"The Lion of the Day": Diplomacy, States' Rights, and Party Politics in The Aroostook War

Abstract

Historians typically dismiss the so-called Aroostook War as an insignificant event that unfolded in the uncivilized northeast frontier. Yet this seemingly minor conflict allows us to examine how both partisan politics and the growing debate over national and state authority dominated political and diplomatic affairs in the antebellum period. This political contest highlights the roles played by Winfield Scott, a Whig, and John Fairfield, a Democrat, in achieving an acceptable compromise between Maine and New Brunswick. Like many regional affairs of this time, the Aroostook War can only be fully understood within this national context. John A. Soares, Jr. is a visiting assistant professor of History at the University of Notre Dame from 2005-07. He previously taught U.S. foreign policy at the University of Cincinnati and George Washington University. His recent publications include "Sagacious Beyond Praise: Winfield Scott and Anglo-American-Canadian Boarder Diplomacy,'' with Scott Kaufman in Diplomatic History.