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Journal Cover And Toc Vol. 42, Issue. 4, Maine Historical Society Jul 2006

Journal Cover And Toc Vol. 42, Issue. 4, Maine Historical Society

Maine History

Cover, Editors, Editorial Board and Table of Contents with authors' names


"The Lion Of The Day": Diplomacy, States' Rights, And Party Politics In The Aroostook War, John A. Soares Jr. Jul 2006

"The Lion Of The Day": Diplomacy, States' Rights, And Party Politics In The Aroostook War, John A. Soares Jr.

Maine History

Historians typically dismiss the so-called Aroostook War as an insignificant event that unfolded in the uncivilized northeast frontier. Yet this seemingly minor conflict allows us to examine how both partisan politics and the growing debate over national and state authority dominated political and diplomatic affairs in the antebellum period. This political contest highlights the roles played by Winfield Scott, a Whig, and John Fairfield, a Democrat, in achieving an acceptable compromise between Maine and New Brunswick. Like many regional affairs of this time, the Aroostook War can only be fully understood within this national context. John A. Soares, Jr. is …


The Trial And Execution Of Thomas Bird In Portland, Maine, 1790: The First Execution Under The United State Constitution, Jerry Genesio Jul 2006

The Trial And Execution Of Thomas Bird In Portland, Maine, 1790: The First Execution Under The United State Constitution, Jerry Genesio

Maine History

Surprisingly few accounts exist of the execution of an Englishman named Thomas Bird in Portland in 1790, even though Bird's execution was the first of the nation's young federal court system. The newly established U.S. District Court for the District of Maine tried Bird for the ''piratical murder" of Captain John Connor, master of the English slave-trading sloop, Mary. Crew members killed Connor and threw his body overboard off the canst of Africa in 1789. When authorities captured the Mary off the coast of Maine, they arrested three men: Bird; Hans Hanson, a Norwegian; and Josiah Jackson, an American. Yet …


Samuel Freeman's Waistcoat, Jacqueline Field Jul 2006

Samuel Freeman's Waistcoat, Jacqueline Field

Maine History

The article discusses the features and construction of a waistcoat worn by Samuel Freeman at his 1786 wedding. The waistcoat is in the Collection of the Maine Historical Society.


"A Contingent Somebody": Hannibal Hamlin's Claim For A First Reading Of The Emancipation Proclamation, Allen C. Guelzo Jul 2006

"A Contingent Somebody": Hannibal Hamlin's Claim For A First Reading Of The Emancipation Proclamation, Allen C. Guelzo

Maine History

On more than one occasion, the historical record has implied that Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a hastily composed document: an impulsive reaction to military events surrounding the Civil War. In fact, it was an evolving idea that began to take shape long before Lincoln read the initial draft of the Proclamation to his cabinet on July 22, 1862. A closer look at the role of Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin of Maine during the most divisive presidency in American history sheds new light on the consideration and deliberation that went into drafting a document that, on January 1, 1863, essentially freed …


Maine's War Governor: Israel Washburn, Jr. And The Race To Save The Union, Kerck Kelsey Jul 2006

Maine's War Governor: Israel Washburn, Jr. And The Race To Save The Union, Kerck Kelsey

Maine History

Almost forgotten today, Israel Washburn, Jr. was one of the greatest political leaders to come out of Maine. Washburn was a self-taught country lawyer in Orono. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as 11 Whig in 1850 and served four additional terms. In Congress, he challenged southern control of the federal government, especially in matters pertaining to the protection and expansion of slavery. Discouraged by the passage of the K11nsas-Nebraska Bill, he and others sparked the political revolt among northerners and westerners that resulted in the formation of the Republican Party. Washburn was elected governor of …


Book Reviews, Jean F. Hankins, David Chaplin, Chris Potholm, Joyce Butler Jul 2006

Book Reviews, Jean F. Hankins, David Chaplin, Chris Potholm, Joyce Butler

Maine History

Reviews of the following books: Mill Girls and Strangers: Single Women's Independent Migration in England, Scotland and the United States, 1850-1881 by Wendy M. Gordon; Hauling by Hand: The Life and Times of a Maine Island by Dean Lawrence Lunt; Twelve Thousand Years: American Indians in Maine by Bruce J. Bourque with contributions by Steven L. Cox and Ruth H. Whitehead; Alnobak: A Story of Indigenous People in Androscoggin County by Nancy Coffin Lecompte