USA Maine - The History : USA  

USA Maine - The History - Travel guide

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USA Maine - The History

The History

The Native American Red Paint people left burial mounds in south-central Maine. When Europeans arrived, the Abnaki lived along the coast and in some inland areas.

The 1st Europeans were John Cabot and his son Sebastian are believed to have visited the coast in 1498, more than a century before the first settlements were established. It’s possible that the area was visited by Norsemen (Vikings) even earlier.

The first white (Caucasians) settlement was established by the Plymouth Company at Popham in 1607.

The question of Maine's ownership was a matter of continuing dispute between England and France throughout the first half of the 18th century. The period was also marked by a series of raids by Native Americans on Caucasians settlements which had the active support of the French interested in seeing the English settlers driven from the land.

In the late-1700s, a number of battles flared up in Maine during the Revolutionary War. Maine opposed the oppressive colonial tax policies of the British Government. The Revolution cost Maine dearly. About 1,000 men lost their lives in the war, the district's sea trade was all but destroyed, the principal city had been leveled by bombardment.

Once Maine became a separate state there followed a period of tremendous economic growth in which a number of important mining manufacturing industries emerged. Lumbering, traditional fishing and shipbuilding pursuits entered a boom period and ice harvesting, granite and lime quarrying also developed as important industries.

The District of Maine and belonged to Massachusetts until statehood on March 15, 1820.