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75-565: Annapolis Convention may refer to: Annapolis Convention (1774–1776) , the Revolutionary War government of Maryland Annapolis Convention (1786) , which led to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787 See also [ edit ] Annapolis Conference , a Middle East peace conference which took place in 2007 Topics referred to by

150-681: A Haudenosaunee war party in 1666. By 1675, epidemics and years of war had taken their toll on the Susquehannock. They abandoned their village on the Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland. Governor Charles Calvert invited them to settle on the Potomac River above the Great Falls , however, the Susquehannock instead chose to occupy a site on Piscataway Creek where they erected a palisaded fort. In July 1675,

225-654: A colony in the New World to serve as a refuge for Catholics at the time of the European wars of religion . Palatines from the Holy Roman Empire also immigrated to Maryland, with many settling in Fredrick County , with Maryland Palatines ( Palatine German : Marylandisch Pälzer ) reaching a population of 50,000 by 1774. Provincial Maryland served as an early pioneer of religious toleration in

300-515: A decade, the free men of Maryland passed an act to the effect that "assemblies were to be called once in every three years at the least," ensuring that their voices would be regularly heard. Due to immigration, by 1660 the population of the Province had gradually become predominantly Protestant. Political power remained concentrated in the hands of the largely Catholic elite. Most councilors were Catholics and many were related by blood or marriage to

375-439: A fact which confirms the editor's belief that a piece has fallen out between the upper and lower portions as now joined. May 8 – May 25, June 21 – July 6, and August 14 – November 11 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

450-556: A group of Virginians chasing Doeg raiders crossed the Potomac into Maryland and mistakenly killed several Susquehannock. Subsequent raids in Virginia and Maryland were blamed on the tribe. In September 1675, a thousand-man expedition against the Susquehannock was mounted by militia from Virginia and Maryland led by John Washington and Thomas Truman. After arriving at the Susquehannock town, Truman and Washington summoned five sachems to

525-574: A haven for English Catholics in the New World. After having visited the Americas and founded a colony in the future Canadian province of Newfoundland called " Avalon ", he convinced the King to grant him a second territory in more southern, temperate climes. Upon Baltimore's death in 1632 the grant was transferred to his eldest son Cecil , the 2nd Baron Baltimore. On June 20, 1632, Charles granted

600-553: A haven for English Catholics and to demonstrate that Catholics and Protestants could live together peacefully, even issuing the Act Concerning Religion in matters of religion. The 1st Lord Baltimore was himself a convert to Catholicism , a considerable political setback for a nobleman in 17th-century England, where Catholics could easily be considered enemies of the crown and potential traitors to their country. Like other aristocratic proprietors, he also hoped to turn

675-898: A license in 1635, Claiborne fitted out an armed ship. There ensued a naval battle on April 23, 1635, by the mouth of the Pocomoke River during which three Virginians were killed. Following this battle, Leonard Calvert captured Kent Island by force in February 1638. In 1644, during the English Civil War , Claiborne led an uprising of Protestants in what came to be called the Plundering Time , also known as "Claiborne and Ingle's Rebellion", and retook Kent Island. Meanwhile, privateer Captain Richard Ingle (Claiborne's co-commander) seized control of St. Mary's City ,

750-408: A new convention be elected that would be responsible for drawing up their first state constitution, 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

825-484: A new government that outlawed Catholicism , and Darnall was deprived of all his official roles. Coode's government was, however, unpopular; and William III installed a Crown-appointed governor in 1692. This was Lionel Copley who governed Maryland until his death in 1694 and was replaced by Francis Nicholson. After this " Protestant Revolution " in Maryland, Darnall was forced, like many other Catholics, to maintain

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900-528: A parley, but then had them summarily executed. Sorties during the ensuing six-week siege resulted in 50 English deaths. In early November, the Susquehannock escaped the siege under cover of darkness, killing ten of the militia as they slept. Most of Susquehannock crossed the Potomac and took refuge in the Piedmont of Virginia. Two encampments were established on the Meherrin River near the village of

975-517: A profit on the new colony. The Calvert family recruited Catholic aristocrats and Protestant settlers for Maryland, luring them with generous land grants and a policy of religious toleration. To try to gain settlers, Maryland used what is known as the headright system , which originated in Jamestown . Settlers were given 50 acres (20 ha) of land for each person they brought into the colony, whether as settler, indentured servant , or slave . Of

1050-399: A reconciliation with Great Britain, on constitutional principles is effected (an event we most ardently wish may soon take place) the energy of government may be greatly impaired, so that even zeal unrestrained, may be productive of anarchy and confusion; We do in like manner unite, associate, and solemnly engage in maintenance of good order, and the public peace, to support the civil power in

1125-467: A royal charter to establish a colony south of Virginia. He also wanted a share of the fortunes being made in tobacco in Virginia, and hoped to recoup some of the financial losses he had sustained in his earlier colonial venture in Newfoundland. In 1631, William Claiborne , a Puritan from Virginia, received a royal trading commission granting him the right to trade with the natives in all lands in

1200-545: A secret chapel in his home in order to celebrate the Catholic Mass . In 1704, an Act was passed "to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province", preventing Catholics from holding political office. Full religious toleration would not be restored in Maryland until the American Revolution , when Darnall's great-grandson Charles Carroll of Carrollton , arguably the wealthiest Catholic in Maryland, signed

1275-518: A substantial majority in the colony, revolted against the proprietary government , in part because of the apparent preferment of Catholics like Colonel Henry Darnall to official positions of power. Led by Colonel John Coode , an army of 700 Puritans defeated a proprietarial army led by Colonel Darnall. Darnall later wrote: "Wee being in this condition and no hope left of quieting the people thus enraged, to prevent effusion of blood, capitulated and surrendered." The victorious Coode and his Puritans set up

1350-628: A time. When dissidents pressed for an established church, Caecilius Calvert's noted that Maryland settlers were " Presbyterians , Independents , Anabaptists , and Quakers , those of the Church of England as well as the Romish being the fewest ... it would be a most difficult task to draw such persons to consent unto a Law which shall compel them to maintaine ministers of a contrary perswasion to themselves." In 1650, Maryland had 10 churches with regular services which included all 5 Catholic churches in

1425-455: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Annapolis Convention (1774%E2%80%931776) The Annapolis Convention was an Assembly of the Counties of Maryland that functioned as the colony's provincial government from 1774 to 1776 during the early days leading up to the American Revolution . After 1775, it was officially named

1500-573: The American Declaration of Independence . Early settlements and population centers tended to cluster around the rivers and other waterways that empty into Chesapeake Bay . In the 17th century, most Marylanders lived in rough conditions on small farms. While they raised a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and livestock, the main cash crop was tobacco , which soon dominated the province's economy. The Province of Maryland developed along lines very similar to those of Virginia. Tobacco

1575-734: The American Revolution against Great Britain . In 1781, Maryland was the 13th signatory to the Articles of Confederation . The province's first settlement and capital was in St. Mary's City , located at the southern end of St. Mary's County , a peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay bordered by four tidal rivers. The province began in 1632 as the Maryland Palatinate , a proprietary palatinate granted to Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , whose father, George, had long sought to found

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1650-580: The Assembly on April 19, 1774. This was the last session of the colonial assembly ever held in Maryland. But, the assembly members agreed to meet in June at Annapolis after they went home to determine the wishes of the citizens in the counties they represented. Over the next two and a half years, the Convention met nine times and operated as the state or colony level of government for Maryland. Throughout

1725-436: The Assembly of Freemen . In 1774, the committees of correspondence that had sprung up throughout the colonies were being drawn to the support of Boston, as they reacted to the closing of the port and increase of the occupying military force. Massachusetts had asked for a general meeting or Continental Congress to consider joint action. To forestall any such action, the royal governor of Maryland, Robert Eden prorogued

1800-627: 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. Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America from 1634 until 1776, when the province was one of the Thirteen Colonies that joined in supporting

1875-788: The Maryland Toleration Act , also known as the Act Concerning Religion, a law mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. Passed on September 21, 1649, by the assembly of the Maryland Colony, it was the first law requiring religious tolerance in the English North American colonies. In 1654, after the Third English Civil War (1649–1651), Parliamentary ( Puritan ) forces assumed control of Maryland for

1950-649: The Province of Maryland , firmly persuaded that it is necessary and justifiable to repel force by force, do approve of the opposition by Arms to the British troops, employed to enforce obedience to the late acts and statutes of the British parliament, for raising a revenue in America, and altering and changing the charter and constitution of the Massachusetts Bay, and for destroying the essential securities for

2025-451: The bay aforesaid near the river Wighco on the West, unto the main ocean on the east; and between that boundary on the south, unto that part of the bay of Delaware on the north, which lyeth under the 40th degree of north latitude from the aequinoctial, where New England is terminated." The boundary line would then continue westward along the fortieth parallel "unto the true meridian of

2100-649: The 1655 Battle of the Severn , at the settlement of "Providence" (present-day Annapolis, Maryland ). Moderate Protestants and Catholics loyal to Lord Baltimore, under the command of William Stone , met Puritans loyal to the Commonwealth of England from Providence under the command of Captain William Fuller. 17 of Stone's men and two Puritans were killed, resulting in victory for the Puritans. The issue of

2175-587: The 200 or so initial settlers who traveled to Maryland on the ships Ark and Dove, the majority were Protestant. On November 22, 1633, Lord Baltimore sent the first settlers to the new colony, and after a long voyage with a stopover to resupply in Barbados , the Ark and the Dove landed on March 25, 1634 (thereafter celebrated as " Maryland Day "), at Blackistone Island , thereafter known as St. Clement's Island , off

2250-1362: The Associators, preserved under glass at Annapolis, consists of two pieces, apparently torn apart, and pasted down on card-board. On our p. 67 the order of names and arrangement of columns have been preserved, though not the spacing; and the division of the pieces falls just below the names of Joseph Sim, Thomas Dorsey, and Charles Ridgely . On comparing these signatures with the Journal, 29 names will be found to be missing, viz: Philip Richard Fendall I (1734–1805) of Charles Co.; Alexander Somerville of Calvert; George Lee and D Richard Brooke of Prince George's; Thomas Tillard and John Dorsey of Anne Arundel; Walter Tolly, James Gittings, and Charles Ridgely of John, of Baltimore; Charles Beatty, Baker Johnson, Jacob Funk, Samuel Beall, and Wm. Deakins Jr., of Frederick; Samuel Durham, Saml. Ashmead, John Beall Howard, Francis Holland, Benjamin Rumsey, and James M Comas, of Harford; Joseph Gilpin and William Rumsey, of Cecil; Richard Lloyd of Kent; John Wallace and John Brown, of Queen Anne's; Robert Harrison of Dorchester; Benson Stainton of Caroline; Josiah Polk of Somerset; Peter Chaille of Worcester. Now when we note that amongst these 29 were some of

2325-515: The Calverts, enjoying political patronage and often lucrative offices such as commands in the militia or sinecures in the Land Office. Although Maryland was an early pioneer of religious toleration in the British colonies, religious strife among Anglicans , Puritans , Catholics , and Quakers was common in the early years, and Puritan rebels briefly seized control of the province. In 1644

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2400-739: The English colonies. However, religious strife among Anglicans , Puritans , Catholics, and Quakers was common in the early years and Puritan rebels briefly seized control of the province. Later, in 1689, the year following the Glorious Revolution in Great Britain, John Coode led a rebellion that removed Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, from power in Maryland. That power was restored to the Baltimore family in 1715 after Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore , declared in public that he

2475-586: The FREEMEN of MARYLAND July 26, 1775. The long premeditated, and now avowed design of the British Government, to raise a revenue from the property of the colonists without their consent, on the gift, grant and disposition of the Commons of Great Britain; the arbitrary and vindictive statutes passed under color of punishing a riot, to subdue by Military force, and by famine, the Massachusetts Bay;

2550-401: The King for the payment of "two Indian arrowheads annually and one fifth of all gold and silver found in the colony." Maryland's foundation charter was drafted in feudal terms and based on the practices of the ancient County Palatine of Durham , which existed until 1646. He was given the rights and privileges of a Palatine lord , and the extensive authority that went with it. The Proprietor had

2625-647: The King had practical reasons to create a colony north of the Potomac in 1632. The colony of New Netherland begun by England's great imperial rival in this era, the United Provinces , specifically claimed the Delaware River valley and was vague about its border with Virginia. Charles rejected all the Dutch claims on the Atlantic seaboard, but was anxious to bolster English claims by formally occupying

2700-476: The Maryland colony, approximately forty tribes consisting of 8,000 – 10,000 people lived in the area. They were fearful of the colonists' guns, but welcomed trade for metal tools. The Native Americans who were living in the location where the colonists first settled were called the Yaocomico Indians. The colonists gave the Yaocomico Indians cloth, hatchets, and hoes in exchange for the right to settle on

2775-630: The North Branch of the Potomac or took refuge with the Lenape. Some refugees returned to the Susquehanna River in 1676 and established a palisaded village near the site of their previous village. This village was also abandoned when the inhabitants merged with the Haudenosaunee a few years later. In 1629, George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore , "driven by 'the sacred duty of finding a refuge for his Catholic brethren'", applied to Charles I for

2850-648: The Penn family, owners of Pennsylvania, a tract that overlapped the Calvert family's Maryland grant. For 80 years the powerful Penn and Calvert families had feuded over overlapping Royal grants . Surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon mapped the Maryland-Pennsylvania border in 1767, setting out the Mason–Dixon line . In 1672, Lord Baltimore declared that Maryland included the settlement of Whorekills on

2925-604: The Potomac River as a boundary line, and shaped the boundary on the Eastern Shore (separating Accomack County, Virginia , from Worcester and Somerset counties in Maryland)." The border dispute with Pennsylvania continued and led to Cresap's War , a conflict between settlers from Pennsylvania and Maryland fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a series of violent incidents prompted by disputes over property rights and law enforcement, and escalated through

3000-702: The Siouan-speaking Occaneechi . In January 1676, the Susquehannock raided plantations in Virginia, killing 36 colonists. Nathaniel Bacon , unhappy with Governor Sir William Berkeley 's response to the raids, organized a volunteer militia to hunt down the Susquehannock. Bacon persuaded the Occaneechi to attack the closest Susquehannock encampment. After the Occaneechi returned with Susquehannock prisoners, Bacon turned on his allies and indiscriminately massacred Occaneechi men, women and children. Other Susquehannock refugees fled to hunting camps on

3075-471: The Susquehannock into an alliance. The Maryland assembly authorized armed assistance, and described the Susquehannock as "a Bullwarke and Security of the Northern Parts of this Province." A detachment of 50 soldiers was sent to help defend the Susquehannock town against Haudenosaunee attacks. Despite suffering a smallpox epidemic in 1661, the Susquehannock easily withstood a siege in 1663, and destroyed

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3150-599: The capital of the Maryland colony. Catholic Governor Calvert escaped to the Virginia Colony which remained nominally loyal to the crown until 1652. The Protestant pirates began plundering the property of anyone who did not swear allegiance to the Parliament of England , mainly Catholics. The rebellion was put down in 1647 by Governor Calvert. The victory of Parliament in England renewed old tensions. This led to

3225-438: The charter was formally signed by King Charles I. The Royal Grant and Charter for the new colony of Maryland was then granted to his son, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , on June 20, 1632. This placed Claiborne on Calvert land. Claiborne refused to recognize Lord Baltimore's charter and rights, or the authority of his brother Leonard as governor. Following the arrest of one of his agents for trading in Maryland waters without

3300-711: The colonies at the time, 4 Anglican churches, and 1 Congregational church. Following the First Great Awakening (1730–1755), the number of regular places of worship in Maryland grew to 94 in 1750 (50 Anglican, 18 Presbyterian , 15 Catholic, 4 Baptist , 4 Dutch Reformed , and 3 Lutheran ), with the colony gaining an additional 110 regular places of worship to a total of 204 by 1776 (51 Episcopal, 30 Catholic, 29 Presbyterian, 26 Friends , 21 Methodism , 16 German Reformed , 16 Lutheran, 5 Baptist, 5 German Baptist Brethren , 2 Dutch Reformed , 2 Moravian , and 1 Mennonite ). In 1689, Maryland Puritans , by now

3375-679: The colonies, and the Maryland General Assembly fulfilled much the same function as the House of Commons of England . An act was passed providing that: In addition, the Lord Proprietor could summon any delegates whom he was pleased to select. In some ways the General Assembly was an improvement upon the institutions of the mother country. In 1639, noting that Parliament had not been summoned in England for

3450-483: The colony/province remained under the control of the several Lords Baltimore until 1775–1776, when it joined with other colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and eventually became the independent and sovereign U.S. State of Maryland . The establishment of the Province of Maryland disrupted the trade relationship between Virginia colonists and the Susquehannock , an Iroquoian-speaking tribe that lived in

3525-553: The cultivation of tobacco for sale in Europe. However, after tobacco prices collapsed, the need for cheap labor to accommodate the mixed farming economy that followed led to a rapid expansion of the Atlantic slave trade and the concomitant American enslavement of Africans —as well as the expansion of indentured servitude and British penal transportation . Maryland received a larger felon quota than any other province. Maryland

3600-510: The dispute with William Claiborne led to armed conflict. Claiborne seized Kent Island while his associate, the pro-Parliament Puritan Richard Ingle, took over St. Mary's. Both used religion as a tool to gain popular support. From 1644 to 1646, the so-called " Plundering Time " was a period of civil unrest aggravated by the tensions of the English Civil War (1641–1651). Leonard Calvert returned from exile with troops, recaptured St. Mary's City, and eventually restored order. In 1649 Maryland passed

3675-454: The due execution of the laws, so far as may be consistent with the present plan of opposition; and to defend with our utmost power all persons from every species of outrage to themselves or their property, and to prevent any punishment, from being inflicted on any offenders, other than such, as shall be adjudged by the civil magistrate, continental congress, our convention, council of safety, or committees of observation. The original engagement of

3750-414: The first capital of Maryland. It remained so for sixty years until 1695 when the colony's capital was moved north to the more central, newly established "Anne Arundel's Town (also briefly known as "Providence") and later renamed as " Annapolis ". More settlers soon followed. The tobacco crops that they had planted from the outset were very successful and quickly made the new colony profitable. However, given

3825-504: The first fountain of the river Pattowmack ". From there, the boundary continued south to the southern bank of the Potomac River, continue along the southern river bank to the Chesapeake Bay, and "thence by the shortest line unto the aforesaid promontory, or place, called Watkin's Point." Based on this deceptively imprecise description of the boundary, the land may have comprised up to 18,750 square miles (48,600 km ), 50% larger than today's State. In Maryland, Baltimore sought to create

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3900-429: The first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A provisional agreement had been established in 1732. Maryland lost some of its original territory to Pennsylvania in the 1660s when King Charles II granted

3975-455: The incidence of malaria and typhoid, life expectancy in Maryland was about 10 years less than in New England. "Historic St. Mary's City" (a historic preservationist/tourism agency) has been established to protect what is left of the ruins of the original 17th-century village, and several reconstructed, government buildings, little of which remained intact. With the exception of several periods of rebellion by early Protestants and later colonists,

4050-441: The land. The Yaocomico Indians allowed the English settlers to live in their houses, a type of longhouse called a witchott. The Indians also taught the colonists how to plant corn, beans, and squash, as well as where to find food such as clams and oysters. Here at St. Clement's Island they raised a large cross, and led by Jesuit Father Andrew White celebrated Mass. The new settlement was called " St. Mary's City " and it became

4125-435: The lives, liberties and properties of the subjects in the united colonies. And we do unite and associate, as one band, and firmly and solemnly engage and pledge ourselves to each other, and to America, that we will to the utmost of our power, promote and support the present opposition, carrying on, as well by Arms, as by the continental association, restraining our commerce. And as in these times of public danger, and until

4200-501: The lower Susquehanna River valley. Following a raid on a Jesuit mission in 1641, the Governor of Maryland declared the Susquehannock "enemies of the province." A few attempts were made to organize a military campaign, however, it was not until 1643 that an ill-fated expedition was mounted. The Susquehannock inflicted numerous casualties on the English and captured two cannon. 15 prisoners were taken and afterwards tortured to death. Raids on Maryland continued intermittently until 1652. In

4275-422: The mid-Atlantic where there was not already a patent in effect. Claiborne established a trading post on Kent Island on May 28, 1631. Meanwhile, back in London, the Privy Council persuaded Lord Baltimore to accept instead a charter for lands north of the Virginia colony, in order to put pressure on the Dutch settlements further north along the Delaware and Hudson Rivers . Calvert agreed, but died in 1632 before

4350-428: The most active and assiduous members of the Convention, and that 21 of them had, as the Journal shows, no leave of absence, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that a portion of the document has been lost. It will be observed that the arrangement is generally by counties, and the break in the paper comes between Prince George's and Queen Anne's, between Ann Arundel and Dorchester, and between Baltimore and Worcester;

4425-400: The northern shore of the Potomac River , upstream from its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay and Point Lookout . The new settlers were led by Lord Baltimore's younger brother the Honorable Leonard Calvert , whom Baltimore had delegated to serve as governor of the new colony. The Native Americans in Maryland were a peaceful people who welcomed the English. At the time of the founding of

4500-520: The ongoing Claiborne grievance was finally settled by an agreement reached in 1657. Lord Baltimore gave Claiborne amnesty for all of his offenses, Virginia laid aside any claim it had to Maryland territory, and Claiborne was indemnified with extensive land grants in Virginia for his loss of Kent Island. "Multiple colonial charters, two negotiated settlements by the states in 1785 and 1958, an arbitrated agreement in 1877, and several Supreme Court decisions have defined how Maryland and Virginia would deal with

4575-422: The original charter for Maryland , a proprietary colony of about twelve million acres (49,000 km ), to the 2nd Baron Baltimore. Some historians view this grant as a form of compensation for the 2nd Lord Baltimore's father's having been stripped of his title of Secretary of State upon announcing his Catholicism in 1625. Whatever the reason for granting the colony specifically to Lord Baltimore, however,

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4650-500: The period, they maintained some standing committees that continued their function between sessions. The first convention lasted four days, from June 22 to June 25, 1774. All sixteen counties were represented by a total of 92 members. They elected Matthew Tilghman as their chair. Within that short time, they agreed: Other sessions were held on November 21 – November 25, and December 8 – December 12. July 26 – August 14 and December 7, 1775 – January 28, 1776 (No 13.) ASSOCIATION of

4725-405: The right and power to establish courts and appoint judges and magistrates, to enforce all laws, to grant titles, to erect towns, to pardon all offenses, to found churches, to call out the fighting population and wage war, to impose martial law, to convey or lease the land, and to levy duties and tolls. However, as elsewhere in English North America, English political institutions were re-created in

4800-437: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Annapolis Convention . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Annapolis_Convention&oldid=1129674602 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

4875-404: The territory. The new colony was named after the devoutly Catholic Queen Henrietta Maria , by an agreement between the 1st Lord Baltimore and King Charles I. Colonial Maryland was considerably larger than the present-day State of Maryland . The original charter granted the Calverts a province with a boundary line that started "from the promontory or headland, called Watkin's Point, situate upon

4950-404: The united colonies, and preserving them in safety, against all attempts to carry the above-mentioned acts into execution by force of arms. Resolved , that the said colonies be immediately put into a state of defence, and now supports, at the joint expense, an army to restrain the further violence, and repel the future attacks of a disappointed and exasperated enemy. We therefore inhabitants of

5025-422: The unlimited power assumed by parliament to alter the charter of that province, and the constitution of all the colonies, thereby destroying the essential securities of the lives, liberties and properties of the colonists; the commencement of hostilities by the ministerial forces, and the cruel prosecution of the War against the people of the Massachusetts Bay, followed by General Gage's proclamation, declaring almost

5100-402: The west shore of the Delaware Bay, an area under the jurisdiction of the Province of New York (as the British had renamed New Netherland after taking possession in 1664). A force was dispatched which attacked and captured this settlement. New York could not immediately respond because New York was soon recaptured by the Dutch. This settlement was restored to the Province of New York when New York

5175-432: The whole of the Inhabitants of the united colonies, by name or description, rebels and traitors are sufficient causes to arm a free people in defence of their liberty, and to justify resistance, no longer dictated by prudence merely, but by necessity, and leave no alternative but base submission or manly opposition to uncontrollable tyranny. The Congress chose the latter, and for the express purpose of securing and defending

5250-414: 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 , 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. Lord Baltimore held all the land directly from

5325-440: The winter of 1652, the Susquehannock were attacked by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and although the attack was repulsed, it led to the Susquehannock negotiating the Articles of Peace and Friendship with Maryland. The Susquehannock relinquished their claim to territory on either side of Chesapeake Bay, and reestablished a trading relationship with the English. A Haudenosaunee raid in 1660 led Maryland to expand its treaty with

5400-553: Was a Protestant . Despite early competition with the colony of Virginia to its south, and the Holland Dutch colony of New Netherland to its north, the province of Maryland developed along similar lines to Virginia. Its early settlements and population centers tended to cluster around the rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay, and, like Virginia, Maryland's economy quickly became centered on

5475-720: Was an active participant in the events leading up to the American Revolution , echoing events in New England by establishing committees of correspondence and hosting its own tea party similar to the one that took place in Boston . By 1776 the old order had been overthrown as Maryland's colonial representatives signed the Declaration of Independence , presaging the end of British colonial rule. The Catholic George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), former Secretary of State to King Charles I of England , wished to create

5550-465: Was recaptured from the Dutch in November, 1674. 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 , then aged just 13. The colony, perhaps grateful to be rid of Frederick at last, recognized Harford as Calvert's heir. However,

5625-467: Was used as money, and the colonial legislature was obliged to pass a law requiring tobacco planters to raise a certain amount of corn as well, in order to ensure that the colonists would not go hungry. Like Virginia, Maryland's economy quickly became centered around the farming of tobacco 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

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