STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
_____
JOINT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING FEBRUARY 2024 AS
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
WHEREAS, Maine's Black history and the story of Maine's role in the global economy of
enslavement have been largely effaced from our narratives and from our collective
consciousness; and
WHEREAS, from the earliest arrivals of people from Europe and Africa in the Americas,
Africans and African Americans have been part of the story of this land, and researchers have
identified over 1,900 people of color who lived in what is now called the State of Maine prior
to the year 1800; and
WHEREAS, Africans who were brought involuntarily to these shores suffered generations
of enslavement, and their descendants faced the injustices of lynch mobs, segregation and the
denial of basic fundamental rights; and
WHEREAS, people living in Maine engaged in the slave trade for at least 112 years, with
the earliest known slaving voyage departing from Maine's shores taking place in 1749 and the
last known slaving voyage on a Maine-built vessel taking place in 1861; and
WHEREAS, a total of 63 Maine-built vessels are known to have transported enslaved
people, representing only the tip of the iceberg, and slaving vessels were constructed in at least
26 Maine towns; and
WHEREAS, Maine merchants were deeply entangled in the global economy of
enslavement, as were the banks that handled their accounts and the insurance firms that secured
their investments, and at a time when Havana, Cuba was the hub of the illicit slave trade,
Portland was that city's number one trading partner; and
WHEREAS, it was not only Maine's coastal towns that were complicit in the global
economy of enslavement through shipbuilding and merchant trading activities, but its inland
regions as well: crops and livestock were routinely shipped in the "coastwise" trade to provision
the sugar plantations of the West Indies, along with salted fish and even ice from this region;
and
WHEREAS, great quantities of Maine timber were processed into barrel staves and
shipped throughout the 18th and 19th centuries to the West Indies, where enslaved Africans
were forced to fashion them into barrels; they then filled these barrels with the sugar and
molasses that were shipped back to Portland and distilled into rum, which was used as currency
in purchasing more captive Africans; and
WHEREAS, African Americans in all walks of life have shown resilience despite
suffering under slavery and injustice and have made significant contributions throughout the
history of the State and across the United States; and
WHEREAS, from the Revolutionary War through the abolitionist movement, to marches
from Selma to Montgomery and across America today, and in this State, African Americans
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have remained devoted to the proposition that all of us are created equal, even when their own
rights were denied; and
WHEREAS, the month of February is officially celebrated as Black History Month, which
dates back to 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson set aside a special period of time in February
to recognize the heritage and achievements of African Americans; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Thirty-first Legislature now
assembled in the Second Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this
opportunity to recognize the significance of Black History Month as an important time to honor
the contributions of African Americans in the nation's history and encourage all people in the
State to learn more about the past and to better understand the experiences that have shaped the
State and the nation.
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