THE AROOSTOOK WAR

From Wikipedia

The Aroostook War (sometimes called the Pork and Beans War) was an undeclared nonviolent confrontation in 1838/1839 between the United States and Great Britain over the international boundary between British North America (Canada) and Maine. The compromise resolution wins a mutually accepted border between the state of Maine and the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec. High tensions and heated rhetoric in Maine and New Brunswick led both sides to raise troops, arm them, and march them to the disputed border. President Martin Van Buren sent Brigadier General Winfield Scott to work out a compromise. The compromise created a neutral area, and the excitement faded away as the diplomats took over.

The Aroostook War involved no actual confrontation between military forces, and negotiations between diplomats from Britain and United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster quickly settled the dispute. Secretary of State Webster secretly funded a propaganda campaign that convinced leaders in Maine of the wisdom of compromise. Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 established final boundary between the countries, giving most of the disputed area to Maine and a militarily vital connection between Canadian provinces to Britain.  Though there was no conflict between military forces, occasionally civilian lumberjacks became violent if they spotted people on the wrong side of the border.

(Later in the article)

The mixed character of the population in the disputed area. Mostly early Acadians (descendants of the original French colonists) settled Saint John and Madawaska River basins. Some Americans then settled in the Aroostook River Valley. During 1826-1830, provincial timber interests also settled the west bank of the Saint John river and its tributaries, and British families built homes in Woodstock, Tobique, and Grand Falls, New Brunswick.

The French-speaking population of Madawaska were "Brayons"  nominally British subjects ” who (at least rhetorically) considered themselves to belong to the unofficial "République du Madawaska", and thus professed allegiance to neither Americans nor British. The population of the area swelled with outsiders, however, when winter freed lumbermen from farm work to "long-pole" up the Saint John River to the valley. These migrant seasonal lumbermen caused particular tension for the governments of Maine and Massachusetts, responsible for the protection of resources and revenues of their respective states. Some itinerant lumbermen eventually settled year-round in the Saint John valley. Most settlers found themselves too remote from the authorities to apply formally for land. Disputes heated as factions maneuvered for control over the best stands of trees.

John Baker on 4 July 1827 raised an American flag, which his wife made, on the western side of the junction of Baker Brook and the Saint John River. British Colonial authorities subsequently arrested Baker, fined him £25, and held him in jail until he paid his fine.

transcribed by Nancy Piper

News Articles Related to the Aroostook War

North Eastern Boundary

We regret to learn, from the Castline American that aggressions continue to be made on our frontier of Maine by the officers of the Government of New Brunswick and that the settlers there are in the greater distress from the persecution of these royal officers.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA, April 16, 1828

It is rumored that an order had been received from Washington, directing the company of U. States troops, now at Sacketts Harbor to remove forthwith to the disputed territory on the north-eastern boundary of the United States and to take post upon the line. The three companies now at Green Bay are to join the company from Sacketts Harbor and the whole are to be under the command of Major Clark.  The necessity and object of this movement are, of course, not made public; but it is not a matter of surprise that these steps should be taken, if the complaints of our fellow citizens of Maine are well founded.  Our government is bound by a respect to its dignity, to take prompt measures when its citizens complain of being arrested and imprisoned by a foreign power, because they will not acknowledge its jurisdiction.

It is also said that a communication to Congress is daily expected from the President, which will be received with closed doors.  What may be its import, we do not undertake to say.  We give these rumors as they reach us, without pretending to vouch for their accuracy. “ N.Y. Gazette.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA,  May 21, 1828

Appointments by the President

Albert Gallatin of Pennsylvania and William Pitt Preble of Maine to be severally Agents in the negotiation and upon the umpirage, relating to the Northeastern boundary of the United States.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA,  May 28, 1828

The St. John, N.B. paper of April 26^th, states that the “Commander in Chief has directed the Quartermaster General of the Militia Forces to prepare a proper place of deposit for Arms for the Militia of the Province, and the means also of transporting the same on immediate notice, to any part of the province. This order has been made in consequence of American troops being ordered to be stationed at Houlton.

Fredericton, April 22

A strong sensation has been made here, by arrival of a Despatch, by Express from the British Minister at Washington to the Lieutenant Governor and some rumors of a very serious nature have accordingly been circulated.

We understand that the American Government having communicated in a friendly manner to the British minister the intention of sending a detachment of troops to be stationed in the acknowledged Territory of the United States within the line traced by the British Commissioners from Mars Hill, it was considered expedient to apprize the Lieutenant Governor of this measure as soon as possible and likewise to make him acquainted with explanations and assurances which had been given to the British Minister by the American Government, and which we are happy to learn are such as have been satisfactory to the British Minister as the intention and objects of the Government of the United States.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA,  June 11 1828

Mr. Baker, who was taken from the disputed territory in Maine, has been tried at Fredericton (NB), convicted of the charges exhibited against him and sentenced to two months imprisonment and fined 25 L. The St. Andrews Herald of May 19^th promised a report of the trail in their next paper and recommends to its American readers to suspend their opinions on the subject until the whole merits of the case are known to them.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

From Wikipedia

John Baker (January 17, 1796 - March 10, 1868) is the namesake of the towns of Baker Lake (Lac Baker) and Baker Brook, New Brunswick, Canada, just west of Edmundston. He was a successful sawmill and gristmill businessman who became a well-known activist in Canada during the 19th century and was nicknamed "the Washington of the Republic of Madawaska."

Baker was instrumental in the Aroostook War, a boundary dispute that established the international border between New Brunswick and the state of Maine, with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. His name is indissolubly interwoven with the boundary controversy. He had homes on both sides of the disputed territory, defied the officers of New Brunswick in many ways and was twice arrested and imprisoned in the Fredericton jail, where a statue and plaque today recognize his imprisonments and his contributions to the boundary settlement. The last time that he was incarcerated was when he was indicted, tried and sentenced for sedition and conspiracy against King George IV on May 8, 1828.

Baker operated a gristmill and a sawmill on the north bank of the Saint John River, and was the leading American in the disputed territory. He was dissatisfied with the official borders, and in 1827 declared his village to be capital of the "American Republic of Madawaska". Though he was American by birth and considered himself as such throughout his life, Baker ultimately settled in Canada after his imprisonment by the Crown and died at his home on Chaleur Bay in 1868.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA,  June 11 1828

The Bath (Maine) Gazette says, Quarter Master Russel has returned to Bangor from Houlton and reports that British officers from Frederickton are laying out ground for a military entrenchment on an eminence upon the Provincial side of the line, about two and a half miles from the spot selected for erecting barracks for the United States troops.

 transcribed by Nancy Piper

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