House of Representatives, a powerful U. Thomas B. Reed served continuously in Congress through the final quarter of the 19th century, and was its most powerful political figure during much of that time.
A three-term House speaker, Reed was a masterful parliamentarian who used his position so vigorously to bring about vital reforms in House rules that he became known as "Czar Reed. Maine's textile and leather industries enjoyed a dramatic upward surge following the Civil War, while farming activity correspondingly decreased. Responding to Thomas Edison's discoveries in the s, Maine began utilizing its vast river resources for the development of hydroelectric power.
Plants for the production of electricity were built principally on the Androscoggin, Kennebec, Penobscot and Saco Rivers. Maine's industrial growth continued, although at a much slower pace, into the 20th century.
Expansion of the pulp and paper industry offset the loss of textile mills to the South. Large potato-growing, dairy and poultry farms replaced the decreasing number of small family farms. The Great Depression of the s brought the state's economy to a grinding halt along with the rest of the nation. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Maine has struggled to find a proper balance between resource-based industrial development and environmental protection.
The state has come to rely heavily on tourism, small manufacturing enterprises and defense-related activities and installations for much of its economic base. With only rare lapses, the Republican Party dominated Maine politics for a full century, from the birth of the GOP in until the election of Edmund S. Muskie as governor in Muskie and a small band of young progressives broadened the base of Democratic strength and began to convert Maine into a genuine two-party state.
Muskie was elected to the U. Senate in He became an early leader in the fight for a clean environment and also distinguished himself as an expert in urban legislation and budget control. In he was the Democratic nominee for vice president on a ticket headed by Hubert Humphrey, and four years later was a major contender for the presidential nomination.
Muskie was appointed secretary of state by President Jimmy Carter in He was succeeded by George J. Mitchell of Waterville, who went on to serve as Senate majority leader from until his retirement from Congress in Margaret Chase Smith of Skowhegan achieved fame as the first American woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was first elected to the Senate in after nearly a decade in the House of Representatives.
Noted for her political courage, integrity and independence. Smith was the first Republican senator to speak out openly against the excesses of McCarthyism in the s. In , her name was placed in nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco. Perhaps the most important political phenomenon of modern Maine is the emergence of independent voters as a dominating force. Independents outnumber both enrolled Democrats and Republicans and provide the swing vote in most elections today.
The Maine National Guard, established as a state militia in , is shown in a film carrying out drill activities at Camp Keyes in Augusta in about Maine supplied a huge number of soldiers to the Union Army during the Civil War -- some , -- and responded after the war by building monuments to soldiers who had served and soldiers who had died in the epic American struggle.
When America entered the Great War in , the government sent out pleas for help from American women, many of whom responded at the battle front and on the home front. Maine History Online. This is a breadcrumb navigation to take you back to previous pages.
Page 2 of 6 Print Version. Benedict Arnold Maine Historical Society. Other Revolutionary-era battles on Maine soil did not turn out as well. Enemies at Sea, Companions in Death Lt. Prisoners of War Mainers have been held prisoners in conflicts fought on Maine and American soil and in those fought overseas. Monuments to Civil War Soldiers Maine supplied a huge number of soldiers to the Union Army during the Civil War -- some , -- and responded after the war by building monuments to soldiers who had served and soldiers who had died in the epic American struggle.
Women, War and the Home Front When America entered the Great War in , the government sent out pleas for help from American women, many of whom responded at the battle front and on the home front. Except for classroom educational use, images and content may not be reproduced without permission. Support the Boothbay Register Please help sustain local journalism.
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Join Today Member Login. Main Street Shop. Two Salty Dogs Pet Outfitters. Main Street Buzz. The Lincoln Home Lifestyle. In the course of five weeks, 60 miles of coast east of Casco Bay had been wiped clean of English settlements. Hardships were equally severe on the Abenaki side. Families fled their villages, leaving fields unharvested. Denied access to their guns, ammunition and fishing grounds, many starved. Despite overtures for peace on both sides, seafaring slavers continued to murder and kidnap along the coast, and in September Major Richard Waldron invited Indians to a conference at Dover, New Hampshire, and used the occasion to enslave around In February Waldron led an expedition eastward to ransom English captives and capture Madockawando.
Although he failed on both accounts, he managed to kill eight peace-seeking Indians at Pemaquid. In the provincial government of New York, which controlled Maine between and , signed the Treaty of Casco. According to its terms, the Abenaki recognized English property rights but retained sovereignty over Maine, symbolized by an annual land use tax for every English family. The treaty also stipulated closer government regulation of the fur trade.
Although widely resented as a representative of the Catholic King Charles, Andros acted decisively to regulate the fur trade in a manner that would ensure fair prices and protect native clients from abuses.
Pemaquid was designated the sole trading post between the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, and ammunition was traded only in amounts deemed necessary for hunting. Despite fresh memories of a horrible conflict, settlers refused to abide by the terms of the Treaty of Casco. Traders continued unfair practices, settlers placed nets across the Saco River, preventing fish from migrating upriver to the Wabanaki villages, and livestock ruined Indian corn. Negotiations and further treaty attempts were not successful and confrontations continued.
A large force of French and Indians drove the English from the settlements east of Falmouth. Baron de St. Castin, who lived with his family in a village of Etchemin Indians on the Bagadauce River near present-day Castine, became a target for militia raids, and he helped launch a series of attacks on Maine settlements in the summer of Major Benjamin Church arrived by sloop at sunrise at Fort Loyal, and after a "fierce fight" drove the Indians from the area.
Exhausted by war and discouraged by French ambivalence, in the Abenaki sued for peace, but the English refused to negotiate on realistic terms. This brought another round of attacks on English settlements in Massachusetts counterattacks against Port Royal and Quebec were largely ineffectual, as were several raids up the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers.
France and England concluded a peace in , and in the Wabanaki agreed to a treaty. With the coast east of Wells nearly devoid of English settlers, Rasle's mission became the southern boundary of New France. In the quarter century after King William's War, Falmouth, once the center of a vigorous trade in fish, masts, spars, timber, and sawed lumber, slowly revived.
Sawmills, gristmills, and boatworks again dotted the rivers and inlets between the Piscataqua and Kennebec, and farms sent hay, dairy products, cattle, sheep, swine, cordwood, and fish to Massachusetts ports for the local and coastwise trade. Returning settlers took up a quasi-military life. Garrison houses, usually under a militia command, provided nuclei for small settlements either just outside or within a stockade.
During daylight, men and women worked in their fields under protection of scouts and guards. For most of the period, English Maine lived in a state of virtual siege. Only the larger seaports — Boston, Salem, Portsmouth, Kittery — enjoyed sufficient security to benefit from the military expenditures from Great Britain. When France proved less willing to supply arms, the Penobscots ratified a series of neutrality agreements with Massachusetts.
Lawrence devastated the coastal towns and forts from Wells to Falmouth, and Massachusetts declared war on all Maine Indians.
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