Maryland History Guide

Native American Indians inhabited the land we know today as Maryland for many centuries before any Europeans set foot in the area. Most of those Indians belonged to a large family of tribes known as the Algonquins that lived peacefully along the Chesapeake Bay; fishing and hunting, and trading with their neighbors on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian explorer sailing under the French flag, explored the eastern seaboard of North America, and is considered the first European to visit the Chesapeake Bay area. In 1608, John Smith of Virginia sailed northward up Chesapeake Bay into Maryland. In 1631, another Virginian, William Claiborne, opened a trading post on Kent Island. This was the first colonial settlement in Maryland.

Charles I granted a royal charter for Maryland to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632, and English settlers, many of whom were Roman Catholic, landed on St. Clement's (now Blakistone) Island in 1634. Also in 1634, colonists founded St. Mary's City. Religious freedom, granted all Christians in the Toleration Act passed by the Maryland assembly in 1649, was ended by a Puritan revolt, 1654-1658.

Originally, based on an incorrect map, the royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel. This was found to be a problem, because the northern boundary would put Philadelphia, the major city in Pennsylvania, within Maryland. The Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania, decided in 1750 to engage two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to survey what became known as the Mason-Dixon line which would form the boundary between their two colonies. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 would later create political conditions which made the Mason-Dixon line important to the history of slavery, whose expansion was only permitted in territories south of the line.

Trade restrictions and high taxes led to the Revolutionary War in 1775. Marylanders opposed the Stamp Act, protested the Boston Port Bill by burning a boat and the tea cargo, and attended the First Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia. Baltimore served as the country's capital until after the war when it was moved to Annapolis.

The War of Independence was successfully fought on many fronts, and Maryland certainly played its part. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was drafted and signed, and Maryland became the 7th state to join the new country, with Annapolis as its capital. In 1791, Washington D.C., designed by the French architect Major Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, was created from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, and became the nation's permanent capital.

Several battles from the War of 1812 were fought in Maryland. British soldiers raided towns along the Chesapeake Bay, defeated Americans in the Battle of Bladensburg, and burned the Capitol and other government buildings in Washington D.C. On Sept. 12, they attacked Baltimore and fired on Fort McHenry. The American army defended the city and drove them out of Maryland. This battle inspired the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key, a 35 year old amateur poet.

Maryland was one of the border states, straddling the North and South. After John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia), citizens began forming local militias. Of its 1860 population of 687,000, about 60,000 men joined the Union and about 25,000 fought for the Confederacy. Because Maryland remained (for the most part) within the Union during the Civil War, it didn't undergo reconstruction like the other Southern States. However, as a one-time "slave state," Maryland experienced its share of racial tensions, and those social divisions took many years to resolve.

In 1919, Congress passed the prohibition law, prohibiting the manufacturing, selling and transporting of alcoholic beverages. Maryland opposed the law, because it violated their state's rights. Because of this, they were known as the Free State.

World War I brought expansion and new jobs to Maryland's military bases and facilities. That growth was tempered somewhat by the Great Depression of the 1930's, but the economics of World War II changed everything; many new businesses opened their doors and the state built the needed airports, bridges and highways.

After World War II, Maryland improved its transportation systems. BWI Airport opened and many bridges, tunnels, and highways were built. When the Supreme Court ruled segregation in schools as unconstitutional in 1954, Maryland changed the fastest of all the southern states by integrating schools and neighborhoods. Several school systems were expanded.

Today, Maryland's Eastern Shore and Western Shore embrace the Chesapeake Bay, and the many estuaries and rivers create one of the longest waterfronts of any state. The Bay produces more seafood (oysters, crabs, clams, fin fish) than any comparable body of water. Important agricultural products are greenhouse and nursery products, chickens, dairy products, eggs, and soybeans. Stone, coal, sand, gravel, cement, and clay are the chief mineral products.

Manufacturing industries include food products, chemicals, computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, and primary metals. Baltimore, home of the Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, ranks as the nation's second port in foreign tonnage. The capital, Annapolis, is the site of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Maryland Famous People

• Clara Barton (1821 - 1912) Founded the American Red Cross, with headquarters located in a home in Glen Echo.
• Eubie Blake (1883 - 1983) Ragtime musician and composer who wrote "The Charleston Rag," in 1899; born in Baltimore.
• John Wilkes Booth (1838 - 1865) The assassin of President Abraham Lincoln; born in Bel Air.
• Tom Clancy (1947 -  ) Author of many best-selling books, including The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games; born in Baltimore.
• Frederick Douglass (1817 - 1895) Abolitionist leader who was born a slave in Maryland
• Matthew Henson (1866 - 1955) One of the first two men to reach the North Pole; born in Baltimore.
• Francis Scott Key (1779 - 1843) He wrote the national anthem on September 14, 1814 while watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812; born in Frederick county.
• Johns Hopkins (1795 - 1873), Merchant, banker, and philanthropist, who founded the hospital and university that bear his name; born in Anne Arundel County.
• Thurgood Marshall (1908 - 1993) First African-American justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849) Famous author and poet; born in Massachusetts, spent writing years in Baltimore and died there.
• Cal Ripken Jr. (1960 - ) One of the best shortstops in baseball history that holds the record for the most consecutive games played, at 2,632; born in Havre de Grace and a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
• George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1895 - 1948) One of the greatest players in baseball history that held the record for the most home runs in a single season; born in Baltimore.
• Harriet Tubman (1820 - 1913) A leading figure in the Underground Railroad, a nurse, spy, and scout for the Union army, and a woman?s rights activist; born in Dorchester County.
• Upton Beall Sinclair (1878 - 1968) Writer, social critic, author of the novel The Jungle, whose revelations led to reforms in the meat-packing industry; born in Baltimore.