Maine: The Pine Tree State from Prehistory to the Present

The first comprehensive history of Maine to be published in decades, Maine: The Pine Tree State surveys the region’s rich history from prehistoric times to the early 1990s. Chapter authors are respected scholars in Maine history from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, ethnic studies, and the various subdisciplines of history:?political, cultural, economic, labor, military, maritime. Caught up at times in national events, Maine has also led the nation in important ways. Its fishing industry fed and its textile industry clothed the nation’s people. Maine loggers contributed heavily to the technologies used in cutting, hauling, and driving timber. Maine excelled in the production of wooden ships and supplied the expertise to sail them. In the nineteenth century Maine’s political leaders were among the most powerful in the nation, and Maine’s contribution to social reform attracted national recognition. All these subjects and others are explored in a narrative that encompasses Maine’s prehistory and its native people; the era of European exploration and settlement; Indian wars, revolution, and statehood; the logging, fishing, and maritime industries; family and community life; economics and politics; the arts and culture; and much more. Maine: The Pine Tree State will be an authoritative resource about Maine history for years to come.