What was Maine like before the Constitution?

Answer 1

Congress established Maine as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This arrangement allowed Maine to join the Union as a free state, with Missouri entering a year later as a slave state, thereby preserving the numerical balance between free and slave states in the nation. By this time the population of Maine had reached nearly 300,000. The new state had nine counties and 236 towns. Delegates met for three weeks in October of 1819 in Portland to hammer out a state constitution, a document strongly rooted in political independence, religious freedom and popular control of government. The president of the convention was William King, a prominent Bath merchant and shipbuilder who subsequently became Maine's first governor. Portland was selected as the state capital, but this was only temporary. In 1832 the capital was moved to Augusta, a more centrally located site.

Answer 2

Well, first off, Maine was part of Massachusetts before the Constitution was approved. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Maine was very primitive and empty prior to 1787. Yes, it was part of the original Massachusetts Bay Colony, but that does not describe what the state was like. There were very few towns and villages (less than 10), and those that were there sometimes failed and died or were wiped out by Indians. There were mostly fishing villages, but some very brave people did work their way inland to scratch a living from the soil. There were few roads, and what roads there were became impassable during the spring time due to mud conditions. In the northern parts of Maine there were locations (one hesitates to call them towns or villages) where only 2 or 3 people lived, most likely trappers and hunters. Life was very difficult with temperatures in the winter reaching far below zero and snow falls measured in feet rather than inches.