The Maine Law was a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, first adopted in the Americans state of Maine in 1851. Maine Law was passed after a lengthy campaign by the mayor of Portland, Neal Dow. In 1855 twelve other American states adopted Maine Law and declared prohibition.
In June 1855 Portland, Maine was the scene of a riot when an angry pro-liquor crowd congregated outside Portland City Hall. The Governor, Anson Morrill, a prohibitionist, called out the militia and Mayor Dow the leader of the militia force, ordered the militia to open fire on the crowd, killing one man and injuring several others.
In 1885 the state of Maine adopted Maine Law into its constitution, and in 1919 the American Congress through the Volstead Act introduced the Eighteenth Amendment thereby adopting Maine Law nationwide. So began American prohibition on January the 16th 1920. However, by 1930 it was clear that most Americans were ignoring the law and were continuing to drink liquor illegally, and in 1933 the ' noble experiment', was repealed by the twenty-first Amendment. Almost a year later Maine repealed its own Maine Law, although it was not until 1970 that liquor could be sold on a Sunday in Maine and then only in Class A restaurants. In 1973 Sunday trading of beer and wine was finally allowed in Maine. Research Maine Law
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