Maine

/mayn/, n.

1. a state in the NE United States, on the Atlantic coast. 1,124,660; 33,215 sq. mi. (86,027 sq. km). Cap.: Augusta. Abbr.: ME (for use with zip code), Me.

2. a historical region and former province in NW France.

3. (italics) a U.S. battleship blown up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on February 15, 1898: this incident stimulated popular support in the U.S. for the Spanish-American War.

* * *

I

Historical region, northwestern France.

A hereditary countship in the 10th century, it was united with Anjou in 1126 and came under English rule in 1154. With Anjou and Normandy, it fell to France early in the 13th century. After alternating between English and French rule, it reverted to the French crown in 1481 and was made a duchy under Louis XIV.

II

State (pop., 2000: 1,274,923), northeastern U.S. One of the New England states, it lies on the Atlantic Ocean and is bordered by Canada and the U.S. state of New Hampshire.

It covers 33,128 sq mi (85,801 sq km); its capital is Augusta. The Appalachian Mountains cross the state, rising to 5,268 ft (1,606 m) at Mount Katahdin; Maine's upland region has many lakes and valleys, and its Atlantic coast is rocky and scenic. Algonquian Indians were the earliest known inhabitants of the area. European settlers found the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes living along the river valleys and coasts. The French included Maine as part of the province of Acadia in 1603, and Britain included it in territory granted to the Plymouth Co. in 1606. During the 17th century Britain established scattered settlements, but the area was a constant battleground until the British conquered the French in eastern Canada in 1763. Maine was governed as a district of Massachusetts from 1652 until it was admitted as the 23rd state of the Union under the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Its Canadian boundary was established in 1842. The American Civil War and the Industrial Revolution diverted workers and capital from Maine in the 19th century. In the 20th century it saw slow but steady economic gains, especially in the southwestern coastal region. Its economy is based on agriculture and natural resources. Chief products include timber and wood products, potatoes, and lobsters. Tourism is also an important source of income.

III

(as used in expressions)

Maine coon cat

Maine destruction of the

Maine Sir Henry James Sumner

* * *

▪ historical region, France

      historic region encompassing the western French départements of Mayenne and Sarthe and coextensive with the former province of Maine. The two Gallo-Roman civitates of the Cenomani and of the Diablintes were merged in the middle of the 5th century into the single pagus, or district, of Le Mans. Hereditary counts, beginning with the warlord Roger in the 890s, acquired power in the province, but in the 11th century their countship was compressed between Normandy and Anjou. Maine fell to Anjou early in the 12th century and then, with Anjou and Normandy, to the French king Philip II Augustus at the beginning of the 13th. Later held by Naples, Maine reverted to the French crown in 1481. In the centuries before the Revolution in 1789, Maine was a province under a military governor, with his seat at Le Mans, but it was administered, with Anjou and Touraine, by the intendant of the généralité of Tours.

      Maine comprises portions of the crystalline uplands of the Massif Armoricain and is drained southward by the Mayenne River and its tributaries. Livestock (cattle and pigs) are raised in the upland regions, while grains (wheat and corn [maize]) and forage crops are grown in the lowlands adjoining the Paris Basin. Maine is predominantly Roman Catholic, and most modern parishes date from the 13th century.

▪ state, United States

Introduction

Maine, flag of   constituent state of the United States of America (United States). The largest of the six New England states in area, it lies at the northeastern corner of the country. Its area, including 2,270 square miles (5,880 square km) of inland water, represents nearly half of the total area of New England. Maine is bounded to the northwest and northeast by the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, respectively, and to the west by New Hampshire. The famed rocky coastline of the state is angled from southwest to northeast along the Atlantic Ocean. Maine was admitted to the Union on March 15, 1820, as the 23rd state; its capital is Augusta. The Algonquian (Algonquian languages)-speaking peoples inhabiting the region called it “Land of the Frozen Ground,” and there are two theories of the derivation of the state's English name: that it was named for the former French province of Maine and that it was so named for being the “mainland,” as opposed to the coastal islands.

 Maine is the most sparsely populated state east of the Mississippi River. More than four-fifths of its total land area is under forest cover. By most statistical measures Maine is an economically depressed state, yet the rugged beauty and challenge of its climate and landscape and the character of its people have given Maine an importance beyond its economic and political power. Limited economic growth has contributed to the preservation of much of its natural appearance. Since 1970, however, one-third of the state's southern coastal counties have recorded accelerating growth rates, increased residential and commercial construction, and increased revenues. Maine's economy has become increasingly dependent on services, while the traditional industry, the manufacture of paper and paper products, has declined. Fishing, forestry, mining, and agriculture comprise the second most important sector. The state thus epitomizes the increasingly difficult national choices between preservation of environmental quality and potential economic expansion. Area 33,126 square miles (85,795 square km). Pop. (2000) 1,274,923; (2005 est.) 1,321,505.

Land

Relief (Maine)

  The Appalachian mountain (Appalachian Mountains) chain extends into Maine from New Hampshire, terminating in the north-central part of the state at Mount Katahdin (Katahdin, Mount)—at 5,268 feet (1,606 metres) Maine's tallest peak. Quoddy Head, near Lubec, is the easternmost point in the country. Caribou is the country's northeasternmost city. The western and northwestern borders adjoining New Hampshire and Quebec have the most rugged terrain, with numerous glacier-scoured peaks, lakes, and narrow valleys. South and east of the mountain areas lie rolling hills and smaller mountains and the broad valleys of the Saco, Androscoggin (Androscoggin River), Kennebec (Kennebec River), and Penobscot (Penobscot River) rivers.

 From Kittery, at the southern tip of the state, to Cape Elizabeth, just southwest of the state's largest city, Portland, long sand beaches are interrupted intermittently by rocky promontories. From Cape Elizabeth to Rockland, the coastline of Maine is a series of peninsulas, narrow estuaries, bays, fjords, and coves—once glacier-covered mountains and valleys now partially submerged in the post-Ice Age rise in sea level. The coast from Rockland to Washington county consists of bays and islands, as well as interior hills. The eastern region is commonly referred to as “Downeast” (sometimes styled “Down East”), an area often shrouded in fog. The Camden Hills and the peaks of Mount Desert Island are the largest of the coastal mountains. The tides along this famous rockbound coast are among the strongest in the world, running between 12 and 24 feet (3.7 and 7.3 metres). Off the coast of the state lie about 1,200 islands, some no more than rocky ledges, others topped with trees and sheltering the homes of fishermen, lobstermen, and summer residents. All told, the coast of Maine—including the bays, inlets, and river estuaries—totals some 3,500 miles (5,600 km).

Drainage and soils

 Most of Maine's river systems flow from north to south. Northern Maine is a dissected upland drained by north-flowing streams. The St. John River (Saint John River) and its principal tributary, the Allagash, are the major exceptions, flowing north and then east along the northern border of Maine and turning south through New Brunswick, Can., to the Bay of Fundy (Fundy, Bay of). The state is dotted with 2,500 lakes and ponds, the largest of which is Moosehead Lake (116 square miles [300 square km]).

      Soils in Maine are classified as ashy gray, acidic Spodosols. In southwestern Maine, soils were formed primarily from granite; coastal, central, and eastern soils are composed of shale, sand, and limestone. The soils of Aroostook county, in the northeast, which are among the most productive in the state, are largely composed of Caribou loam, a rich soil ideal for growing potatoes.

Climate

      Maine has three well-defined climatic zones: central, southern interior, and northern. Although all are classified as humid continental, small differences exist among regions. The southern and coastal regions are influenced by air masses from the south and west. North of the land dividing the St. John and Penobscot river basins, air masses moving down the St. Lawrence River (Saint Lawrence River and Seaway) basin tend to prevail. Mean annual temperatures range from 37 to 39 °F (3 to 4 °C) in the north and from 43 to 45 °F (6 to 7° C) in the southern interior and central regions. Mean temperatures are about 62 °F (17 °C) throughout the state during the summer and 20 °F (− 7 °C) during the winter. Clear days range from about 100 per year in the south to only 70 in the north, and annual precipitation averages 36 to 48 inches (910 to 1,220 mm). Snowfall averages more than 100 inches (2,500 mm) in the north and at higher elevations and less than 80 inches (2,000 mm) near the Atlantic.

Plant and animal life

      Flora and fauna represent a combination of subarctic and Appalachian species. Forests include heavy stands of pine, spruce, and fir among the softwoods. Sugar maple, yellow birch, aspen, and paper birch dominate the extensive stands of hardwoods. Among the fauna are deer, moose, black bears, foxes, lynx, hares, raccoons, coyotes, porcupines, fishers, and bobcats. Songbirds, lake birds, seabirds, and many game species abound throughout the state. Among the many marine aquatic species are seals, whales, porpoises, lobsters, shrimp, clams, haddock, cod, mackerel, and Atlantic salmon, and there are also many freshwater game fishes.

People (Maine)

Population composition

      The original Downeast Yankees (Yankee) were English and Scotch-Irish Protestant immigrants who made the most substantial and persistent early European settlements in Maine. They set the style of dour and taciturn industry and dry wit that is characteristic of Maine legends and stories. Their descendants dominated the political and economic life of the state during most of its development, and they constitute its largest population group, particularly in the smaller communities and rural areas.

      Contrary to popular impressions, however, Yankees are not the sole inhabitants of Maine. Two groups of French descent make up the second largest ethnic bloc in the state. The people of Acadia, originally from Brittany and Normandy, were driven out of Nova Scotia in 1763 by the British; many of them settled in the St. John valley—which now forms the northern border of Maine—while others made the long trip to Louisiana (where their descendants are called Cajuns (Cajun)). The later French Canadian migration from Quebec province began with the growth of the lumber and textile industries following the American Civil War. French is the primary language in much of the St. John valley, and it is the second language in Maine's industrial cities. Irish immigration to the state began in the 18th century, and the Irish and the French make up the bulk of Maine's Roman Catholic population (Roman Catholics now constituting about one-third of the state's population). French Huguenot and German settlements were established early near the coast. During the 1870s the state encouraged the building of a Swedish settlement in Aroostook county as part of a program for agricultural development and population growth.

      Whites comprise virtually the entire total population. The remainder is made up of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians and Pacific Islanders. Most of the remaining few thousand members of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy population of the area live on state reservations.

Settlement patterns

 After a century of slow growth, Maine experienced an unprecedented increase of nearly a quarter of a million people in the late 20th century. To a large degree this growth was a result of immigration into particularly the coastal and southwestern portions of the state; however, Aroostook county actually lost nearly one-tenth of its population, which continues to decline.

      Maine's population is not evenly distributed. Nearly three-fourths of the residents live in the southwestern fifth of the state, which has become known as the Maine Corridor. The northwestern and eastern-interior regions of the state contain less than 1 percent of Maine's population but make up two-fifths of its area.

      About half of Maine's residents live in what are classified as urban centres, but there are only three cities with more than 25,000 people. Most of the urban centres lie within the Maine Corridor. Maine's largest urban areas are those of Portland–South Portland– Biddeford, Lewiston- Auburn, Bangor, and Augusta- Waterville. Portland is the centre of a metropolitan area spreading inland from and around Casco Bay. It is the commercial and transportation hub of the state, and its economy has a growing and diversified industrial base. Biddeford, south of Portland, is a former major textile centre. Once an important textile and shoe manufacturing centre, the twin cities of Lewiston and Auburn form the second largest urban area in the state. Today the area depends on diversified manufacturing and is an important commercial hub that serves both the Androscoggin valley and eastern Oxford county. Bangor, an old lumbering town at the head of navigation on the Penobscot River, is the commercial focus of a large hinterland which includes northern and eastern Maine. Augusta, the state capital, lies at the head of navigation on the Kennebec River. State government is its principal source of employment, but the city is also an important trade centre for west-central Maine. Waterville, north of Augusta on the Kennebec, together with its neighbouring communities of Winslow and Fairfield, experienced reverses in the manufacturing sector in the late 20th century. The urban area is home to smaller and more-diverse industries and is, like Augusta, a regional trade centre.

      Interior rural communities in Maine vary according to their economic history. Some consist of only a crossroads settlement with a general store, gas station, post office, and cluster of homes; others are focused around a mill site; a few are tourist centres, lumbering towns, or traditional New England settlements. The remaining true farming communities are found mostly in Aroostook county.

      The coastal towns vary greatly. In the southwest most are commercial centres, reflecting the heavy tourist trade that characterizes the region. The mid-coast section is marked by a combination of fishing and other maritime activities, vacation and retirement homes, and resort centres. Downeast remains relatively undeveloped except for numerous active fishing villages.

Economy

 Maine's forest and waterpower resources invited exploitation during the early years of the Industrial Revolution; for a long time, skilled low-cost labour provided an advantage to textile and shoe manufacturing until those industries moved their operations to factories in lower-wage areas of the South and overseas. Thus, Maine is a relatively poor state, with the lowest income per capita in New England.

      Since the mid-1950s the state government has promoted an active economic development program through the Department of Economic and Community Development. Public and private agencies have combined to form the Finance Authority of Maine and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to encourage investment and provide loan guarantees. The state also has used the services and financial assistance of the federal Economic Development Administration and of the Small Business Administration.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

 Only a small proportion of the state's workforce is employed in agriculture. Aroostook county, where potatoes are the main crop, is one of the few areas with rich agricultural soils. Terrain and soil conditions throughout most of the rest of the state are inadequate for large-scale farming; in addition to potatoes, eggs and dairy products make up the greatest part of farm income. Maine also produces high-quality apples, blueberries, and other fruits, and dairying is an important activity. With its vast areas of forest, Maine was once a national leader in the forest-products industry. Although the sector has experienced a decline in the face of strong international competition, it has remained a significant employer in the state. Fishing also has a long tradition in Maine. However, fish stocks largely have been depleted, and—with the exception of lobster production—fishing has become a marginal activity.

Resources and power

      In addition to timber and marine life, Maine's primary natural resources are sand, gravel, limestone, and building stone. There are significant deposits of low-grade copper ore and limited amounts of other metallic minerals and semiprecious stones. Peat is mined for horticultural use.

      Less than two-thirds of the state's total energy output is produced in coal-fired thermal power plants; hydroelectric stations provide about one-fifth, and diesel and gas-turbine units constitute the remainder. Many of the state's hydroelectric sites that had fallen into disrepair have been restored, and biomass generators have been constructed in several areas. The state's only nuclear power plant, Maine Yankee, near Wiscasset, closed in 1997, and Maine has come to depend more on energy purchases from areas outside the state to supplement its own production.

Manufacturing, services, and taxation

      The service sector represents the largest component in the market value of Maine goods and services; the manufacturing sector is second. Pulp and paper products and transportation equipment constitute the largest items in manufactured goods. Tourists—attracted by Maine's picturesque lakes, streams, and coastal areas and by opportunities for a wide variety of outdoor activities and sightseeing—account for a large portion of retail sales and service income.

      The revenue of local communities depends on several sources, including property taxes; automobile excise taxes; fees for hunting, driving, and other licenses; state aid for education, roads, and welfare; and federal grants-in-aid. State revenues are obtained from a corporate and personal income tax, inheritance tax, sales and use taxes, motor fuel taxes, tobacco and alcoholic beverage taxes, licenses and miscellaneous taxes, federal grants-in-aid, and a state lottery.

Transportation

      Since 1950 Maine has made major changes to its transportation infrastructure that have both improved and restricted accessibility to different parts of the state. Northern Maine became more accessible when Interstate Highway 95 was extended into the region in the 1960s, and the north woods were opened up considerably when a private road system was developed in them. Maine depends heavily on its highways for ground transportation. Buses provide urban, intrastate, interstate, and passenger service; free shuttle buses and trolleys serve many recreational areas. Portland and Searsport are the major seaports. State-run and private ferry services carry passengers and freight to many of the coastal islands, and Portland and Bar Harbor have ferry connections with the Canadian port of Yarmouth, N.S. Railroads mainly carry freight, but Amtrak passenger trains travel daily between Boston and Portland. Portland International Jetport provides regularly scheduled interstate and intrastate flights as well as international air service. Several airlines operate from Bangor to points within and outside Maine; commuter airlines in other cities also provide limited service to other Maine communities and to Boston.

Government and society

Constitutional framework

  The state constitution, adopted in 1819, is based on the constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and reflects colonial traditions of checks and balances. The governor is Maine's chief executive officer, whose power is checked by the members of the two-chamber state legislature (House of Representatives and Senate) and their joint standing committees. This legislature elects several executive officers, including the attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, and state treasurer. Department heads, appointed by the governor, are subject to the approval of the Senate. In 1957 the state legislature approved a constitutional amendment that extended the governor's term of office from two to four years, with a two-term limit.

      Members of both the 35-member Senate and 51-member House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms; the House also seats two nonvoting members, representatives of the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The president of the Senate is the constitutional successor to the governor. Maine has a three-tiered judicial branch, including district courts, superior courts, and a supreme court. Probate courts serve at the county level.

      Maine's 16 counties traditionally have provided an administrative framework for the superior court system, law enforcement, land records, and probate practice and for some road maintenance and construction functions. Town government, with the annual town meeting and a board of selectmen, prevails in most communities. More than 20 communities operate under city charters. Professional managers are used in most cities and in many towns.

      Beginning with the election of 1954, traditional Republican (Republican Party) dominance in Maine's state offices and national representation ended. Thereafter, Democrats (Democratic Party) have competed successfully with Republicans for the governorship and for federal and state legislative seats. Party officials are elected in local caucuses and state conventions. Nominations for county and state offices are obtained through primary elections; with the exception of 1996 and 2000, when Maine conducted federal presidential-preference primaries, the political parties conduct municipal caucuses to determine the number of delegates for each candidate that will attend their state convention. The state convention selects representatives to the national convention.

Health and welfare

      Maine's chronic economic problems are reflected in the high incidence of poverty. The largest proportion of poverty is found in the rural areas of the state, particularly in the eastern coastal counties and in Aroostook county. Public awareness of Maine's poverty and of the particular difficulties faced by the state's small Native American and African American populations has led to vigorous efforts by community action groups, civil rights organizations, and health and housing associations to improve economic opportunity, as well as to deal with the related problems of housing, education, and health. Most poverty assistance is administered by the state's Department of Human Services.

      Maine's health services are centred on the state's hospital system. Four large regional hospitals are found in Portland, Lewiston, Waterville, and Bangor. Numerous smaller hospitals are distributed throughout the state. Individual and group practices are still important in providing services for physical and mental health.

Education

      Local governments are responsible for public elementary and secondary education, under the general supervision of a state board of education. Most rural areas are served by multi-community school administrative districts. The state operates technical institutes for postsecondary vocational training. The University of Maine (Maine, University of), established in 1865 in Orono as a college of agriculture and mechanic arts, offers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate curricula. Private liberal arts colleges include Bowdoin College ( Brunswick; 1794), Bates College (Lewiston; 1855), and Colby College (Waterville; 1813).

Cultural life

 In its culture as in its social and economic development, Maine reveals the attributes of both a struggling frontier community and an eclectic society immersed in commerce with other cultures. Folktales, songs, local humour, and the short stories and poems of native authors are direct, earthy, and filled with a sense of the absurdity of humans' awkward attempts to subdue nature.

      The tools of the woodsman, farmer, and fisherman are clean and simple, as are the lines of country homes, meetinghouses, and working boats. The great mansions of the old seaports, among some of the finest memorials to an earlier America, are filled with furniture, chests, books, prints, hangings, screens, pottery, and bric-a-brac gathered on the many voyages of Maine's seafarers to Europe and Asia, as well as with examples of the shipbuilders' and sailors' arts of wood carving and scrimshaw. Maine has, in addition, the unique contributions of such groups as the Shakers and its own local versions of the Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic, and Victorian styles of American architecture.

      Maine has had a revival in crafts production, including pottery, metalworking, block and silk-screen printing, weaving, furniture making, and carving. State agencies, historical societies, museums, and local associations are engaged in preserving historic sites and in the collection, preservation, and presentation of materials on Maine's heritage. Maine's state museum is located in Augusta, and the Marine Maritime Museum is in Bath.

      Maine has been, and continues to be, the birthplace or the permanent or seasonal home of many well-known figures in the American arts. They have included such writers as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth), Harriet Beecher Stowe (Stowe, Harriet Beecher), Sarah Orne Jewett (Jewett, Sarah Orne), Edwin Arlington Robinson (Robinson, Edwin Arlington), Edna St. Vincent Millay (Millay, Edna St. Vincent), and (more recently) Stephen King (King, Stephen); the painters Winslow Homer (Homer, Winslow), John Marin (Marin, John), Edward Hopper (Hopper, Edward), and Andrew Wyeth (Wyeth, Andrew); and composer Walter Piston (Piston, Walter). Among the state's largest and finest museums are the Portland Museum of Art; the Colby College Museum of Art, which has a large collection of works by Winslow Homer; the Bowdoin College Museum of Art; the Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center, in Rockland; and the Abbe Museum, in Bar Harbor, which houses a collection of Native American artifacts. Active cultural programs are sponsored by the state's colleges and universities, museums, community symphonies, workshops and camps, and numerous summer theatres.

       Acadia National Park, which encompasses an area of 65 square miles (168 square km), extends over most of Mount Desert Island and Isle au Haut, as well as the Scoodic Peninsula on the mainland; the first national park east of the Mississippi River, it is also one of the most visited in the national parks system. Other recreational attractions include the state's largest park, Baxter State Park, a wilderness area of more than 310 square miles (800 square km) surrounding Mount Katahdin; the 95-mile (153-km) Allagash Wilderness Waterway; Camden Hills State Park, which includes Mount Megunticook (1,380 feet [421 metres]); and more than 100 other state parks and historic sites. Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, located along 50 miles (80 km) of the southern coastline, is home to more than 230 species of birds. The northern portion of the Appalachian Trail (Appalachian National Scenic Trail) runs through Maine from the New Hampshire border to Mount Katahdin; its 280-mile (450-km) length in the state is the most rugged and isolated section of the trail.

History (Maine)

      Algonquian (Algonquin)-speaking Mi'kmaq (Micmac) and Abenaki peoples were the earliest known inhabitants in Maine. The Abenaki were spread across the state along the river valleys and the coasts, where they hunted, fished, and grew crops; the more-warlike Mi'kmaq were concentrated in the eastern portion of the state, extending into New Brunswick. Only scattered tribes survived the arrival of European settlers; many of the surviving Native Americans (Native American) moved to reservations or were integrated into white communities. Five federally recognized tribes exist in the state today. Of these, only the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot remain in significant numbers. The Native Americans have been remembered in many ways, however: in numerous place-names; in the sites of their camps and burial grounds; in ancient trails and water routes; in the use of the canoe, the snowshoe, and the toboggan; in crops such as corn (maize), beans, and squash; and in the continuing concern for the natural environment.

Explorations and disputes

      The first European explorations of Maine are shrouded in mystery. Evidence that Vikings (Norsemen) landed on the coast is scant and disputed, and serious questions exist about some of the early British (British Empire) claims based on John Cabot (Cabot, John)'s voyages in the late 1490s. Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English explorers did probe the islands and the bays and rivers of the “maine” (mainland) throughout the 16th century; by the first decade of the 17th century, summer fisheries had been established on some of the coastal islands, and fur trade had begun with Native American groups. York (1641), on the southern coast, was the first chartered city in America.

      An area of present-day Maine claimed by both the French and English crowns was an intermittent battleground between the English, the Indians, and the French from 1615 until 1675 and a constant battleground from that date until 1763, when the British conquered the French in eastern Canada.

      Maine had been given separate provincial status in New England under royal patents granted by Charles I, but the Puritans of Massachusetts claimed and annexed various portions of the territory throughout the 1600s. Massachusetts gained control over the whole of Maine after the proprietor, Sir Ferdinando Gorges (Gorges, Sir Ferdinando), backed the losing side in the English Civil Wars. Frontier settlers in Maine chafed under Massachusetts rule, but the merchants of the coastal towns resisted the separation movement until the War of 1812 (1812, War of), when popular resentment against the failure of the Massachusetts Commonwealth to protect the District of Maine against British raids tipped the scales in favour of separation. Maine entered the Union as a free state (i.e., one where slavery was not legal) under the Missouri Compromise in 1820.

      The northeastern boundary of the state was a matter of serious controversy between the United States and Britain. The Peace of Paris (Paris, Peace of) (1783) at the conclusion of the American Revolution identified the boundary in part as extending along the middle of the St. Croix River (Saint Croix River) to its source and from there north to highlands running northwest to the “head of Connecticut river.” Identifying those highlands proved to be difficult. Efforts at arbitration failed in 1831, and the disputed area was the scene of the so-called Aroostook War of 1838–39. In March 1839 Gen. Winfield Scott (Scott, Winfield) arranged a truce calling for joint occupancy of the disputed territory. This remained in effect until 1842, when a settlement was reached that divided the territory virtually in half.

Statehood

Economic growth

 Maine intrigued entrepreneurs who hoped to make their fortune in furs, fisheries, timber, and land development. The first three proved to be lucrative for a few, but the climate, border troubles, and the availability of more fertile land in the newer territories to the west curtailed settlement of the area before and after statehood. The period of greatest economic growth came between 1830 and 1860, when the production of lumber, ice, granite, and lime (extracted from limestone), along with fishing and shipbuilding, dominated the state's economy. Coastal communities flourished and railroads developed as Maine merchants traded around the world.

      The American Civil War and the Industrial Revolution diverted workers and capital from Maine during the last decades of the 19th century. Textiles and paper products became the primary sources of manufacturing employment, while fisheries and agriculture continued as important but uncertain sources of income. The details of economic activity changed during the first half of the 20th century, but the overall picture remained one of precarious prosperity and extreme susceptibility to swings in the national economy.

      Maine's economy and employment profile have changed significantly since the mid-20th century. Most notable has been the decline of the longtime dominant manufactures of textiles, shoes, processed food, paper, wood products, and electronic components. In addition, agricultural production (poultry, dairy products, and potatoes) has shrunk, fish stocks on the offshore banks have been largely exhausted, and several military installations have closed. Balancing these developments has been a dramatic expansion of tourism. The state's environment was also significantly affected by several factors during this period, including a major increase in clear-cutting Maine's forests, cleaning up state rivers, closing the Maine Yankee power plant, strict enforcement of state and local environmental regulations, and unprecedented population growth during the 1970s and '80s. The state's cultural landscape underwent changes as well, signifying a greater consideration for minority populations. In 1980 the U.S. government agreed to pay the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indians more than $80 million for lands seized in the 1700s. Much of the money was invested in land purchased in unpopulated areas of the state, primarily from large forestry companies, as well as in other economic enterprises. The expression of the French heritage of some of Maine's population, long suppressed by the majority, has experienced a resurgence. Annual social events focusing on Franco-American heritage take place in areas of the state that have heavily French-descended populations.

Political development

      Maine's social and political history has been dominated by struggles against the adversity of frontier life and economic limitations, coupled with strong drives within the state for social reform, including world peace, abolition of slavery, prohibition, and woman suffrage. Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democrats (Democratic Party) held sway from statehood until the rise of the Whigs (Whig Party) and the emergence of the Republican Party. The abolition movement (abolitionism) gave the Republican Party its start in Maine in 1854, and the Grand Old Party dominated the state for almost a century. Democrats scored temporary gains in the elections of 1910 and 1912 and, during the Great Depression, in the elections of 1932 and 1934, but it was not until 1954 that sustained competition began to develop between the two major parties. Since the 1950s Maine has had both Republican and Democratic, as well as politically independent, governors, and the legislature has been increasingly controlled by Democrats.

Edmund S. Muskie John N. Cole Eldred D. Rolfe

Additional Reading

Federal Writers' Project, Maine, Maine: A Guide “Down East” (1937, reissued 1976), is still a valuable introduction to many aspects of the state. Geography and natural resources are described in Eldred Rolfe, A Geography of Maine, 4th ed. (1999); and Stanley Bearce Attwood, The Length and Breadth of Maine (2004), originally published in 1946 and including supplements published in 1949 and 1953. Phillip R. Rutherford, The Dictionary of Maine Place-Names (1971), combines geography and local history. Philip Tripp Coolidge, History of the Maine Woods (1963), is a social and economic history of a dominant part of Maine life. Maine's settlement, development, and current condition are presented graphically in Gerald E. Morris and Richard D. Kelly, Jr. (eds.), The Maine Bicentennial Atlas: An Historical Survey (1976); and DeLorme Mapping Company, The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, 29th ed. (2006). Kenneth T. Palmer, G. Thomas Taylor, and Marcus A. LiBrizzi, Maine Politics & Government (1992), describes Maine's political heritage and present political culture and systems. The magazine Down East (monthly) regularly includes articles about the people, business, environment, and history of the state. Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, Maine Speaks: An Anthology of Maine Literature (1989), provides a comprehensive collection of the state's contribution to American literature.An authoritative though dated general history is Louis Clinton Hatch (ed.), Maine: A History, 5 vol. (1919; vol. 1–3 reprinted 1974). More-recent introductions are Charles E. Clark, Maine: A History (1977, reprinted 1990); and Richard W. Judd, Edwin A. Churchill, and Joel Eastman (eds.), Maine: The Pine Tree State from Prehistory to the Present (1995). Ronald F. Banks, Maine Becomes a State: The Movement to Separate Maine from Massachusetts, 1785–1820 (1970), is a scholarly treatment of this important period. John D. Haskell, Jr. (ed.), Maine: A Bibliography of Its History (1977, reprinted 1983), is a useful research guide.John N. Cole Eldred D. Rolfe

* * *