CIVIL WAR. Maine, which was admitted to the Union as a
free state under the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, had
a strong anti-slavery tradition.
Abolitionist societies were active throughout the state 25 years
before the outbreak of the War Between the States.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, wife of a Bowdoin College professor, wrote
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" at Brunswick; the book inflamed
anti-slavery sentiment throughout the northern states in the years
immediately preceding the outbreak of hostilities.
Thus, Maine's commitment to the Union cause during the war was
considerable, both philosophically and materially. Some 73,000
Maine men served with the Union forces, and 10 percent of them
lost their lives during the conflict.
Maine contributed the services of two great generals, Oliver Otis
Howard, who performed brilliantly at Gettysburg and Bull Run,
and Joshua L. Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top. Chamberlain
commanded the Union troops to whom Lee surrendered at Appomattox.
After the war he was elected governor of Maine.
Both generals were scholarly men. Howard was a principal founder
of Howard University and served as its first president. Chamberlain
became president of Bowdoin College.