An Imperfect Union: The Eighteenth Century Origins of the Two Maines

In the Charter of 1691, England\u27s monarchs granted Maine to Massachusetts in two parts. The southern part, south of the Kennebec River, was granted without reservation, to be settled as Massachusetts saw fit. But the provision regarding Maine east of the Kennebec contained a caveat; that all grants of land be approved by the Crown. This thesis examines the effects of the clause regarding royal approval on land holding, settlement, government, and culture. Particular attention is paid to the Waldo Patent in the period between 1719 and 1759, and how the structural, economic, and cultural differences initiated by the elite proprietors who controlled the eastern country resonate even today in the belief of some inhabitants that Maine is a state divided