Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. – Romans 13:12
Maine was accepted as the 23rd state in the Union on this day in 1820. The British had driven the native inhabitants from Maine into Canada in the 1600s and 1700s and the territory was hotly contested by the French and the British during the same period. The Americans and the British later fought over the region during the War for Independence and the War of 1812. Maine became part of Massachusetts at the end of the revolution, but its boundary with British North America would not be settled until 1842. Due to Maine’s physical distance from the state of Massachusetts, residents of the northernmost territory were eager to secede. However, attempts at secession were unsuccessful until the Missouri Compromise, when Maine’s separation into its own state maintained the balance of slave and free states.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For the president and his administration as they consider the needs and desires of U.S. states and territories.
- For members of Congress as proposals to admit territories as states are debated and considered.
