Massachusetts keeps Maine?

Just a thought I had today, what is the plausibility of Massachusetts keeping what we now know today as Maine past the Missouri Compromise? How would this change the makeups of both Massachusetts and Maine if it does happen?
 
Keep the balance...

You'll need another way to keep the balance in the Senate, or the Missouri Compromise becomes a non-starter. Additionally, Maine wanted to separate from Massachusetts--state politics could get quite interesting if they remained together...
 
If Massachusetts had fought for Maine harder during the War of 1812 perhaps it would all still be one big state. As things went the people of Maine felt that Boston did not care about them and they would be better off fending for themselves

One thing that would also help them staying together would be if they were connected to each other, Most states are not divided into separate pieces except by water
 
You'll need another way to keep the balance in the Senate, or the Missouri Compromise becomes a non-starter. Additionally, Maine wanted to separate from Massachusetts--state politics could get quite interesting if they remained together...

I could see the Missouri Compromise out and making Maine a Free State, maybe. Just a thought.
 
If Massachusetts had fought for Maine harder during the War of 1812 perhaps it would all still be one big state. As things went the people of Maine felt that Boston did not care about them and they would be better off fending for themselves

One thing that would also help them staying together would be if they were connected to each other, Most states are not divided into separate pieces except by water
Well to be fair, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is separated from the rest of Michigan by land as well as water; quite a bit of land, too. Of course, the problem is that the Upper Peninsula even today is incredibly sparsely populated and more of a backwater than Maine was in 1820, so it would be more difficult to have the same relationship once Maine starts to become richer and more independent during industrialization.
 

birdboy2000

Banned
If Massachusetts had fought for Maine harder during the War of 1812 perhaps it would all still be one big state. As things went the people of Maine felt that Boston did not care about them and they would be better off fending for themselves

One thing that would also help them staying together would be if they were connected to each other, Most states are not divided into separate pieces except by water

There's a plausible way to avoid that. As late as 1741, Massachusetts and New Hampshire shared governors... :)

I agree that the war of 1812 is probably the best PoD - either by making Massachusetts care about defending Maine, or by making Britain continue to leave it alone for fear of provoking Massachusetts (which, while an American state, was a de facto neutral in the war - and Maine got away with avoiding fighting until a few months before the war ended.)

Would this alone keep the states together? Quite possibly. Forcibly dividing a state is unconstitutional - West Virginia only got out because of the Civil War and a Unionist "Virginia" state government consisting of the parts of the state which wanted out already. Greater support in Maine and Massachusetts alike for unity by changing the war might change the outcome of any secession referendum, or inspire Massachusetts to hold on anyway despite the occasional complaints of Maine's representatives on Beacon Hill.

Many Mainers might want out anyway - it's far from Boston - but so do many people in Western Massachusetts, or Upstate New York, or Michigan's Upper Peninsula, or any other number of culturally and geographically distinctive state regions that failed to pull off secession.
 
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