March 13, 2020

This Sunday, March 15, is the bicentenary of the northeastern state of Maine. Throughout 2020, bicentennial celebrations and events are commemorating Maine’s entrance to the Union as the 23rd state in 1820.

The beautiful, rocky coast of Maine attracts thousands of vacationers to the state each year. The Portland Head Light, in Cape Elizabeth, is one of the best-known American lighthouses. It was built in 1791. credit: © Shutterstock

A special bicentennial flag is flying above Maine’s public and government buildings in 2020. This Sunday, Statehood Day celebrations in Augusta, the capital, include birthday cake, music, poetry, and speeches. Events later in the year include a bicentennial parade, a sailing ships festival, and the sealing of a time capsule. Special bicentennial programs include a “Maine in the Movies” series, which celebrates the state’s role in Hollywood films, and the mass planting of white pine saplings in new or existing public parks. The state is even publishing The Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook to showcase the state’s unique culinary traditions.

Maine state map. credit: World Book map; map data (c) MapQuest.com, Inc.

The Maine region was the home of Native Americans for thousands of years before English colonists first settled the area in 1607 (13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock). Such difficulties as cold weather and a lack of leadership, however, forced the settlers back to England in 1608. Colonists, primarily fishermen, returned to make permanent settlements in Maine in the 1620′s. Maine was a part of Massachusetts throughout its colonial history and for 44 years after the Declaration of Independence established the United States in 1776.

The Maine quarter features a lighthouse on a granite coast and a schooner. The lighthouse is the Pemaquid Point Light, northwest of Portland. The lighthouse dates from the 1820’s and is a popular tourist attraction. Granite is a common feature of Maine’s coastline and one of the state’s leading mined products. The schooner resembles one of Maine’s famous windjammers (sailing ships). credit: U.S. Mint

In 1785, a movement began for the separation of Maine from Massachusetts and for Maine’s admission to the Union as an individual state. Many people in Maine protested heavy taxation, poor roads, the long distance to the capital city of Boston, and other conditions. But before the War of 1812, most voters wanted Maine to remain a part of Massachusetts. The separation movement grew much stronger after the war. Many of those who favored separation won election to the legislature. They swayed many voters to their side. The people voted for separation in 1819, and Maine entered the Union the next year.

The name Maine probably means mainland. Early English fishermen used the term The Main to distinguish the mainland from the offshore islands, where they settled. New Englanders often refer to Maine as Down East. They call people who live in Maine Down Easters or Down Easterners. These terms probably come from the location of Maine east of, or downwind from, Boston. Ships from that port sailed down to Maine, and ships from Maine traveled up to Boston.

The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is from Portland, Maine’s largest city, and the American Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain is from the town of Brewer. The author Stephen King, a native of Portland, sets many of his novels in Maine.

December 13, 2019

Tomorrow, on December 14, the southern state of Alabama celebrates its 200th birthday. Alabama entered the Union as the 22nd state in 1819, and celebrations and events have commemorated the bicentenary throughout the year.

Alabama’s Gulf Coast is the site of numerous resorts and vacation homes. This long, sandy peninsula extends into the Gulf of Mexico between Mobile and Perdido bays. Credit: © Jeff Greenberg, Alamy Images

The cities of Birmingham, Huntsville (site of the 1819 Alabama Constitutional Convention), and Montgomery (the capital) hosted special art and history exhibitions, concerts, and dances. A traveling exhibit, “The Cases and Faces that Changed a Nation,” detailed landmark civil rights court cases that originated in Alabama and profiled the three United States Supreme Court justices from the state.

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Alabama. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The Alabama region was the home of Native Americans for thousands of years before Spanish explorers arrived in the first half of the 1500’s. Spain, France, and Great Britain alternately controlled the area before it became part of the United States in 1795.

The Alabama state quarter features an image of Helen Keller, an untiring supporter of people with disabilities. The banner “Spirit of Courage” lies beneath her portrait. The coin includes Keller’s name in the Braille alphabet, a writing system that can be read by touch. The coin also contains borders of magnolias and branches of the longleaf pine, the state tree. Alabama became the nation’s 22nd state 200 years ago on Dec. 14, 1819. Credit: U.S. Mint

Alabama, a state that allowed slavery, seceded from the Union in 1861 and fought with the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Alabama reentered the Union in 1870, but racial strife in the state continued for another 100 years. Many important events of the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s took place in Alabama.

The State Capitol of Alabama is in Montgomery, which has been the capital of the state since 1846. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustration

December 3, 2018

Today, December 3, is the bicentenary of the Midwestern state of Illinois. Throughout 2018, bicentennial celebrations and events commemorated Illinois’s entrance to the Union as the 21st state in 1818.

The official Illinois state flag was adopted in 1915. Credit: © Lickomicko/Shutterstock

A special Illinois bicentennial flag flew throughout the state in the later months of 2018. On August 26, the state’s Constitution Day, a new Bicentennial Plaza was dedicated in Springfield, the state capital, and a bicentennial motorcycle ride took participants to Illinois sites along the famous Route 66 highway, which begins in Chicago. Today, December 3, the Illinois Bicentennial Commission is hosting an official 200th birthday party at Chicago’s United Center. 

The skyscrapers of downtown Chicago form a spectacular reflection in Lake Michigan. Chicago is the largest city in Illinois and the third largest city in the United States. © Shutterstock

The Illinois region was the home of Native Americans for thousands of years before French explorers first arrived in the late 1600’s. In 1717, Illinois became part of the French colony of Louisiana. In 1763, the British  won control of Illinois along with the rest of France’s North American empire. The United States gained control of Illinois during the American Revolution (1775-1783), and in 1787 the region became part of the Northwest Territory. In 1800, Illinois became part of the Indiana Territory. In 1809, the Illinois Territory was created from what is now Illinois and the state of Wisconsin. After statehood in 1818, Illinois voters elected Shadrach Bond, a downstate landowner, as the state’s first governor. The south-central town of Vandalia served as the capital of Illinois until Springfield, just a short distance north, was designated the state capital in 1837.

The Illinois quarter includes images of farmland, Abraham Lincoln, and Chicago. Illinois became the nation’s 21st state 200 years ago on Dec. 3, 1818. Credit: U.S. Mint

December 8, 2017

Mississippi’s bicentenary takes place this Sunday, on Dec. 10, 2017. Throughout the year, bicentennial celebrations and local events commemorated Mississippi’s entrance to the Union as the 20th state in 1817. To mark the anniversary weekend in December 2017, two new museums opened to much fanfare in Jackson, the state capital: the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

Jackson is Mississippi’s capital and largest city. Known as the Crossroads of the South, it serves as a center of commerce, industry, and transportation. Credit: © John Elk III, Alamy Images

Mississippi has a long and sometimes troubled history. In the 1500’s and 1600’s, Spanish and French explorers encountered the Native Americans of the region—often with tragic results. The Mississippi area came under British control in 1763, Spanish control in 1781, and eventually American control in the mid-1780’s and early 1790’s. The Congress of the United States organized the Mississippi Territory in 1798, with Natchez as the capital. Winthrop Sargent became the first governor of the new territory. Adding bits of land at a time, the Mississippi Territory extended over all present-day Alabama and Mississippi by 1812.

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Mississippi. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

In 1817, Congress carved Alabama from the Mississippi Territory, and on December 10, Mississippi became the 20th state. The first Mississippi state governor, David Holmes, had been territorial governor since 1809. The state capital bounced between Columbia, Natchez, and Washington until landing for good at Jackson in 1822.

Mississippi, a state that allowed slavery, seceded from the Union in 1861 and fought with the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Mississippi reentered the Union in 1870, but racial strife in the state continued for another 100 years.

December 9, 2016

Sunday, December 11, is the bicentenary of the Midwestern state of Indiana. Looking back 200 years to 1816, when Indiana became the 19th state in the Union, many people may be surprised that statehood did not come easily. Aside from convincing the U.S. Congress to accept Indiana as a state, there were some Hoosiers themselves that needed convincing.

A commemorative stamp celebrating Indiana’s 200th birthday features a sunset over cornfields near Milford in northern Indiana’s Kosciusko County. Credit: United States Postal Service

Many people were perfectly happy living in the Indiana territory and wanted nothing to do with the trappings of statehood. Some feared the higher taxes that came with statehood, as well as an increase in laws and regulations. Chief among the “just say no to statehood” faction was William Henry Harrison, the champion of Tippecanoe in 1811 and appointed (not elected) governor of the Indiana territory (as well as a future U.S. president). Harrison stood to lose considerable, almost dictatorial powers if the territory became a state. Statehood would also mean the abolition of slavery in Indiana, a practice many conservative landowners wanted to preserve.

Indiana’s state flag, at left, adopted in 1917, has a torch that stands for liberty and enlightenment. The 19th and largest star above the torch represents Indiana, the 19th state. The state seal, at right, adopted in 1963, shows a pioneer scene. Credit: World Book illustrations

A majority of Hoosiers, however, favored statehood and its democratic benefits, as well as its increased protection. Indiana was on the western frontier in the early 1800’s, and violence often overruled territorial statutes and ordinances. Hostility between Native Americans and settlers continued, too, as ever more of Indiana’s fertile soils were claimed for farming. The introduction of federal laws—as well as federal troops—would do much to calm Indiana’s frontier turbulence. Hoosiers also wanted the hospitals, schools, transportation, and other far-reaching benefits of statehood. Additionally, Indiana settlers wanted to elect a governor with limited power. Last, but perhaps most important, most Hoosiers wanted slavery to be outlawed.

The Indiana Territorial Assembly listened to the Hoosier majority and petitioned for statehood in late 1815. Congress approved the petition the next year, and President James Madison signed it into law.

July 30, 2013

Negotiators from Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to revive formal peace talks within the next two weeks, United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced today. The announcement concluded two days of informal discussions between delegates from the two governments held in Washington, D.C. The goal of the upcoming talks will be a comprehensive agreement leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority serves as the government for Palestinians in much of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, territories that, along with Israel, makes up the historic region of Palestine. “Everyone involved here believes that we cannot pass along to another generation the responsibility for ending a conflict that is in our power to resolve in our time,” Kerry stated at a press briefing. He noted that the negotiators hope to reach a “final status” agreement by May 1, 2014.

The United States-brokered talks will be the first direction negotiations between the two parties in five years. A recent decision by the Israeli Cabinet to release 104 Palestinian prisoners cleared the way for the current discussions. Many of the prisoners have been behind bars since before the signing of the Oslo accords of 1993.

Palestine today consists of the nation of Israel and the Arab areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel partially occupies the West Bank. (World Book map)

The peace talks would also need to address such major issues as the presence of Israeli forces in an independent Palestinian state and the future of Jerusalem, which both sides claim. The talks would also need to deal with the status of Palestinians refugees or descendants of the more than 700,000 refugees who fled or were driven out of Israel when it was created in 1948. Some are people who were forced to leave the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which were occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War.

At a dinner for the delegates on Monday evening, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed cautious optimism for the talks. “This is a promising step forward, though hard work and hard choices remain ahead,” he said. “The most difficult work of these negotiations is ahead and I am hopeful that both the Israelis and Palestinians will approach these talks in good faith and with sustained focus and determination.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Abbas, Mahmoud
• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Hamas
• Netanyahu, Benjamin

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, addressing the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, formally requested that the UN grant full membership to the Palestinian people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UN recognition would likely put the Palestinians on a path toward full statehood with pre-1967 borders. (At the conclusion of the 1967 Six Day War between Israel and Egypt [and Egyptian allies Syria, Jordan, and Iraq], Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel vowed not to withdraw from these territories until the four Arab nations recognized Israel’s right to exist. In June 1967, Israel officially made the eastern half of Jerusalem part of Israel.)

“I do not believe anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for full admission in the United Nations,” President Abbas declared before the General Assembly. He described statehood as “the realization of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.” Reviewing the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Abbas stated that every previous peace effort had been “shattered on the rock” of Israeli settlements. He insisted that it was the UN’s “historical responsibility” to resolve the conflict. His bid must first be submitted to the UN Security Council. International affairs experts predict that the United States would veto it. They also suggest that such a veto will further wreck U.S. prestige in the Middle East.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Arafat, Yasir
• Hamas
• Oslo Accords
• Palestine
• Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
• Bank in Time (1948)
• Back in Time (1967)