History of Maryland in the American Revolution

Province of Maryland

The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...

had been a British colony since 1632 and did not at first favor breaking away from Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, but in time became a supporter of the Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. Maryland declared independence in 1776, along with the other Thirteen colonies

Thirteen Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...

, with Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and earlier was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. Early in life, Chase was a "firebrand" states-righter and revolutionary...

, William Paca

William Paca

William Paca was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and later Governor of Maryland and a United States federal judge.-Early life:...

, Thomas Stone

Thomas Stone

Thomas Stone was an American planter who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland. He later worked on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation in 1777...

, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later as United States Senator for Maryland...

signing the Declaration of Independence on her behalf.

Although no major Battles of the American Revolutionary War occurred in Maryland, this did not prevent the state's soldiers from distinguishing themselves through their service. General George Washington counted the "Maryland Line

Maryland Line

The Maryland Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Maryland Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Maryland at various times by the Continental Congress. These, together with similar contingents from the other twelve states, formed the...

" who fought in the Continental Army

Continental Army

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

among his finest soldiers, and Maryland is still known as "The Old Line State" today.

From November 26, 1783 to June 3, 1784, Annapolis briefly served as the capital of the fledgling United States of America, and it was in the Old Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House

Maryland State House

The Maryland State House is located in Annapolis and is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, dating to 1772. It houses the Maryland General Assembly and offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome in...

in Annapolis that George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

famously resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. It was also there that the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...

, which ended the Revolutionary War, was ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784.

Like other states, Maryland was bitterly divided by the war; many Loyalists

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

refused to join the Revolution, and saw their lands and estates confiscated as a consequence. The Barons Baltimore

Baron Baltimore

Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore Manor in County Longford, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1625 for George Calvert and became extinct on the death of the sixth Baron in 1771. The title was held by several members of the Calvert family who were proprietors of the palatinates...

, who before the war had exercised almost feudal power in Maryland, were among the biggest losers. Almost the entire political elite of the province was overthrown, replaced by an entirely new political class, loyal to a new national political structure.

Background

The State of Maryland began its life as the Province of Maryland

Province of Maryland

, an English settlement in North America that was founded in 1632 as a proprietary colony

Proprietary colony

A proprietary colony was a colony in which one or more individuals, usually land owners, remaining subject to their parent state's sanctions, retained rights that are today regarded as the privilege of the state, and in all cases eventually became so....

of the Lords Baltimore

Baron Baltimore

, who wished to create a haven for English Catholics in the New World. The earliest European settlement was at St. Mary's City, Maryland

St. Mary's City, Maryland

St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest...

, founded in 1634, little of which remains intact today. Maryland remained under the control of the Lords Baltimore until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen colonies

Thirteen Colonies

in rebellion

American Revolution

against Great Britain and became the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

of Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

Religious strife

Although Maryland was an early pioneer of religious toleration in the British colonies, religious strife among Anglicans, Puritans, Roman Catholics, and Quakers was common in the early years, and Puritan rebels briefly seized control of the province. In 1689, the year following the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

, John Coode

John Coode (Governor of Maryland)

John Coode is best known for leading a rebellion that overthrew Maryland's colonial government in 1689...

led a rebellion, known as the "Protestant Revolution", that expelled the Catholic Lords Baltimore from power, and banned Roman Catholic worship in the Province. However, Coode's government did not endure and in time the newly crowned Protestant King William III

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

installed a crown-appointed governor, Lionel Copley

Lionel Copley

Sir Lionel Copley was the 1st Royal Governor of Maryland from 1692 through his death in 1693. He was the first official royal governor appointed by the British crown after the colony was removed from the proprietary control of the Calvert family during the Glorious Revolution...

, who governed Maryland until his death in 1694. He was replaced in turn by Francis Nicholson. The Province of Maryland was eventually restored to the control of the Calvert family by George I when Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...

, swore publicly that he was a Protestant and embraced the Anglican faith.

Economy

Despite early competition with the colony of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

to its south, the Province of Maryland developed along very similar lines to Virginia. Its early settlements and populations centers tended to cluster around the rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

. Like Virginia, Maryland's economy quickly became centered around the farming of tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

for sale in Europe. The need for cheap labor to help with the growth of tobacco, and later with the mixed farming economy that developed when tobacco prices collapsed, led to a rapid expansion of indentured servitude and, later, forcible immigration and enslavement of Africans.

The writer Abbe Robin, who travelled through Maryland during the Revolutionary War, described the lifestyle enjoyed by families of wealth and status in the colony:

"[Maryland houses] are large and spacious habitations, widely separated, composed of a number of buildings and surrounded by plantations extending farther than the eye can reach, cultivated...by unhappy black men whom European avarice brings hither...Their furniture is of the most costly wood, and rarest marbles, enriched by skilful and artistic work. Their elegant and light carriages are drawn by finely bred horses, and driven by richly apparelled slaves."

In the later colonial period, the southern and eastern portions of the Province continued in their tobacco economy, heavily dependent on slave labor, but as the revolution approached, northern and central Maryland increasingly became centers of wheat production. This helped drive the expansion of interior farming towns like Frederick

Frederick, Maryland

Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...

and Maryland's major port city of Baltimore.

Proprietarial rule - The Lords Baltimore

In 1751 Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore

Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, 3rd Proprietor and 17th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, FRS was a British nobleman and Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland...

died, and his son Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore

Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore

Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, 4th Proprietor of Maryland was an English nobleman and last in the line of Barons Baltimore...

, aged just 20, inherited from his father the title Baron Baltimore and the Proprietary Governor

Proprietary Governor

Proprietary Governors were individuals authorized to govern proprietary colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the King of England to establish colonies. These proprietors then selected the governors and other officials in the colony....

ship of the Province of Maryland

Province of Maryland

. Frederick Calvert wielded immense power in Maryland, which was then a colony

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

of the Kingdom of Great Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

, administered directly by the Calverts. Frederick benefited from an income of around £10,000 a month from taxes and rents, a very large sum at the time. In addition he controlled shares in the Bank of England, and an estate at Woodcote Park

Woodcote Park

Woodcote Park is a stately home in Surrey, England, currently owned by the Royal Automobile Club. It was formerly the seat of a number of prominent English families, including the Calvert family, Barons Baltimore and Lords Proprietor of the colony of Maryland...

, in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

.

Calvert's inheritance coincided with a period of rising discontent in Maryland, amid growing demands by the legislative assembly

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....

for an end to his family's authoritarian rule. Frederick, however, remained aloof from the colony and never set foot in it in his lifetime. Instead, he spent time in England and on the European continent

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, particularly in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. He also lived for a time in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, but had to leave after being accused of keeping a private harem

Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

. Calvert lived a life of leisure, writing verse and regarding the Province of Maryland

Province of Maryland

as little more than a source of revenue. The colony was ruled through governors appointed by Calvert, such as Horatio Sharpe

Horatio Sharpe

Horatio Sharpe was the 22nd Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1753 to 1768 under the Restored Proprietary Government.-Biography:...

and Robert Eden. Frederick's frequent travels made him difficult to contact and meant that Maryland was largely ruled without him. His personal life was extremely scandalous by the standards of the time, and this contributed to growing unrest in his colony. Count Maximilian Von Lamberg wrote of his Lordship's travels:

"In 1769 my Lord was travelling with eight women, a physician, and two negroes, which he called his corregidores, who were entrusted with the discipline of his little seraglio. With the aid of his physician he conducted odd experiments on his houris: he fed the plump ones only acid foods and the thin ones milk and broth. He arrived at Vienna with the train I have described; when the chief of police requested him to declare which of the eight ladies was his wife, he replied that he was an Englishman, and that when he was called upon to give an account of his sexual arrangements, if he could not settle the matter with his fists, it was his practice to set out instantly on his travels again."

Frederick died in 1771, by which time relations between Britain and her American colonies were fast deteriorating. In his will, Frederick left his proprietary Palatinate of Maryland to his eldest illegitimate son, Henry Harford

Henry Harford

Henry Harford, 5th Proprietor of Maryland was the last proprietary owner of the British colony of Maryland. He was born in 1758 the eldest but illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert 6th Baron Baltimore, and his mistress Hester Whelan...

, then aged just 13. The colony, perhaps grateful to be rid of Frederick at last, recognized Harford as Calvert's heir. However, the will was challenged by the family of Frederick's sister, Louisa Calvert Browning, who did not recognize Harford's inheritance. Before the case could grind its way through the Court of Chancery

Court of Chancery

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

, Maryland had become engulfed by the American Revolution and by 1776 was at war with Britain. Henry Harford would ultimately lose almost all his colonial possessions.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

One of the early voices for independence in Maryland was the wealthy Roman Catholic planter Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

. In 1772 he engaged in a debate conducted through anonymous newspaper letters and maintained the right of the colonies to control their own taxation. As a Roman Catholic, he was barred from entering politics, from practicing law, and from voting.

In the early 1770s Carroll appears to have begun to embrace the idea that only violence could break the impasse with Great Britain. According to legend, Carroll and Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase

(who would also later sign the Declaration of Independence on Maryland's behalf) had the following exchange:

Chase: "We have the better of our opponents; we have completely written them down."

Carroll: "And do you think that writing will settle the question between us?"

Chase: "To be sure, what else can we resort to?"

Carroll: "The bayonet. Our arguments will only raise the feelings of the people to that pitch, when open war will be looked to as the arbiter of the dispute".

It is reputed that the First Amendment to the Constitution was written in appreciation for his financial support during the Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

by his peers discerning his contributions in such stark contrast to the denial of civic rights due to his Catholicism. However, writing in the Maryland Gazette under the pseudonym "First Citizen," he became a prominent spokesman against the governor's proclamation increasing legal fees to state officers and Protestant clergy. Carroll served on various committees of correspondence.

From 1774 to 1776, Carroll was a member of the Annapolis Convention. He was commissioned with Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase

and his cousin John Carroll

John Carroll (bishop)

John Carroll, was the first Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in the United States — serving as the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is also known as the founder of Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in the United States, and St...

in February 1774 to seek aid from Canada. He was a member of Annapolis' first Committee of Safety

Committee of Safety (American Revolution)

Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...

in 1775. In early 1776, while not yet a member, the Congress sent him on a mission to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. When Maryland decided to support the open revolution, he was elected to the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and remained a delegate until 1778. He arrived too late to vote in favor of it, but was able to sign the Declaration of Independence. He was the last living signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

Samuel Chase

(1741–1811), was a "firebrand" states-righter and revolutionary, and was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence

United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...

as a representative of Maryland

Maryland

. He co-founded Anne Arundel County's

Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...

Sons of Liberty

The Sons of Liberty were a political group made up of American patriots that originated in the pre-independence North American British colonies. The group was formed to protect the rights of the colonists from the usurpations by the British government after 1766...

chapter with his close friend William Paca

William Paca

William Paca was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and later Governor of Maryland and a United States federal judge.-Early life:...

as well as leading opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act. Later he became an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Loyalist opposition

Public opinion in Maryland before the war was bitterly divided; many Marylanders either actively supported the Crown or were unwilling to countenance violence as a means of redress. In 1766, Samuel Chase became embroiled in a war of words with a number of Loyalist

Loyalist (American Revolution)

members of the Maryland political establishment in Annapolis. In an open letter dated July 18, 1766 Chase attacked Walter Dulany

Walter Dulany

Walter Dulany was a politician in Colonial Maryland, who served as Mayor of Annapolis from 1766 to 1767. His family house and land at Windmill Point later became the location for the United States Naval Academy.-Early life:...

, George Steuart (1700–1784), John Brice

John Brice, Jr.

John Brice, Jr. was an early American settler and Loyalist politician in colonial Maryland. He was a member of the Governor's Council, twice Mayor of Annapolis, and a chief justice in the colony's court. Two of his sons would in their turn become Mayors of Annapolis.-Early life:John was born in...

(1705–1766), Michael MacNamara

Michael MacNamara

Michael MacNamara was a politician in Colonial Maryland, who served 3 terms as Mayor of Annapolis.-Politics:Originally from Ireland MacNamara held a number of Proprietary appointments in colonial Maryland and, politically, was a Loyalist. He was Mayor of Annapolis on three occasions, from...

and others for publishing an article in the Maryland Gazette Extraordinary

The Capital

The Capital is a daily newspaper published in Annapolis, Maryland. It serves the city as well as all of Anne Arundel County and neighboring Kent Island in Queen Anne's County. It is an evening newspaper during the week and offers morning delivery on the weekend. Philip Merrill was the publisher...

of June 19, 1766, in which Chase was accused of being: "a busy, reckless incendiary, a ringleader of mobs, a foul-mouthed and inflaming son of discord and faction, a common disturber of the public tranquility". In his response, Chase accused Steuart and the others of "vanity...pride and arrogance", and of being brought to power by "proprietory influence, court favour, and the wealth and influence of the tools and favourites who infest this city." Such disputes would become increasingly bitter as war approached.

Coming of Revolution

In 1774, committees of correspondence

Committee of correspondence

The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans; by 1773 they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature...

sprung up throughout the colonies, offering support to Boston, Massachusetts, after the British closed the port and increased the occupying military force. Massachusetts had asked for a general meeting or Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

to consider joint action by all the colonies. To forestall any such action, the royal governor of Maryland, Sir Robert Eden prorogued

Parliamentary session

A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections...

the Maryland colonial assembly on April 19, 1774. This was the last session of the colonial assembly ever held in Maryland.

Annapolis Tea party

On October 19, 1774 the Peggy Stewart
Peggy Stewart
The Peggy Stewart was a Maryland cargo vessel burned on October 19, 1774, in Annapolis as a punishment for contravening the boycott on tea imports which had been imposed in retaliation for the British treatment of the people of Boston following the Boston Tea Party...

, a Maryland cargo vessel, was set alight and burned by an angry mob in Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, punishing the ship's captain for contravening the boycott

Boycott

A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...

on tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

imports and mimicking the events of the more famous Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...

in December 1773. This event has since become known as the "Annapolis Tea Party".

In May 1774, according to local legend, the Chestertown Tea Party

Chestertown Tea Party

The Chestertown Tea Party was a protest against British excise duties which, according to local legend, took place in May 1774 in Chestertown, Maryland as a response to the British Tea Act...

took place in Chestertown, Maryland

Chestertown, Maryland

Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,746 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kent County. The ZIP code is 21620 and the area codes are 410 and 443...

, during which Maryland patriots boarded the brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...

Geddes in broad daylight and threw its cargo of tea into the Chester River

Chester River

The Chester River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long, and its watershed encompasses , which includes of land. Thus the total watershed area is 20% water. It forms the border between Kent County and Queen Anne's County, Maryland, with its...

, as a protest against taxes imposed by the British Tea Act

Tea Act

The Tea Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its principal overt objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses. A related objective was to undercut the price of tea smuggled into Britain's...

. The event is still celebrated to this day each Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...

weekend with a festival and historic re-enactment known as the Chestertown Tea Party Festival.

Governor Eden returned to Maryland from England shortly after the Peggy Stewart was burned. On December 30, 1774 he wrote:

"The spirit of resistance against the Tea Act

Tea Act

, or any mode of internal taxation, is as strong and universal here as ever. I firmly believe that they will undergo any hardship sooner than acknowledge a right in the British Parliament in that particular, and will persevere in their non-importation and non-exportation experiments, in spite of every inconvenience that they must consequently be exposed to, and the total loss of their trade."

Despite such protests, and a growing sense that war was inevitable, Maryland still held back from full independence from Great Britain, and gave instructions to that effect to its delegates to the First Continental Congress

First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the...

which met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

in September 1774.

Assembly of Freemen

During this initial phase of the Revolutionary period, Maryland was governed by the Assembly of Freemen, an Assembly of the state's counties

County (United States)

In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...

. The first convention lasted four days, from June 22 to June 25, 1774. All sixteen counties then existing were represented by a total of 92 members; Matthew Tilghman

Matthew Tilghman

Matthew Tilghman was an American planter and Revolutionary leader from Maryland, who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776.-Early life:...

was elected chairman.

The eighth session decided that the continuation of an ad-hoc government by the convention was not a good mechanism for all the concerns of the province. A more permanent and structured government was needed. So, on July 3, 1776 they resolved that a new convention be elected that would be responsible for drawing up their first state constitution

State constitution (United States)

In the United States, each state has its own constitution.Usually, they are longer than the 7,500-word federal Constitution and are more detailed regarding the day-to-day relationships between government and the people. The shortest is the Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1793 and currently...

, one that did not refer to parliament or the king, but would be a government "...of the people only." After they set dates and prepared notices to the counties they adjourned. On August 1, all freemen with property elected delegates for the last convention. The ninth and last convention was also known as the Constitutional Convention of 1776. They drafted a constitution, and when they adjourned on November 11, they would not meet again. The Conventions were replaced by the new state government which the Maryland Constitution of 1776

Maryland Constitution of 1776

The Maryland Constitution of 1778 was the first of four constitutions under which the U.S. state of Maryland has been governed. It was that state's basic law from its adoption in 1776 until the Maryland Constitution of 1851 took effect on July 4th of that year.-Background and drafting:The eighth...

had established. Thomas Johnson

Thomas Johnson (governor)

Thomas Johnson was an American jurist with a distinguished political career. He was the first Governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....

became the state's first elected governor.

Declaration of Independence

Maryland

declared independence from Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

in 1776, with Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase

, William Paca

William Paca

William Paca was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and later Governor of Maryland and a United States federal judge.-Early life:...

, Thomas Stone

Thomas Stone

, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

signing the Declaration of Independence for the colony.

In 1777, all Maryland voters were required to take the Oath of Fidelity and Support

Oath of Fidelity and Support

The Oath of Fidelity and Support was an oath swearing allegiance to the state of Maryland and denying allegiance and obedience to Great Britain. As enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in 1777, all persons holding any office of profit or trust, including attorneys at law, and all voters were...

. This was an oath swearing allegiance to the state of Maryland

Maryland

and denying allegiance and obedience to Great Britain

Great Britain

. As enacted by the Maryland General Assembly

Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...

in 1777, all persons holding any office of profit or trust, including attorneys at law, and all voters were required to take the oath no later than March 1, 1778. It was signed by 3136 residents of Montgomery

Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...

and Washington

Washington County, Maryland

Washington County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering southern Pennsylvania to the north, northern Virginia to the south, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to the south and west. As of the 2010 Census, its population is 147,430...

counties.

On March 1, 1781 the Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution...

took effect with Maryland's ratification. The articles had initially been submitted to the states on November 17, 1777, but the ratification process dragged on for several years, stalled by an interstate quarrel over claims to uncolonized land in the west. Maryland was the last hold-out; it refused to ratify until Virginia

Virginia

and New York agreed to rescind their claims to lands in what became the Northwest Territory

Northwest Territory

The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...

.

Maryland would later accept the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

more readily, ratifying it on April 28, 1788.

Revolutionary War

Although no major Battles of the American Revolutionary War

Battles of the American Revolutionary War

This is a list of military actions in the American Revolutionary War. Actions marked with an asterisk involved no casualties.-Major campaigns, theaters, and expeditions of the war:*Boston campaign *Invasion of Canada...

occurred in Maryland, this did not prevent the state's soldiers from distinguishing themselves through their service. General George Washington

George Washington

was impressed with the Maryland regulars (the "Maryland Line

Maryland Line

") who fought in the Continental Army

Continental Army

and, according to one tradition, this led him to bestow the name "Old Line State" on Maryland. Today, the Old Line State is one of Maryland's two official nicknames.

The state also filled other roles during the war. For instance, the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

met briefly in Baltimore from December 20, 1776 through March 4, 1777. Furthermore, a Marylander, John Hanson

John Hanson

John Hanson was a merchant and public official from Maryland during the era of the American Revolution. After serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause in Maryland, in 1779 Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress...

, served as President of the Continental Congress

President of the Continental Congress

The President of the Continental Congress was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates that emerged as the first national government of the United States during the American Revolution...

from 1781 to 1782. Hanson was the first person to serve a full term as President of the Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
From November 26, 1783 to June 3, 1784, Annapolis served as the United States capital and the Confederation Congress met in the Maryland State House

Maryland State House

. (Annapolis was a candidate to become the new nation's permanent capital before Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

was built). It was in the old senate chamber that George Washington

George Washington

famously resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. It was also there that the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1783)

, which ended the Revolutionary War, was ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784.

Loyalists and the war

During the war many Marylanders, such as Benedict Swingate Calvert

Benedict Swingate Calvert

Benedict Swingate Calvert was a Maryland Loyalist during the American Revolution. He was the son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, the third Proprietor Governor of Maryland , and may have been the grandson of King George I of Great Britain...

, illegitimate son of the ruling Calvert family and a Judge of the Land Office, remained Loyal

Loyalist (American Revolution)

to the British Crown, and suffered the consequences. Calvert found himself on the losing side of the Revolutionary War

American Revolution

, which would effectively end his political career. The Annapolis Convention of 1774 to 1776 would see the old Maryland elite overthrown - men like Calvert, Governor Eden and George Steuart were all to lose their political power, and in many cases their land and wealth.

On May 13, 1777 Benedict Swingate Calvert was forced to resign his position as Judge of the Land Office, and, as the conflict grew, he became fearful of his family's safety, writing in late 1777 that his family "has been made so uneasy by these frequent outrages" that he wished to "remove my family and property where I can get protection".

Calvert did not leave Maryland, nor did he involve himself in the fighting, though he did on occasion supply the Continental Army

Continental Army

with food and provisions. After the war, he had to pay triple taxes as did other Loyalists, but he was never forced to sign the loyalty oath

Oath of Fidelity and Support

and his lands and property remained unconfiscated.

African Americans and the war

The principal cause of the American Revolution

American Revolution

was liberty, but only on behalf of white men, and certainly not slaves. The British, desperately short of manpower, sought to enlist African American soldiers to fight on behalf of the Crown, promising them liberty in exchange. As a result of the looming crisis in 1775 the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British peer and colonial governor. He was the son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, and his wife Catherine . He is best remembered as the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia.John was the eldest son of William and Catherine Murray, and nephew...

, issued a proclamation that promised freedom to servants and slaves who were able to bear arms and join his Loyalist Ethiopian Regiment

Ethiopian Regiment

Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment or Ethiopian Regiment was the name given to a British colonial military unit organized during the American Revolution by John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, and last Royal Governor of Virginia. Composed of slaves who had escaped from Patriot masters, it was led by...

...I do require every Person capable of bearing Arms, to resort to His MAJESTY'S STANDARD, or be looked upon as Traitors to His MAJESTY'S Crown and Government, and thereby become liable to the Penalty the Law inflicts upon such Offenses; such as forfeiture of Life, confiscation of Lands, &. &. And I do hereby further declare all indented Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His MAJESTY'S Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to His MAJESTY'S Crown and Dignity.--- Lord Dunmore's Proclamation, November 7, 1775

About 800 men joined up; some helped rout the Virginia militia at the Battle of Kemp's Landing

Battle of Kemp's Landing

The Battle of Kemp's Landing, also known as the Skirmish of Kempsville, was a skirmish in the American Revolutionary War that occurred on November 15, 1775...

and fought in the Battle of Great Bridge

Battle of Great Bridge

The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The victory by Continental Army and militia forces led to the departure of Governor Lord Dunmore and any remaining vestiges of British power from the Colony of...

on the Elizabeth River

Elizabeth River (Virginia)

The Elizabeth River is a tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk...

, wearing the motto "Liberty to Slaves", but this time they were defeated. The remains of their regiment were then involved in the evacuation of Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, after which they served in the Chesapeake

Chesapeake, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile...

area. Unfortunately the camp that they had set up there suffered an outbreak of smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

and other diseases. This took a heavy toll, putting many of them out of action for some time. The survivors joined other British units and continued to serve throughout the war. Blacks were often the first to come forward to volunteer and a total of 12,000 blacks served with the British from 1775 to 1783. This factor had the effect of forcing the rebels to also offer freedom to those who would serve in the Continental army. Such promises were often reneged upon by both sides.

In general though, the war left the institution of slavery largely unaffected, and the prosperous life of Maryland planters continued.

After the war

In 1783, Henry Harford

Henry Harford

, the last proprietarial governor of Maryland and the illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore

Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore

Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, 4th Proprietor of Maryland was an English nobleman and last in the line of Barons Baltimore...

attempted to recover his estates in Maryland which had been confiscated during the American Revolution

American Revolution

, where he was a witness to George Washington’s

George Washington

resignation of command at Annapolis. He and Governor Eden were invited to stay at the home of Dr. Upton Scott and his nephew, Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".-Life:...

. However, he had no success in retrieving his land, despite the fact that Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

and Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase

argued in his favor. In 1786, the case was decided by the Maryland General Assembly

Maryland General Assembly

. Although it passed in the House, the Senate unanimously rejected it. In their reasoning for this rejection, the Senate cited Henry's absence during the war, and his father Frederick's alienation of his subjects, as major factors.

Returning to Britain, he claimed compensation through the English courts and was awarded £100,000.

Some trace of the Calvert family's proprietarial rule in Maryland still remains. Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....

, is named after the last Baron Baltimore

Baron Baltimore

, and the official flag of the State of Maryland, uniquely among the 50 states, bears witness to their family legacy.

External links

Frederick Calvert, 6th Lord Baltimore Retrieved Jan 26 2010
Bibliography of the Continental Army in Maryland compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

Religious strife

Economy

Proprietarial rule - The Lords Baltimore

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Samuel Chase

Loyalist opposition

Coming of Revolution

Annapolis Tea party

Assembly of Freemen

Declaration of Independence

Revolutionary War

Loyalists and the war

African Americans and the war

After the war

See also

External links