Making Maine
360 pages, 6 x 9
7 illus.
Paperback
Release Date:25 Nov 2022
ISBN:9781625347015
CA$43.95 Back Order
Ships in 4-6 weeks.
Hardcover
Release Date:25 Nov 2022
ISBN:9781625347022
GO TO CART

Making Maine

Statehood and the War of 1812

University of Massachusetts Press

Honorable mention for U.S. Maritime History, John Lyman Book Awards

After the Revolutionary War ended, the new American nation grappled with a question about its identity: Were the states sovereign entities or subordinates to a powerful federal government? The War of 1812 brought this vexing issue into sharp relief, as a national government intent on waging an unpopular war confronted a populace in Massachusetts that was vigorously opposed to it. Maine, which at the time was part of Massachusetts, served as the battleground in this political struggle.

Joshua M. Smith recounts an innovative history of the war, focusing on how it specifically affected what was then called the District of Maine. Drawing on archival materials from the United States, Britain, and Canada, Smith exposes the bitter experience of Maine’s citizens during that conflict as they endured multiple hardships, including starvation, burdensome taxation, smuggling, treason, and enemy occupation. War’s inherent miseries, along with a changing relationship between regional and national identities, gave rise to a statehood movement that rejected a Boston-centric worldview in favor of a broadly American identity.

‘The amount of research in Making Maine borders on encyclopedic, and the primary sources in the book are impressive, coming from an impressive number of archives . . . [It] brings long overdue attention to an important moment in American history . . . [and] will be of interest to scholars and lay readers of the state’s history.'—New England Quarterly

Making Maine is a major contribution to the literature on the War of 1812, linking local and national history with scholarship on the Canadian and British experience. It will shape the historiography of the war going forward.’—Andrew Lambert, author of The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812

‘Based on impressive research, Smith provides a fascinating history of the bitter disputes that bedeviled the prosecution of the war in an area that shared a border with British territory but was politically subordinate to Massachusetts. Making Maine is a significant addition to regional accounts of the War of 1812.’—J. C. A. Stagg, author of The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent

‘[This book] brings long overdue attention to an important moment in American history.’—Zachary M. BennettThe New England Quarterly

‘This book is highly recommended as an important, new contribution to our understanding of the War of 1812 in Maine and its impact on its communities and citizenry’—Alicia CaporasoThe Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord

JOSHUA M. SMITH is director of the American Merchant Marine Museum.

Find what you’re looking for...

Free shipping on online orders over $40

Stay Informed

Receive the latest UBC Press news, including events, catalogues, and announcements.


Read past newsletters

Publishers Represented
UBC Press is the Canadian agent for several international publishers. Visit our Publishers Represented page to learn more.