{{USState
|name=Maine
|flag=Maine_State_FlagFlag of Maine.gifpng
|motto="Dirigo" (I lead)
|nick=The Pine Tree State
|s1phone=(202) 224-5344
|s1email=https://www.king.senate.gov/contact Contact
|population=1,350,000 (2020)
|date=March 15, 1820 (23rd)
}}
'''Maine''' was the twenty-third state to enter into the union. Its capital is Augusta. The state is one of the more Republicanless staunchly Democrat-leaning favoring states in the Northeast, with its First Congressional District leaning Democrat 1st congressional district swinging heavily towards the [[Democratic Party]] and its Second Congressional District 2nd congressional district leaning [[Republican]].Maine, which was discovered by the French, is named after the ancient province of Maine in [[France]], which dates back to [[Gaul]].<ref>http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/05/no-one-knows-why-maine-is-called-maine/</ref> Maine is unusual in denying all religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccination requirements, by legislation enacted in 2019 over Republican opposition, having an effective date of Sept. 1, 2021. A ballot initiative in March 2020 sought to overturn this law, but spending by [[Big Pharma]] defeated the initiative by a margin of 73-27%.<ref>https://ballotpedia.org/Maine_Question_1,_Religious_and_Philosophical_Vaccination_Exemptions_Referendum_(March_2020)</ref>
The state Constitution of Maine, like all of the other 50 states, acknowledges God or our Creator or the ''Sovereign Ruler of the Universe''. It says:
==History==
===Ice Age===
The rocks of Maine are one of the oldest parts of the US, dating from the Devonian period.<ref>http://www.statefossils.com/me/me.html</ref> The last [[glaciers]] of the ice age shaped the coastline into the many [[peninsula]]s we see today and formed Maine's 2,000 [[island]]s.
===Vikings in Maine===
Some historians have suggested, without real evidence, that five hundred years earlier than [[Columbus]], the [[Viking]] raider [[Leif Ericson]] with a crew of 30 sailors are thought to have explored the Maine coast and possibly tried to establish a settlement here.
Five hundred years earlier than [[Columbus]], the Viking raider Leif Ericson with a crew of 30 sailors are thought to have explored the Maine coast and possibly tried to establish a settlement here. The only piece of real potential evidence for this is was the finding discovery of an 11th-century Norse coin in Brooklin, Maine along with other artifacts when a former [[Native American ]] trading center was excavated. This is not conclusive though, as the coin may have been used in trade from [[Newfoundland ]] or may have been brought very much later by the English or Portuguese.<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/leif-ericson</ref>
===Colonization===
In 1498 John Cabot, who was employed by King Henry VII of England, may have explored the Maine coast, although there is no concrete evidence of his visit. A hundred years later, some European ships came ashore to repair the ships and gather fresh supplies.
The [[Plymouth Company]] established the first settlement at Popham in 1607, the same year that the Jamestown, VA, settlement was established. However, the severe Maine winter defeated the Popham colony so Jamestown is considered the first permanent settlement in America. The rigors of climate, difficulties of agriculture and attacks by Indians also wiped out many later English settlements that were established in the 1620s.
By 1700 there were only six surviving settlements. Massachusetts had acquired most of the land claims in Maine by that time, and this arrangement continued until Maine acquired its own statehood in 1820.<ref>http://www.mainehistory.info/timeline.html</ref>
===Disputes over ownership===
England and France disputed the ownership of Maine during the early eighteenth century. The French actively supported Indian raids on white settlements, thinking this would drive English settlers out.
===Maine during the Revolutionary War===
Mainers resisted the oppressive British taxes ten years before the Revolutionary War, seizing tax stamps at what was then called Falmouth but is now [[Portland]]. Customs agents were frequently attacked. A version of the [[Boston Tea Party]] happened in York, Maine in 1774 when a tea shipment was burned in York.
===Becoming a State===
After the [[Revolutionary War]], settlers on what was then a frontier area resented being ruled from 'away' in Boston and campaigned for separation from Massachusetts.
===Maine and the Abolitionist movement===
Maine was admitted to the Union as a free state, but some Mainers were involved in activities related to [[slavery]], such as the [[Triangle Trade]].
In 1836 the mayor of [[Portland]] refused permission for the Antislavery Society to meet in City Hall, but the meeting was held at the [[Quaker]] meetinghouse instead, despite being the target anti-abolition mobs. Similar disputes broke out in other towns, but public opinion began to be swayed by the information put out by antislavery societies.
In the spring of 1837, Maine and Georgia nearly came to blows over abolitionism after a group of Maine seamen took a runaway slave named Atticus home with them. Atticus was eventually betrayed back to his owner, but many Mainers played a subsequent part as stops on the [[Underground RailwayRailroad]] that saw many slaves safely away from captivity.<ref>http://imaginemaine.com/mainestories/Atticus.html</ref>
Hannibal Hamlin was a Democratic Senator. However, he left the party in 1854 over the slavery issue and was a leading force in the formation of the Republican Party in Maine. He served as the state's first Republican governor and became the nation's first Republican vice president after the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]].
===Maine and Prohibition===
The world's first Total Abstinence Society was founded in Portland in 1815 and other temperance societies over the next two decades. Eventually, a state law prohibiting the sale of alcohol except for "medicinal and mechanical purposes" was passed. By 1851 a law banning the manufacture and sale of liquor was passed in 1851 and not repealed until 1934, along with the repeal of Prohibition in the rest of the United States.
===Maine and the Civil War===
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" at Brunswick, where her husband was a professor at Bowdoin College. The popular book aroused anti-slavery feelings throughout the northern states in the 1850s.
==Politics==
Maine politics was dominated by the Republican Party from 1854 until the Democrat [[Edmund S. Muskie]] became governor in 1954. He and others broadened the Democratic base.
Muskie became one of Maine's Senators in 1958. He was prominent in the [[environmental movement]] and also considered expert in urban legislation and budget control. He was Hubert Humphrey's Vice Presidential nominee in 1968, and in 1972 was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. President [[Jimmy Carter]] appointed Senator Muskie Secretary of State in 1979.
Senator George Mitchell of Waterville succeeded Senator Muskie, and became Senate Democrat majority leader from 1988 , succeeding the [[Exalted Cyclops]] [[Robert Byrd]] until he Mitchell retired in 1994. After his retirement, he was much respected for his attempts to work with both sides of the dispute to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
[[Margaret Chase Smith]] of [[Skowhegan ]] was the first American woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was in the House of Representatives for nearly ten years, and then a Senator. She was a liberal Republican, and was notably honest, independent and courageous.
Maine is a hotbed of independent voters, who outnumber both enrolled Democrats and Republicans and determine the outcome of most elections today. Two political independents have been governors of Maine: James B Longley of Lewiston in 1974, and Angus S King of Brunswick in 1994.
Maine's current U.S. Senators, [[Olympia J. Snowe]] and [[Susan Collins]], are both moderate Republicans. The current Representatives, [[Mike Michaud]] and [[Chellie Pingree]], are both Democrats.<ref>http://www.maine.gov/portal/facts_history/</ref>
Since 2004, Maine has offered [[domestic partnership]]s, which are similar to [[same sex marriage]].<ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/domestic-partnership-in-the-united-states Answers.com]</ref>
In 2016 the First Congressional district voted for [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[2016 Presidential Election]], while the Second district voted for [[Donald Trump|Trump]]. Each district is worth one vote, but since Clinton received the most votes across the state as a whole, she received three electoral votes, while Trump received one from the Second Congressional District.<ref>https://www.270towin.com/states/Maine</ref> In October 2021, Fascist Democrat gov. Janet Mills announced that she didn't care if people died so long as her covid [[vaccine mandate]] remained in place.<ref>https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/10/12/maine-hospital-gives-dire-warning-about-healthcare-services-if-forced-to-fire-unvaccinated-workers-democrat-governor-says-let-your-hospital-patients-die-we-aint-changing/</ref> === Elected Officials ===As of 2021, fascist Democrat Janet Mills was governor. Mills require covid vaccination for all state government workers.
====Federal====
* Sen. [[Susan Collins]] (R)
* Sen. [[Angus King]] (I)
* Rep. [[Chellie Pingree]] [D, ME-01ME–01]* Rep. [[Jared Golden]] [D, ME-02ME–02]
====Statewide====
==Notable people from Maine==
Kennebunkport, Maine is the summer home of the Bush family, including former President [[George H. W. Bush]] and former President [[George W. Bush]].
*[[Joshua Chamberlain]], a Union officer during the Civil War who quite possibly saved the Union in the Battle of Gettysburg with his "swinging gate maneuver", was born in Brewer and served as Maine's governor. *[[James G. Blaine]] dominated state and national Republican politics from the mid-1860s to the end of the century. He was speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Maine's senator, and served three Republican presidents as secretary of state. He was the presidential candidate for the Republican Party in 1884, but lost by a narrow margin to [[Grover Cleveland]]. *Thomas B. Reed was Speaker of the House for three terms. He campaigned for reforms in House rules and wrote Reed's Rules of Order, which are still used in the Maine Legislature. *[[William P. Frye]], U.S. senator from Maine *[[Clyde H. Smith]], U.S. representative from the 2nd congressional district and late husband of Margaret Chase Smith *[[Eugene Hale]], U.S. senator from Maine *[[William R. Pattangall]], anti-KKK Democrat politician and judge who later became a Republican due to opposition towards the New Deal
*[[James G. BlaineFrederick Hale]] dominated state , son of Eugene Hale and national strongly [[conservative]] Republican politics from the mid-1860s to the end of the century. He was speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Maine's senator, and served three Republican presidents as secretary of from the state. He was the presidential candidate for the Republican Party in 1884, but lost by a narrow margin to [[Grover Cleveland]].
*[[Thomas BRobert S. ReedHale]] was Speaker , cousin of Frederick Hale and self-described reactionary who was pro-civil rights<ref>[https://library.bowdoin.edu/arch/mss/rhg.shtml Guide to the House for three termsRobert Hale Papers, 1876 - 1976, undated]. He campaigned for reforms in House rules and wrote Reed's Rules of Order'Bowdoin''. Retrieved September 21, which are still used in the Maine Legislature2021. </ref>
*[[Margaret Chase SmithWallace H. White]] , Hale's senatorial colleague for a number of Skowhegan years who was the first American woman elected [[Senate Majority Leader|Majority Leader]] from 1947 to both houses of Congress. 1949
*[[George MitchellFrederick G. Payne]], a well-respected former senatorU. Instrumental in the Good Friday Agreement in Northern IrelandS.senator from the state, tenure spanning 1953 to 1959
*[[Stephen King]], a wildly popular horror novelist, is a lifelong resident of Maine and sets many of his novels in the state.
*[[E.B. White]], a writer best known for his children's books ''Stuart Little'' and ''Charlotte's Web'', lived in North Brooklin.
==References==
<references/>{{reflist|2}}
{{USstates}}
[[Category:States of the United States]]
[[Category:Maine]]
[[Category:Purple States]]
[[Category:Vaccines]]