was generally Republican, providing that party with such national leaders as James G. Blaine, Thomas B. Reed, and Margaret Chase Smith, who in 1948 became the first Republican woman U.S. senator. Former U.S. Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie, a Democrat, was elected governor in 1954. In 1964 and 1968 (when Muskie, then a U.S. senator, ran unsuccessfully for vice president) the state voted Democratic in the presidential election for the first time since 1912.

In 1969 personal and corporate income taxes were added to the sales tax within the state. Maine's population grew 13.2% during the 1970s and 9.2% during the 1980s, its largest increases since the 1840s. Environmental issues have occupied the state's attention in recent decades. In an attempt to revive native salmon populations, river logging was banned in the 1970s, and some dams have been removed or slated for removal. Maine voters narrowly defeated several referendum proposals to hasten the scheduled 1997 closing of the nuclear power plant at Wiscasset. The effects of clear-cutting practices in Maine's forests and of large-scale fish farming along the coast were also focuses of debate.

Bibliography

See Federal Writers' Project, Maine, a Guide Down East (2d ed. 1970); L. D. Rich, The Coast of Maine (3d ed. 1970); M. Dibner, Seacoast Maine, People and Places (1973); E. Schriver and D. Smith, Maine: A History Through Selected Readings (1985); D. Delorme, ed., The Maine Atlas and Gazeteer (1988)

MAINE

Augusta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Bangor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Lewiston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Portland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

The State in Brief

Nickname: Pine Tree State

Motto: Dirigo (I direct)

Flower: White pine cone and tassel

Bird: Chickadee

Area: 35,384 square miles (2000; U.S. rank: 39th)

Elevation: Ranges from sea level to 5,267 feet

Climate: Mild summers, long, cold winters with occasional heavy snowfall

Admitted to Union: March 15, 1820

Capital: Augusta

Head Official: Governor John Baldacci (D) (until 2007)

Population

1980: 1,125,027

1990: 1,227,928

2000: 1,274,923

2004 estimate: 1,317,253

Percent change, 1990–2000: 3.8%

U.S. rank in 2004: 40th

Percent of residents born in state: 67.3% (2000)

Density: 41.3 people per square mile (2000)

2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 34,381

Racial and Ethnic Characteristics (2000)

White: 1,236,014

Black or African American: 6,760

American Indian and Alaska Native: 7,098

Asian: 9,111

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 382

Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race): 9,360

Other: 2,911

Age Characteristics (2000)

Population under 5 years old: 70,726

Population 5 to 19 years old: 264,759

Percent of population 65 years and over: 14.4%

Median age: 38.6 years (2000)

Vital Statistics

Total number of births (2003): 13,852

Total number of deaths (2003): 12,429 (infant deaths, 64)

AIDS cases reported through 2003: 518

Economy

Major industries: Services, manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, tourism

Unemployment rate: 4.7% (April 2005)

Per capita income: $28,935 (2003; U.S. rank: 31st)

Median household income: $37,619 (3-year average, 2001-2003)

Percentage of persons below poverty level: 11.8% (3-year average, 2001-2003)

Income tax rate: Graduated from 2.0% to 8.5% of federal adjusted gross income

Sales tax rate: 5.0%

Maine
1–7. The Manes (anglicized pl.). The seven sons of Queen Medb [Maeve] and her husband Ailill mac Máta, according to what is clearly a later literary contrivance. The parents took this unusual measure in response to a druid who told them that their enemy Conchobar would be killed by a son of this name. The seven sons were already born, however, and so Maine was used to replace their earlier identities. Additionally, each of the Maini may sometimes carry an agnomen, e.g. Maine Andaí. But these are not always clear, and their identities sometimes merge with one another and also migrate out of this context to characters called Maine in other stories. But none of the figures called Maine murdered Conchobar mac Nessa. What the druid did not explain to Medb and Ailill is that his prophecy applied to a different Conchobar, the son of an Arthur of Britain; and Maine Andaí did indeed dispatch him. The late medieval redactor of this story may have misread his sources. Later described as outlaws, the Maini join the hideous pirate Ingcél Cáech in marauding around the British coast as well as invading Ireland in Togail Bruidne Da Derga [The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel]. Elsewhere in the Ulster Cycle the Maini are virtually Medb's hench-men, violently extending the interests of their mother.

8. A son of Conchobar mac Nessa killed by Dubthach Dóeltenga.

9. A Norse prince, killer of Noíse in variant texts of the Deirdre story. Maine (9)'s father has been killed by Noíse and his brother, and so Conchobar mac Nessa urges him to seek vengeance.

10. A member of Fionn mac Cumhaill's Fianna.

Maine State in New England, extreme ne USA; the capital is Augusta. The largest city is Portland. The land is generally rolling country with mountains in the w and more than 2000 lakes. The chief rivers are the St John, Penobscot, Kennebec, and St Croix. Inhabited by Abnaki Native Americans, John Cabot explored Maine in 1498. The first British settlement, Fort St George, appeared in 1607 but was quickly abandoned. Firm colonization began in the 1620s, but French and Native American resistance hindered further British settlement. In 1652, Maine fell under the administration of the Massachusetts Bay Company, and then of Massachusetts proper in 1691. In 1820, it became the 23rd state of the Union. Economic development was rapid, based on its trading ports and timber resources for shipbuilding. Three-quarters of Maine is forested. The major economic sector is the manufacture of paper and wood products. Economic development is hampered by poor soil, a short growing season, geographic remoteness and a lack of coal and steel. Broiler chickens and blueberries are the major agricultural products. Lobsters are the mainstay of the modern fishing industry. Tourism is increasingly important.

Maine U.S. battleship destroyed (Feb. 15, 1898) in Havana harbor by an explosion that killed 260 men. The incident helped precipitate the Spanish-American War (Apr., 1898). Commanded by Capt. Charles Sigsbee, the ship had been sent (Jan., 1898) to Cuba to protect American life and property from the revolutionary turmoil there. The sinking of the Maine produced an outcry against Spain in the United States, particularly by the more jingoistic newspapers, which held the Spanish government responsible for the disaster. The cause of the explosion was never satisfactorily explained. A U.S. naval inquiry, headed by W. T. Sampson, reported on Mar. 21 that the Maine had been sunk by a submarine mine but that responsibility could not be fixed on any person. A Spanish naval inquiry reported that the disaster was an accident resulting from an explosion in the forward magazine. Recent evidence, however, points to an accident. Whatever the truth of the matter, "Remember the Maine" became a patriotic slogan during the Spanish-American War. The vessel was raised from the harbor, towed to sea, and sunk in 1912.

Maine , region and former province, NW France, S of Normandy and E of Brittany. It now comprises the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe and parts of Loire-et-Cher, Eure-et-Loir, and Orne. Le Mans, the historic capital, is an important industrial and commercial center. Other towns in the region are Laval, Mayenne, and Vendôme. Maine is primarily agricultural, with important stock raising in the hilly Perche; it is well irrigated by the Mayenne, Loire, and Sarthe rivers. Important during Roman times, Maine was Christianized between the 4th and 6th cent. Made a county in the 10th cent., it passed (1126) to Anjou and was held for long periods by England. It frequently reverted to the French crown, or to members of the royal family, until it was finally united with the crown in 1584 upon the death of the Duke of Alençon.

Maine, France, USA 1. France: a former province now comprising the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe, although there is also a department called Maine‐et‐Loire in the same region of Pays de la Loire. It took its name from the River Mayenne which flows through it. The river may have taken its name from the Cenomani who lived in the area.2. USA: a state, and a city in New York State. The name of the state may come from that of the former French province, the French establishing a colony in 1604 on the St Croix River as part of the province of Acadia; on the other hand, it has been suggested that the fishermen of the islands offshore referred to the mainland as the ‘Main’. It became a part of Massachusetts in 1652, but joined the Union as the 23rd state in 1820.

Maine, Maini (pl.), Mane (ang.). Name borne by countless personages in early Ireland, especially legendary warriors and founders of dynasties and at least one saint. Most often cited are the seven sons of Medb and Ailill.

Maine (Maighin) (river) Kerry. Meaning uncertain.

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