The Maine Remembered: Responses to the Spanish-American War in the Pine Tree State

Abstract

The Spanish-American war marked the emergence of the United States from a country concerned primarily with its own internal development to one that exercised its power and influence on the world stage. Maine citizens and the state’s political leaders understood that they were witnessing an historic turn in the nation’s history. They were not passive observers, however. Many participated eagerly in the war effort. Others vehemently protested an expansionist foreign policy and the ambitions of the war's promoters. This article tracks the war's progress through the experiences of Maine people who lived through it and assesses the contributions they made to the important debate that accompanied the conflict. Elizabeth (Wendy) Hazard received her Ph.D. in History from Boston University in 1994. She lives in Belgrade and is the editor of The Dissident, a Maine journal of politics and culture.