On the seizure and abduction of American citizens from Madawaska
Publisher: publisher not identified
Published: 183u
Place of publication: Maine?]
Language: eng
Subjects: Boundaries; History; Sources
Other titles: Curtius on the seizure and abduction of American citizens from Madawaska
Notes: Caption title.

Curtius is a pseudonym for Noah Webster. Confer Library of Congress authorities.

The Treaty of Paris in 1783 left unresolved the boundary between Maine and its Canadian neighbors, New Brunswick and Lower Canada (Quebec). When Maine became a state in 1820 and began granting land to settlers in the Aroostook Valley, disregarding British claims, the situation became more antagonistic. The king of the Netherlands was asked to arbitrate the dispute, but although the British accepted his decision, the Americans rejected it. Charles S. Daveis, Governor of Maine, was appointed in 1827 to deal officially with this dispute, which involved the seizure by the Province of New Brunswick of an American citizen on his own land within the disputed Maine boundary area. The failure of Daveis's mission gave birth to this pamphlet. The situation led to the supposedly bloodless Aroostook War, also known as the Pork and Beans War, a military and civilian-involved confrontation in 1838-1839 between the United States and the United Kingdom over the international boundary between the British colony of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine. The Madawaska region, in the Aroostook Valley had been founded by French Huguenots (Acadians) in 1754 and was wanted by both Canada and the U.S for its lumber.