History of Maine

The history of the  spans thousands of years, from the earliest human habitations there to European colonization and settlement to its present-day statehood as part of the.

The origin of the name Maine is the subject of some controversy. Many historians believe that Maine is named after the province of. Others suggest that the name was coined by English settlers living on islands along the coast, who would speak of going to the mainland as "going over to the main."

Pre-European History
The earliest culture known to inhabit Maine was the, from roughly 3000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. They were a maritime culture known for their elaborate burials using red ochre. In Maine, they were followed by the, a pottery using culture.

By the time of European arrival, the inhabitants of Maine were -speaking peoples including the, , and s.

European colonization and political permutations
The first European settlement in Maine was made in 1604 by a French party that included, the noted explorer. The French named the area that includes Maine as ; later English colonization pushed Acadia north into what are today the.

English colonists, sponsored by the, first settled in 1607, though the attempt was unsuccessful. The territory between the and s first became known as the  in a 1622 land patent granted to  and. The two split the territory along the in a  pact that resulted in the  being formed by Mason in the south and  being created by Gorges to the north, in what is now Maine. The failure to colonize New Somersetshire, however, resulted in a second patent, granted to Gorges by, for what became known once again as the Province of Maine. Gorges' second effort also ended unsuccessfully.

What is present-day Maine north and east of the was more sparsely settled and was known in the 17th century as the. In this land, along with what had been the Province of Maine, was incorporated into another patent, this time by, to. Under the terms of this grant, all the territory from the to the  was constituted as, now part of a vastly expanded. With the incorporation of Sagadahock, the territory that would become Maine extended along the coast from the Piscataqua to the for the first time, incorporating the entire coastline of the future state.

In, part of this territory was partitioned to create. The remainder was lost to the in a war in. In Cornwall County was reconstituted as part of New York, which itself was absorbed into the  in. In the entirety of the former Province of Maine, from the Piscataqua to the St. Croix, was absorbed into the  as, a name which survives in present day.

Maine was much fought over by the French and English during the 17th and early 18th centuries. After the defeat of the colony of  during the  (part of the global struggle between France and Britain that is known overall as the ), the territory from the  east fell under the nominal authority of the Province of, and together with present day  formed the Nova Scotia County of , with its court of general sessions at.

Independence and border disputes
American and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the and the. The treaty concluding revolution was ambiguous about Maine's boundary with. The territory of Maine was confirmed as part of when the United States was formed, although the final border with British territory was not established until the  of 1842. (Indeed, in 1839 Governor Fairfield declared war on Britain over a boundary dispute between New Brunswick and northern Maine. Known as the, this is the only time a U.S. state has declared war on a foreign power. The dispute was settled, however, before any blood was shed.)

Statehood
Maine gained its statehood in as the result of the, a move which paved the way for slavery-free northern states to approve the statehood of. Maine, which was under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, was free of slavery, and its admission to the union would allow for northern congressional representation which would balance Missouri's pro-southern and pro-slavery influence.

Industrialization and discrimination against French Canadians
In the late 19th century, many began migrating to Maine and other  states from the  and  provinces of Canada to work in the newly established mills, which took advantage of the state's many rushing rivers. These new arrivals were often forcibly assimilated into Anglo-American culture; notably, children were subjected to corporal punishment for speaking French in schools. In response the French Canadian community in New England was determined to preserve some of its cultural norms; this doctrine, like efforts to preserve francophone culture in Quebec, became known as .


 * See also: 

20th and 21st centuries
By the 20th century, the textile industry which had driven the growth of mills was establishing itself more profitably in other parts of the United States closer to raw materials. The focus of the economy shifted primarily back to logging and shipbuilding; the was a notable producer of naval vessels during the. In recent years, however, even Maine's traditional industries have been threatened; forest conservation efforts have cut down on logging; shipbuilding competition with other parts of the country has been stiff, and restrictions on world fisheries have exerted considerable pressure on each of these key fields. In response the state has attempted to diversify its economic activities, attracting s to rural towns and villages. Tax incentives allowed centers began to establish themselves in the southern part of the state.

Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, tourism also became a major activity in Maine, which adopted the slogan "Vacationland" for its licence plates. Many began to visit Maine to enjoy its vast area of relatively unspoiled wilderness, its ski-friendly mountains, and its hundreds of miles of coastline. "Cottage people" from and  summered in many of the state's seaside towns. The compound in  is a notable example of this trend. State and national parks in Maine also became loci of tourism, especially on.

In recent years the state has sought to address its legacy of intolerance against French Canadians, embracing such symbols as bilingual signs and actively promoting French Canadian culture in schools and local festivities.