The Great State of Maine, also known as The Pine Tree State, is 200 years old today.
Our statehood arose out of a bitterly divided nation headed for war. When the Massachusetts District of Maine filed for statehood in 1819, there were 22 states, equally divided between those that were “free” (that prohibited slavery) and those that were “slave” (in which slavery was legal).
Maine’s requested entrance as a free state would destroy the political balance as it related to the country’s gravest problem, slavery. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was the Congressional solution: free Maine would enter the Union on March 15, 1820, as the 23rd state and slave-permitting Missouri would enter as the 24th on August 10, 1821.
Maine was a fervent abolitionist state. It was the first state to support creation of the Republican Party to oppose slavery and the birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln’s first Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin. When the Civil War arose, Maine contributed a higher percentage of its population to the Union military than any other state. (Brooklin, Maine)