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Maine's Road to Statehood

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The Coasting Law of 1789

'Unity' and 'Margaretta,' Machias, 1775
'Unity' and 'Margaretta,' Machias, 1775
The Coasting Law of 1789 required that merchant ships port and register at each non-adjacent state as a way to raise port revenue. Maine Historical Society

The "Act for Registering and Clearing Vessels, Regulating the Coasting Trade, and for Other Purposes" (often shortened to the "Coasting Law") of 1789 was a critical aspect of the separation debate and deserves a brief description. The law, passed by the United States Congress, forced ships along the coast to port and register at each state with which it did not share a boarder. Since Maine was a district of Massachusetts, a ship sailing south from Maine would not have to port until New Jersey; once separated, Maine vessels would have to port in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Although the fee was minimal, the time it took to port in each state would be a considerable nuisance to shippers. The Coasting Law served as the backbone of anti-separationist logic for decades, and it is no great coincidence that the law's repeal in 1819 would coincide with Maine's separation.[10]

New Map of English America, 1677
New Map of English America, 1677
Since Massachusetts was adjacent to New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island, Maine would not have to port and register until New Jersey. If Maine were to become independent, ships would be forced to port in every state beyond New Hampshire. Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education

[10] Banks, Maine Becomes a State, 35.


"…the master of every ship or vessel of the burthen of twenty tons or upwards, licensed to trade as aforesaid, having on board goods, wares or merchandise of the growth or manufacture of the United States only, and being bound from a district in one state to a district in any other than an adjoining state, shall deliver to the collector… duplicate manifests of the whole cargo on board such ship or vessel… authorizing such ship or vessel to proceed to the place of her destination."

An Act for Registering and Clearing Vessels, Regulating the Coasting Trade, and for Other Purposes, 1 U.S.C. § 26 (1789)





Maine's Road to Statehood
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