Maine

The title of this article is ambiguous. For other meanings, see Maine (disambiguation).

Maine (English pronunciation [meɪ̯n]) is a state of the United States and part of the New England region.

The origin of the name is unclear. It is probably named after the French countryside Maine, but possibly the name is also a short form of "Mainland" ("mainland", "Hauptland"). The postal abbreviation of the state is ME. Maine's nickname is The Pine Tree State. The capital is Augusta.

Geography

Maine, as the easternmost state of the Continental States, lies at the very edge of the United States. Considering their territory as a whole, some of Alaska's islands are in the Eastern Hemisphere.

The highest point in Maine is Mount Katahdin in Piscataquis County (1,606 m). Maine is the US state with the highest proportion of forest. Since more than 90% of the land area is covered with pine trees, among other things, the nickname of the state is "Pine Tree State". The scenic beauty attracts many tourists. Acadia National Park is the only national park in the area and one of the most visited in the United States. Eastport is the easternmost city and West Quoddy Head is the easternmost landmark in the US.

Of the 91,646 km² area, 12.8 % (11,715 km²) are water areas.

Extension of the national territory

The state has an extent from north to south of 515 km between 43° 4′ N and 47° 28′ N. From east to west, the state has a latitude of 305 km between 66° 57′ W and 71° 7′ W.

Neighbouring countries

In the southeast of Maine is the Atlantic Ocean. To the northeast is the Canadian province of New Brunswick. To the northwest is Quebec, also Canadian. In the southwest lies New Hampshire. Maine is the only US state that borders exactly one other state.

Structure

• List of counties in Maine

Climate

Maine, while generally in the cool temperate zone, can be roughly divided into three climatic zones: The northern interior, which covers 60% of the area and has a continental climate, has comparatively warm summers for the climatic region, but also very harsh winters. The southern inland is the warmest part of Maine and is characterized by comparatively warm summers. Finally, in the coastal area, which extends about 30 km inland, temperatures are more moderate than inland due to the proximity to the sea. Hurricanes are the exception in Maine, there are rarely hurricanes, but the "coastal storms" are frequent, which bring heavy rain and wind, sometimes also snow in winter.

History

Early history

Paleoindian

During the ice ages, the last of which is called the Wisconsin Glaciation, few people could live in the Maine area. The ice sheet of North America extended southward to Pennsylvania. In the Maine area, this sheet rose to over 1500 meters. The large quantities of water bound up in the ice masses of the polar regions were withdrawn from the oceans, so that the sea level was over 100 m lower. Around 19,000 B.C. glaciation was at its greatest, around 16,000 B.C. the glaciers began to retreat, and between 13,000 and 12,000 B.C. the ice masses released the land even in Maine. By 9000 B.C., the state was ice-free. At the same time, the sea level rose so that the Atlantic Ocean advanced up to 100 km into the country. This effect was partially reversed as the land, freed from the ice masses, slowly rose. This resulted in the formation of large lakes, such as Lake Degeer. Between 8000 and 7000 BC, sea level was again about 60 m below its present level, and the coast was up to 20 km east of the present coastline. Since then, the sea level has been rising unevenly, which may have destroyed numerous artifacts.

Mosses, lichens, and grasses returned to the watery, still cool but ice-free area, followed later by tree species that could survive in the tundra landscape. While Maine's northern and mountain zones remained tundra for much longer, forests of oak, larch, and elm settled in the south, with birch, spruce, and pine more dominant in the center. The megafauna that characterized the period, and whose representatives included woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), prairie mammoth (Mammuthus jeffersonii or columbi), and mastodon, was supplemented by horses, bison, and caribou. Remains of a mammoth were found at Scarborough that could be dated to about 12,200 Before Present. In Massachusetts, they probably did not disappear until after 9000 BC.

The first human inhabitants of Maine hunted the large mammals, but until a few decades ago only scattered finds of their projectile points were known, discovered at Lebanon in the far southwest, Lewiston, Monmouth, Arrowsic, Boothbay, Rumford Center, Graham Lake, Brassta Lake, and Flagstaff Lake. It was not until the late 1970s that two workshops were found at Munsungan and Lake Chase north of Baxter State Park, sites where certain types of stone were quarried and processed into rough pieces. This made it possible to reconstruct the process from the extraction of the stone to the production of spear points, as well as scrapers and shavers. Other sites on the Magalloway River in northwestern Maine allowed conclusions to be drawn about life in the camps of hunters, fishermen and gatherers. The largest of these sites is the Vail site, now covered by the waters of Aziscohos Lake. Around 9000 BC, however, it was located on the eastern shore of the Magalloway. There were eight loci, the tents of the inhabitants measured 4.5 by 6 m and were heated by a recessed fireplace. The loci probably did not exist at the same time, but were used seasonally in different years. In total, more than 4000 tools were found, with projectile points showing great similarities to those found at the Debert site in Nova Scotia, Canada. Although stone was quarried about 25 km north of the site, in the headwaters of the Magalloway, many varieties came from the Champlain Lowlands of western Vermont or from Lake Munsungan, and even from New York and Pennsylvania.

The same is true for the Adkins site, but one third of the artifacts there consist of crystalline quartz, in addition to rhyolite (probably from New Hampshire). This variable composition of raw materials is characteristic of all sites of the Magalloway complex, such as the Michaud site. There, four varieties of flint predominate, namely black, gray-green, and Munsungan flint; greenstone was used only for the simplest, crudest tools. At nearby Moose Brooke, Henry Lamoreau discovered the site named after him, which was probably inhabited during the same period as the Michaud site. Similar to these two sites, the Dam site in Wayne was located in an area of ancient sand dunes whose top layer had been carried away by the wind, exposing the finds. Here, too, three or four loci were found. The stone artifacts came from a wide area, namely from Nova Scotia and northern Maine in the north, from central New York and western Vermont in the west, and from Pennsylvania.

In general, the large sites in New England, where several family groups gathered seasonally, are surrounded by a cluster of smaller camps. It was probably not only sites of particularly beautiful or practical stones that determined the seasonal migrations, but above all the migrations of prey, especially caribou. Around 8000 BC, the production of the fluted points, characteristic of the Palaeoindians, came to an end.

Archaic period (8000-1500 BC )

The term archaic period was first used by William A. Ritchie in 1932 and today refers to the epoch between the Paleoindian cultures and the early peasant cultures of North America, i.e. the period between about 8000 and 1500 B.C. Usually this epoch is divided into an Early, a Middle, and a Late phase, the boundaries of which lie around 6000 and around 4000 B.C..

The culture of the Paleoindians was tied to an open landscape, but now dense forest spread across New England. With this, the large herds of animals disappeared, which, in addition, the retreat of the glaciers allowed further migration northward. In addition, around 8000 B.C., this forested area in Maine changed from a boreal landscape dominated by cottonwoods, birches, and spruces to a temperate region where oaks and hemlocks increased from about 7000 B.C. onward. Elk, deer, American black bear (Ursus americanus), and numerous other mammals expanded their habitat northward from southern and western areas. Whether the Paleoindians followed the caribou herds or adapted to the new conditions is unclear in the Northeast, unlike the Midwest and Southeast, where adaptation occurred. While fluted points were not found in Québec, new forms were developed there that may have represented an adaptation during the northward migration.

Little is known about the early Archaic period, possibly due to the fact that most people lived on the coastal fringe, so their remains were destroyed by rising sea levels. At many lakes, however, water levels fell between 6500 and 3000 BC due to global warming. It seems that the local rock types continued to be in use, although harder stones were preferred. However, techniques and possibly new inhabitants came from the south, such as present-day North Carolina. In addition, woodworking techniques emerged, such as the construction of dugout canoes, as overall waterways established themselves as the main means of transportation, and boats as the main means of transportation. This, at least, is what we think we can infer from the fact that the sites of this period are located along waterways. Instead of bison and caribou, people now hunted bears, deer, beaver and muskrat, birds and turtles. Traces of rituals were often found, the dead were burned.

The people of the following Middle Archaic period continued this lifestyle. However, grooved axes and spear throwers (possibly with weights) were used as conspicuous innovations. They probably came from Middle Archaic groups from the south, whereas so-called "ground slate points" were made locally. They were made of slate, a material less suitable but nowhere near as rare in Maine as flint. Knives were also made from these more common materials such as quartz and slate. Further, groups of 20 to 25 members lived mostly on shores and coasts. At Sebasticook Lake near Newport, evidence of a fish weir has been found. Apparently eel was the preferred fish. Ochre was now often used in burial rituals.

The Late Archaic period is divided into two phases, namely the Vergennes phase from 3000 BC and the Small Stemmed Point tradition, which began around the same time and also extended to 1500 BC. It was characterized by small stemmed or shafted projectile points. The Vergennes phase is rarely encountered in Maine, but Otter Creek Points have been found, spear points belonging to this phase that were used to hunt large animals. It is possible that these artifacts belonged to small groups that had invaded the Maine area. Small stemmed spear points, mostly of quartz, are common in New England but rarer in Maine, where they are found almost exclusively on the coast. The points were used to hunt deer, but shellfish and fish, especially cod or codfish (Gadus morhua), played a significant role. Another group is represented in the Moorehead phase, which is also attested from 3000 to 1500 BC. People used red colour at burials and burned personal possessions of the dead, such as weapons or tools, but also jewellery and beautiful objects. Their culture had such strong similarities with that of the Canadian Maritime Provinces as far south as Newfoundland that it is believed they belonged to a wide-ranging, overarching culture.

Woodland period, trade wars, population collapse due to epidemics.

The woodland culture followed the archaic period. By 800 it was characterized by birch bark canoes, wigwams, and especially pottery. The inhabitants of present-day Maine were Algonquin-speaking Indians of the Eastern Abenaki of the Pigwacket, Arosaguntacook, Kennebec, and Penobscot tribes, as well as, at the latest in historical times, smaller tribes such as the Amaseconti, Arsicantegou, Kwapahag, Ossipee, Rocameca, and Wewenoc, in addition to Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Passamaquoddy.

Mi'kmaq

The Mi'kmaq, of whom only the Maine-based Aroostock Band of Micmac is recognized in the United States today, were the first to come into contact with Europeans. They used petroglyphs as a means of communication with transcendent powers. Their villages were assigned to seven different political centers. Each village had a chief, elders, a women's council, and a grand chief or head chief. The villages consisted of wigwams in which 10 to 20 people lived. They followed elk seasonally mostly, but also hunted deer or caribou, using maple bows. In the summer they lived in fishing villages on the coast. Having killed a moose was a prerequisite for becoming active in political bodies. The Mi'kmaq confederation was a loose confederation of numerous groups, and the internal organization followed clan laws.

Giovanni Caboto brought three Mi'kmaq to England in 1497. Soon the Indians were trading with the Europeans, hides and fish being the main commodities. From 1564 to 1570, a first epidemic raged among the Mi'kmaq, and in 1586 it was typhus. Meanwhile, Penobscot and Abenaki profited more from trade, so they threatened Mi'kmaq supremacy. In 1607 to 1615, open warfare broke out between Abenaki and Penobscot on one side and Mi'kmaq and Maliseet on the other. When some Mi'kmaq killed the Sachem (chief) of the Penobscot, the war ended. The victors raided numerous Abenaki villages. In the process, they brought in diseases that took the lives of three-quarters of the tribesmen. By 1620, only 4000 of the previous 20,000 or so Mi'kmaq were still living in Maine.

Maliseet and Passamaguoddy

The Maliseet were often in league with the Mi'kmaq. Their name comes from their powerful neighbors and it means "people who cannot speak properly". They call themselves Wolastoqiyik. Wolastoq is their name for the Saint John River, the "shining river." This river they migrated down in the spring, up in the fall. They hunted, fished, but also farmed.

In 1604, Samuel de Champlain had his first encounter with Europeans; at that time they were at war with the Abenaki. They welcomed the Frenchman with beaver pelts and caribou meat. Missionaries converted part of the tribe to Christianity, the other part adhered to their religion, called Midewin.

They were closely related to the Passamaguoddy, so much so that they were collectively referred to as "Etchmins" by Europeans. Like the Mi'kmaq, the Passamaguoddy, who lived mostly at the mouth of the river and went hunting only when necessary, suffered from severe epidemics. Their population also collapsed from about 20,000 to 4000. In 1586, a typhus epidemic followed. The few survivors joined with Abenaki and Penobscot in the Wabanaki Confederacy.

Penobscot

The Penobscot lived mainly by hunting bear, beaver, moose and otter, but they also fished and farmed. Only in winter did they move to more game-rich areas. Trade with Europeans soon caused beaver populations to decline, as the pelts and furs of these animals were the main means of exchange for European goods, such as guns, tools, pans and pots, tobacco, flour, or sugar. They also suffered from epidemics and the consumption of alcohol, and also got into disputes with the Wabanaki Confederacy over trading rights. The few survivors were baptized, but they came into conflict with the Mohawk in the mid-17th century. While there were about 10,000 Penobscot at the beginning of contact with the Europeans, by 1803 there were only 347.

Pennacook

Abundant rainfall, plus cold and long winters, made soil cultivation, such as the cultivation of pumpkins, difficult. Hunting and fishing were therefore the main sources of food. Maple trees provided syrup and sugar. The Penacook, who lived in southern New Hampshire, on the other hand, enjoyed a milder climate. They grew corn, beans, and squash, which barely thrived in Maine. But in 1668, the Mohawk drove the Pennacook through New Hampshire into southern Maine. Perhaps 2500 survivors joined the Wabanaki Confederacy; their descendants are now organized in the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People and live in the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts; others live in Canada.

First Europeans, Anglo-French Dispute, Abenaki and Mohawk

From 1497 to 1499 Giovanni Caboto, Italian in English service, stayed on the American east coast. At the beginning of the 17th century, the English King James I claimed the entire territory of New England with reference to the voyages of "John Cabot".

But the first European settlers were French in 1604. Samuel de Champlain attempted to establish a colony on St. Croix Island, but it was moved to Port Royal in what would become Nova Scotia in 1607. In that year there was an attack by the Souriquois on Almouchaquois on the Saco River. The former can only be identified by the relatively long word list in Marc Lescarbot's Histoire de la Nouvelle France with one of the present tribal groups, the Mi'kmaq, who still live in the region today. Even now, the fur trade played an important role for the Wabanaki. Bessabez was chief and dominated the trade in the large area between Mount Desert Island and the Saco River known as Mawooshen. In 1604 he met Champlain, who was traveling down the Penobscot River. However, he was killed in fighting with Etchemin tribes in 1615. In 1616-1619, smallpox epidemics probably killed three-fourths of Maine's Indians.

In 1607, the first Englishmen supported by the Plymouth Company settled. George Popham and Raleigh Gilbert attempted to establish Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec. However, it had to be abandoned after Popham's death in 1608. In contrast, Jamestown Colony in southern Virginia survived, and it was from there that fishermen first arrived on the Maine coast as early as 1610. They established the first permanent stations there.

But the English and French colonies fought each other. Although Biard, a French Jesuit, was able to establish a settlement on Somes Sound on Mount Desert Island in 1613, which the Penobscots called Pemetic (sloping land), the English Captain Samuel Argall of Virginia destroyed the French settlements on Somes Sound, Port Royal, and St. Croix Island. In 1614 John Smith came to Maine and wrote his Description of New England, which induced some Englishmen to emigrate there.

The coastal lands were granted by the king to the Council for New England, a group of nobles who wanted to settle the area, starting in 1621. Therefore, Ferdinando Gorges, the "father of English colonization", is also considered the founder of Maine from 1622. His interest in colonization had been piqued by Captain George Weymouth, who had presented him with captured Indians. He was involved in the failed Popham colony as a partner in the Plymouth Company. Along with John Mason, he obtained a land grant deed in 1622 for an area that initially lay between Merrimack and Kennebec. In 1625 a trading post was established at Pejepscot, and in 1628 posts existed at Cushnoc (Augusta) and Richmond Island. In 1634 the first sawmill in North America was established at Piscataqua, and in 1636 the first court convened at Saco in southern Maine. Eastern, less settled Maine north of the Kennebec was called the Territory of Sagadahock in the 17th century. In 1630, the settlement efforts of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, established that year, were intensified. Settlements were established at York, Cape Porpus, and Saco, and in 1631 at Kittery.

For their part, the French continued to pursue their goal of winning the region for New France, their American colony. In 1640, the first Abenaki chief was won over to Catholicism by French missionaries and baptized Jean Baptiste. In 1671, eastern Maine became French again. For a short time it appeared that Mount Desert Island would be settled by Frenchmen. In 1688, Antoine Laumet was granted about 400 square miles of land on the coast, including the entire island. Laumet, who had given himself the title Sieur de la Mothe Cadillac, wanted to establish a feudal rule there, but the project failed.

But it was not only the English and French who fought each other. In 1642 Mohawk raided western Maine, and in 1661 Abenaki killed 30 of the attacking Mohawk in an attempt to subdue their territory to the Iroquois. The next year, the Mohawk fought back and attacked Etchemin; nearly 100 opponents were killed or captured. It was not until 1671, when the majority of the tribes had already fallen victim to severe epidemics, that a peace agreement was reached.

The area within its then boundaries, southwestern Maine, became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652. By 1690, it almost seemed as if the French and Abenaki would succeed in driving the English Protestant colonists out of Maine. William Dummer, the London-appointed governor of the colony, set his sights on crushing the Abenaki and the French Jesuits led by Sebastien Rale. He fought against the English in both the King William War (1689-1697) and the Queen Anne War (1702-1713). During the war from 1722 to 1725, the Jesuit priest was killed in the Norridgewock Massacre, now euphemistically known as the Battle of Norridgewock. Significantly, this war is given various names by the Anglo-Saxons, including "Father Rale's War" or "Governor Dummer's War", while the Francophones usually refer to it as the "Guerre anglo-wabanaki". After the defeat of the French in the 1740s, the area east of the Penobscot fell under the nominal administration of the Province of Nova Scotia.

Disputes between the British and Americans then went from the American War of Independence to the War of 1812, which lasted until 1814. British troops occupied Maine in both conflicts.

State of the USA, border conflicts

After U.S. independence, Maine, although not directly adjacent to it, was a part of the state of Massachusetts until 1820. In the War of 1812, Great Britain occupied nearly all of eastern Maine for eight months, intending to annex it permanently for Canada. Even after the conclusion of peace in 1814, the boundary between Canada and the United States remained unclear. Through the Missouri Compromise, which provided that the slave state of Missouri could be admitted to the Union if a non-slaveholding state was admitted at the same time, in order to maintain a tie vote in the United States Senate, it was seceded from Massachusetts and admitted to the Union as the 23rd state on March 15, 1820. Therefore, in addition to Maine, Massachusetts was also involved, as much of the disputed territory on the Saint John and Madawaska was still in its possession. The majority were of French descent, while the settlers who migrated from the 1820s onward were primarily Americans and British, living mostly on the Aroostook and west of the Saint John. The Francophones were so-called Brayons and considered themselves members of the unofficial République du Madawaska. John Baker raised an American flag on the west bank of the Saint John at present-day Baker Brook on July 4, 1827. He declared his residence the capital of the Republic of Madawaska, but he was promptly detained by British colonial authorities until he paid a fine. Troops were deployed in the summer of 1830, and the British and American secretaries of state felt compelled to meet. King William I of the Netherlands attempted to mediate the border dispute and London accepted his proposal. But the state of Maine refused, President Andrew Jackson became involved, and the Senate finally rejected the mediation proposal.

Maine's capital was originally Portland until 1832, when Augusta assumed that role. The final boundary with New Brunswick was established in 1842 after the Aroostook War (1838/39) in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Until then, disputes had occurred on and off. In February 1839, Maine had sent a thousand volunteers to reinforce the upper Aroostook. On the other side, British troops were massing, the Mohawk were offering their support, and New Brunswick's forces were massing at Saint John. This left some 32,000 armed men in the disputed territory.

Congress authorized a force of 50,000 men, while Maine provided 3000 to 10,000 militiamen. General Winfield Scott, who had directed the forced removal of the Cherokees, was detached to the conflict region. He arranged for the Maine militia to be recalled and exchanged for regular troops in May and June 1839. In late summer, construction began on Fort Fairfield and Fort Kent. In 1840, Maine established Aroostook County. Eventually the states involved agreed on a boundary commission, and on August 9, 1842, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed, ending the boundary disputes. It granted 18,170 square miles of disputed territory to the United States and 12,890 to Canada. The residential areas of the Brayons were divided, which in turn became the cause of Maine's present-day bilingualism.

Secession War until today

Maine was the first state in the Northeast to support the anti-slavery movement. During the War of Secession (1861-1865), the people of Maine stood loyal to the Union and sent the most soldiers per state in percentage terms.

In the 20th century, Maine struggled with the decline of its textile and shipping industries, becoming and remaining the poorest state in the Northeast.

Wigwam built in Acadia National Park. Its ceiling is made of birch bark.


Death of the Jesuit priest Sebastien Rale on 23 August 1724, depiction from 1856


The circumpolar ice sheet of the last cold period


Recovered in 1946 from Cowan's Cave at Moosehead Lake, the scraper is the oldest human artifact in the state. It is dated to around the 11th millennium BC. It is part of the collection of the Moosehead Historical Society's Center for Moosehead History.