What was Maine called in colonial times? Did it belong to the colony of MA? Did some of modern-day Maine belong to Canada (or the British) whether outright or under dispute? - Jinx
The quick answer is that Maine was claimed by Massachusetts. It’s not connected directly to Massachusetts – New Hampshire is in the way – but a lot of Massachusetts’ old territorial claims look weird on modern maps.
I don’t know how it was administered and all, but people must have felt uncomfortable with the way things were run, because Maine evidently wanted to be its own state (and probably not be dictatee to by far-away Boston) for a while before it got the chance to become a separate entity in the Missouri Compromise.
I’ve seen maps showing the disputed northern boundary with Canada. I never heard how they resolved it, exactly. This was probably one of those issues settled in the War of 1812.
Aroostook War settled the question in 1838. One of Martin Van Buren’s only positive achievements
Um, for goodness sake, Jinx. Can’t you do simple research on the web without relying upon the answers of others? :dubious: This question, and the one about British Forts, leads me to believe you have a report due…
In the beginning, what is now Maine was hotly fought over by the French and the British. The French called us Acadia and the British called us the Province of Maine (coast) and Territory of Sagadahock (inland).
By the mid 17th century, the British considered Maine part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The French didn’t much care what the British thought about it and claimed the land east of the Penobscot as part of Nova Scotia.
After the Revolution, the border between American East Massachusetts (a.k.a. the District of Maine) and British New Brunswick was a bit of a sticky point and, apart from some vague hand-waving, never really settled.
Maine broke from Massachusetts as part of the Missouri Compromise, to be a free state to balance out Missouri. The northeastern border was still in dispute. The Americans claimed it. The Britain claimed it. Hell, the French were still claiming it, though at a more grass-roots level now.
It came to a head with the start of the Aroostook War. Granted, apart from one guy getting arrested for refusal to pay a £25 fine, it was mostly a non-event. It could have been one, though. Tens of thousands of troops were called up on both sides and millions of dollars thrown at it before Britain and Maine decided to compromise with the signing of Webster-Ashburton Treaty and call the whole thing off before it started getting nasty.
In the end, Britain got a good chunk of northeastern Maine, in exchange for some of northern Minnesota. The Americas and British considered it a good outcome, but not so much the French. The agreed upon border cut the Republic of Madawaska (their claim) right in two.
That more or less settled the matter, except for in a few places. One is still in dispute today: Machias Seal Island, claimed both by Maine and New Brunswick. Neither side will yield an inch, but again, neither seems to want to press the matter, preferring just to leave it be.