Maine

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-Nova Scotia's little sister and New Brunswick's older sister.
-Maine was born as the result of the mixture of Acadian and New England settlements within her territory. England and France disputed who owned her until after the French and Indian War.
-At one point Acadia had his capital in Maine's lands (although it was all his culture and she didn't really form until later)
-Lived with Massachusetts from 1652 until she became a state in 1820 (Missouri Compromise). Their personalities get along really well and she tends to immitate some of the things he does with her own spin to it. (After the Boston Tea party, she did something similar but burned the tea instead.)
-She talked a lot about becoming her own state after the Revolutionary War, but realized that she still relied too much on Massachusetts' strength for protection even though she felt her interests and people were under represented in legislature. Massachusetts addressed her grievances over the distance between them with new roads, a college and expanded her judicial system. This greatly satisfied Maine. (1789)
-During the War of 1812, Massachusetts failed to protect Maine from invasion. (Massachusetts was STRONGLY opposed to the war and basically refused to send out his militia to fight Britain. Most of his and the rest of New England's economy revolved around trade with British Colonies so the embargo caused by the war was painful to him and his interests. He was so stubborn about this that he wouldn't even protect his own territory and talked about succeeding.) For the sake of peace with Britain to end the war, there was talk about allowing Maine to be annexed into Canada, something she deeply resented. This caused her to actively pursue becoming a state of her own after the war.
-Did NOT want the war of 1812 and desired to maintain good relations with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. She at first put up some resistance to his occupation, but surrendered to Britain during the war so long as he wouldn't interfere in her trade with her siblings.
-In 1816 seperatists from Maine confronted Massachusetts about her becoming a state, and Massachusetts said that he'd allow it if she voted for independence. There were two unsuccessful votes and it was about 3 more years before Maine was resolved to live on her own in 1819, but the issue of slavery would delay her statehood for a while longer. (Missouri compromise) Maine was very much against the creation of another slave-state and even considered repealing her own petition to become a state to prevent Missouri from joining the union, but became a state in the end. This made statehood a bitter-sweet victory for her.
-Loves seafood. Famous for lobster, but she personally likes crab meat better.
-Very tacturn and doesn't always get sarcasm (or at least ignores it). Says as little as possible which sometimes leads to trouble. Average Maine conversation: "Hey, what did you feed your dog when it got sick?" "Carrots and sawdust..." "Really?" "Mhm." <a week later> "I DID WHAT YOU SAID AND MY DOG DIED." "So did mine." "Then why did you tell me...?" "You asked."
-Quite shy and likes to keep to herself. Only comes out of her shell around people she's familiar with. She can be very sensative and cries easily if her feelings are hurt.
-Uses odd lingo sometimes like "wicked" to describe things.
-Some take her quietness and soft voice as being slow or simple, but she's actually very shrewd. Good at reading the atmosphere and an excellent judge of character.
-What she lacks in book smarts, she more than makes up for in common sense. She's perhaps one of the few states who makes it her policy to impliment common sense on a regular basis.
-Got into a big fight with New Brunswick over trees (border dispute) called the Aroostook War. There wasn't an actual battle fought, but the situation got so heated that both of them called in their militias. America and Britain were forced to define a border between her and New Brunswick in 1842. (Something they had repeatedly failed to do since the revolution.) New Brunswick was afraid that Maine wanted to invade him, Maine wanted her trees and basically said "If America won't fight for my land, then I'll do it by myself!" and very nearly caused a war if America hadn't stepped in and told her to settle down while he tried to find a way to appease her and all those involved. Massachusetts also got dragged into the conflict because part of Maine's land still technically belonged to him but he had far more restraint/patience in the matter than Maine did and was like "We'll see what America and Britain can offer..." In the end, things were more favorable for the US. Most likely this is because Britain was looking to improve their relations. New Brunswick, unlike Maine, didn't have much political clout or strength within his government to protest against the agreement even if he really wanted to. He quietly accepted the terms although it is hard to tell if he was just glad to be through with the issue, satisfied with the treaty or just wasn't in the possition to do much more about it. America basically had to bribe Maine into accepting the agreement and paid her and Massachusetts $150,000 each in compensation.
-More Aroostock War stuff: One of the reasons this got so heated was because of the Miramichi Fires that had ravaged Maine and New Brunswick. New Brunswick took the worst of the damage and wanted to use the trees to rebuild his homes and economy. He lost a LOT of his forrests in the blaze.
-Even MORE Aroostock War stuff! I've read somewhere that Maine and New Brunswick were semi-tricked. Apparently America showed Maine a map that said the disputed land belonged to New Brunswick and England showed New Brunswick a map that said the disputed land belonged to Maine. This caused both of them to back down and try to settle the agreement with a compromise. (I haven't totally confirmed this story.)
-Has a Sister-State relationship with the Aomori Prefecture (Japan) and there's a really cute story attached to them. I forget the date this happened, but a ship bound from Hokkaido back to Maine sunk just off the shore. Aomori and his people rushed to their fishing boats to save the sailors but there were only about 4 survivors. Aomori remembered Maine even after her and her people were returned to America and would hold a memorial for the survivors every year. Even though Maine forgot about what had happened, Aomori remembered and 100 years later he decided to send a letter to her. Maine was shocked he would care so much about her people as to keep them in his mind for so long. This was the official beginning of their close friendship. They hold a special gathering every five years together. (Need more details on this)
Category:United States