During the 1920s and 1930s the United States underwent great change. Meanwhile, Eastport had an era unto itself (all of the intrigue involved in the "Quoddy Dam Era" (next kiosk).
During this era, the United States saw a recession after World War I; a ban on the sale of alcohol (Prohibition); a consumer buying spree (the Roaring Twenties); an economic crash (the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange); an economic depression (the Great Depression); and the start of another world war (World War II).
On the “Indian” national front, Indigenous People continued their fight for voting rights and legislative representation. They also saw the long-overdue demise of the U.S. government’s “Carlisle School” assimilation program.
During this era, Eastport started to see the decline of the sardine fish-packing industry; an exodus of workers; Prohibition-era Eastport/Passamaquoddy Bay smuggling. When the decline started in the early 1920s, it resulted in fewer job opportunities in the Greater Eastport area – and with fewer jobs, the population declined.
As for the Roaring Twenties, while the rest of the country was seeing a boon in consumer purchases. Eastport, however, did not experience this boon due to the loss of jobs in the sardine industry and the corresponding loss of population (in other words, the “twenties” didn’t exactly “roar” in Eastport).
Prohibition (sale of alcohol was prohibited in the United States) began on January 17, 1920. Eastport, due to its distance from populated markets, was quiet on the prohibition smuggling front.
The collapse of Wall Street and the following Great Depression brought hardships to the Eastport area (and especially to the Pleasant Point Reservation). These hardships were, however, handled somewhat differently (for example: on the Passamaquoddy reservation, a market developed for seagull meat).
The 1920s/30s inflection points for the Passamaquoddy People include the continued hope for voter rights and representation in the state of Maine, the close of the Carlisle era of Indian Schools (now "regular" schooling would take place at Pleasant Point); the continued mismanagement of Passamaquoddy trust money by the state of Maine; outright Passamaquoddy land theft by the state; and the introduction of policies that made Maine’s Indigenous welfare dependent.
Prohibition is adopted in the United States.
The Prohibition Era Explained
Eastport Virtual History Museum
Copyright © 2023 Eastport History - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.