Editing Maine (section)

===Statehood and Missouri Compromise===

Formal secession from Massachusetts and admission of Maine as the 23rd state occurred on March 15, 1820, as part of the [[Missouri Compromise]], which geographically restricted the spread of [[slavery]] and enabled the admission to statehood of [[Missouri]] the following year, keeping a balance between [[slave state|slave]] and free states.<ref>Woodard, Colin. "Parallel 44: Origins of the Mass Effect", ''The Working Waterfront'', August 31, 2010. [http://www.workingwaterfront.com/columns/Parallel-44-Origins-of-the-Mass-Effect/14024/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523025705/http://www.workingwaterfront.com/columns/Parallel-44-Origins-of-the-Mass-Effect/14024/|date=May 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>Woodard, Colin. ''The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators and the Forgotten Frontier'' (2004) Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-670-03324-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maine.gov/legis/senate/statehouse/history/hstry5.htm|title=Maine History (Statehood)|publisher=www.maine.gov|access-date=April 13, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504060335/http://www.maine.gov/legis/senate/statehouse/history/hstry5.htm|archive-date=May 4, 2008}}</ref>

Maine's original state capital was Portland, Maine's largest city, until it was moved to the more central Augusta in 1832. The principal office of the [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]] remains in Portland.

The [[20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment]], under the command of Colonel [[Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain]], prevented the [[Union Army]] from being flanked at [[Little Round Top]] by the [[Confederate Army]] during the [[Battle of Gettysburg]].

Four [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] ships have been named [[USS Maine|USS ''Maine'']], most famously the [[armored cruiser]] {{USS|Maine|ACR-1}}, whose sinking by an explosion on February 15, 1898, precipitated the [[Spanish–American War]].