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| Named in honor of Henrietta
Maria — wife of King Charles I of England — Maryland was granted to Cecil
Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, in 1632, who hoped to establish a haven
for Catholics in the New World. Maryland's Toleration Act of 1649
promised freedom of religion to all Christians. |
| Nevertheless, Puritan immigrants from
Virginia soon seized power and outlawed worship by Catholics, who were
persecuted in the colony until after the Revolution. |
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Disputes over the border with
Pennsylvania led the crown to
dispatch Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to survey the line separating
these colonies in 1763-67. |
| After Pennsylvania outlawed
slavery in 1781, the so-called Mason-Dixon Line came to symbolize the
divide between the free states to the north and the slave-holding states to the
south. Maryland remained in the Union during the Civil War, despite its embrace of the "peculiar institution",
which Maryland native Roger Taney championed throughout his tenure as
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1836-64).
Ironically, it was a Union victory near Sharpsburg, Maryland in
1862 — the Battle of Antietam — which served as pretext for President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation, notionally freeing the slaves in the rebellious
states — but not in Maryland itself. |
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Founded in 1729, Maryland's largest city was named for the colony's founder,
Lord Baltimore. |
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Baltimore briefly served as the nation's capital in the winter of
1776-77, when the Second Continental Congress relocated from Philadelphia
ahead of British troops. |
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| The British threatened
Baltimore itself during the War of 1812, but were stopped short of
the city both on land (North Point) and sea (Ft.
McHenry). |
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The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred not at Ft. Sumter, but in
the streets of Baltimore. |
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A mob
of Southern sympathizers attacked Federal troops passing through the city
in 1861. |
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In response, the Union army declared martial law, imprisoned local
leaders, and occupied the city for the duration of the war. |
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By the early 19th century, Baltimore had grown to be the second-largest
city in America, and was a leading port of entry for immigrants to the
U.S. |
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Though not a native son, writer Edgar Allan Poe spent his most
productive years in Baltimore. |
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Lincoln's assassin, John
Wilkes Booth, is also buried here. |
Journalist
H. L. Mencken was called the "Sage of
Baltimore". |
Other Baltimore attractions:
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Fort
McHenry
National
Monument & Historic Shrine
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The nation's only official "historic shrine" marks the entrance to Baltimore
Harbor. The star-shaped fort is named for James McHenry, a Baltimore
resident who supported its construction while Secretary of War (1796-1800). |
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On the night of September 13th, 1814, the fort came under
attack by British warships, which were attempting to reinforce the land invasion
of the city.
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Francis Scott Key, a lawyer who was
negotiating the release of an American prisoner, witnessed the bombardment
from a US truce ship. |
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The next morning, the oversize garrison flag was still flying above the fort,
indicating that the barrage — and thus the British invasion — had failed.
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| The fort's defenders, commanded by
Major George Armistead, suffered only four killed. |
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Key's poem about the battle, "The Defense of Fort McHenry", was put to
music as the "Star-Spangled Banner", and adopted as the
national
anthem in 1931. |
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The flag which flew above the fort is now
preserved at the
Smithsonian. |
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| During the Civil War, Ft.
McHenry served as a prison for Confederate soldiers and political
prisoners — including, ironically, Francis Scott Key's grandson. |
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The small hamlet known as Harmer's Town, located on Chesapeake Bay at the mouth
of the Susquehanna River, impressed the Marquis de Lafayette with is resemblance
to the French seaport of Le Havre. |
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The town was
incorporated in 1785 with the name inspired by the Revolutionary
War hero. |
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The town was sacked by
the British during the War of 1812. |
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Other Harford County attractions:
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Just west of Baltimore, historic Ellicott City boasts antique stores and
a microbrewery. |
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Arundel
Mills Mall | Fort
George G. Meade | National
Security Agency
This page was first published 4 July 2007,
and last updated
01 January 2009
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