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99-908: Baltimore riots can refer to several incidents of civil unrest in Baltimore, Maryland's history. It generally refers to the Baltimore Riot of 1861 (also known as the "Pratt Street Riots"), where a mob of Confederate Southern sympathizers attacked newly raised Union state militia troops transiting through the town on April 18–19, 1861 in some of the first bloodshed of the American Civil War. It may also refer to: Baltimore Riot of 1861 Maryland pro-Confederate/Southern sympathizers ultimately suppressed [REDACTED] United States ( Union ) [REDACTED] Pro-Southern/Confederate Maryland sympathizers Maryland Copperhead Democrats The Baltimore riot of 1861 (also called
198-592: A Norman lieu-dit La Guerre . This toponymic likely derived from Latin ager , the Breton gwern or from the Late Latin varectum ( fallow ). The toponyms Gara, Gare, Gaire, (the sound [ä] often mutated in [æ] ) also appear in historical texts cited by Lucien Musset , where the word ga(i)ra means gore . It could also be linked with a patronymic from the Old Norse verr . Before Delaware
297-496: A Declaration of Independence. Only the dramatic overnight ride of Caesar Rodney gave the delegation the votes needed to cast Delaware's vote for independence. Initially led by John Haslet , Delaware provided one of the premier regiments in the Continental Army , known as the "Delaware Blues" and nicknamed the " Blue Hen's Chicks ". In August 1777 General Sir William Howe led a British army through Delaware on his way to
396-536: A black servant traveling with the regiment, was hit on the head. But that night the Pennsylvania troops, later known as the " First Defenders ", camped at the U.S. Capitol under the incomplete dome , which was then under construction. On April 17, the 6th Massachusetts Militia departed from Boston , Mass., arriving in New York City the following morning and Philadelphia by nightfall. On April 19,
495-579: A result, the legislative session was canceled. A new legislature was elected in November 1861. Delaware Delaware ( / ˈ d ɛ l ə w ɛər / DEL -ə-wair ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states region of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and
594-529: A rivalry with the Du Ponts until the passage of the 17th Amendment . The allegiance of industries with the Republican party allowed them to gain control of the state's governorship throughout most of the 20th century. The GOP ensured black people could vote because of their general support for Republicans and thus undid restrictions on Black suffrage. Delaware benefited greatly from World War I because of
693-605: A slave society and cultivated tobacco as a cash crop, although English immigrants continued to arrive. Like the other middle colonies, the Lower Counties on the Delaware initially showed little enthusiasm for a break with Britain . The citizenry had a good relationship with the Proprietary government, and generally were allowed more independence of action in their Colonial Assembly than in other colonies. Merchants at
792-528: A total area of 2,489 square miles (6,450 km ), making it the second-smallest state by either metric in the United States after Rhode Island . Delaware is bounded to the north by Pennsylvania ; to the east by the Delaware River , Delaware Bay , New Jersey , and the Atlantic Ocean; and to the west and south by Maryland . Small portions of Delaware are also situated on the eastern side of
891-628: A victory at the Battle of Brandywine and capture of the city of Philadelphia. The only real engagement on Delaware soil was the Battle of Cooch's Bridge , fought on September 3, 1777, at Cooch's Bridge in New Castle County, although there was a minor Loyalist rebellion in 1778. Following the Battle of Brandywine, Wilmington was occupied by the British, and State President John McKinly
990-619: Is in New Castle County, in the town of Townsend . According to HUD 's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report , there were an estimated 2,369 homeless people in Delaware. According to the 2010 United States census, the racial composition of the state was 68.9% White American (65.3% Non-Hispanic White , 3.6% White Hispanic ), 21.4% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native , 3.2% Asian American, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander , 3.4% some other race, and 2.7% of multiracial origin . People of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race, made up 8.2% of
1089-619: Is more urbanized and is considered part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan statistical area that surrounds Philadelphia . Delaware is considered part of the Southern United States by the U.S. Census Bureau , but the state's geography, culture, and history are a hybrid of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the country. Before the Delaware coastline was explored and developed by Europeans in
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#17327912437351188-514: Is only because such a contingency in political affairs as the present has never before arisen." Just before daybreak on June 27, soldiers marched from Fort McHenry on orders from Major General Nathaniel P. Banks , who had succeeded Cadwalader as commander of the Department of Annapolis, and arrested Marshal George P. Kane . Banks appointed Col. John Reese Kenly of the 1st Regiment Maryland Volunteer Infantry as provost marshal to superintend
1287-453: Is significant variation in mean temperature and amount of snowfall between Sussex County and New Castle County. Moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay , the southern portion of the state has a milder climate and a longer growing season than the northern portion of the state. Summers are long, hot, and humid in Delaware, often with intense (but brief) late day thundershowers. Delaware averages 2,300 hrs of sunshine annually (higher than
1386-550: The "Pratt Street Riots" and the "Pratt Street Massacre" ) was a civil conflict on Friday, April 19, 1861, on Pratt Street , Baltimore , Maryland. It occurred between antiwar "Copperhead" Democrats (the largest party in Maryland ) and other Confederate sympathizers on one side, and on the other, members of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania state militia regiments en route to the national capital at Washington who had been called up for federal service . The fighting began at
1485-419: The 7th New York Infantry Regiment , proceeded to Annapolis Junction (halfway between Baltimore and Washington), and the 7th New York went on to Washington, where, on the afternoon of April 25, they became the first troops to reach the capital by this route. There were calls for Maryland to declare secession in the wake of the riot. Governor Hicks called a special session of the state legislature to consider
1584-526: The A.U.M.P. Church . In 1814, Spencer called for the first annual gathering, known as the Big August Quarterly , which continues to draw members of this denomination and their descendants together in a religious and cultural festival. Delaware voted against secession on January 3, 1861, and so remained in the Union. While most Delaware citizens who fought in the war served in the regiments of
1683-628: The Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state's name derives from the adjacent Delaware Bay , which in turn was named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr , an English nobleman and the Colony of Virginia 's first colonial-era governor. Delaware occupies the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula , and some islands and territory within the Delaware River . It is the second-smallest and sixth-least populous state, but also
1782-508: The Brown ruling was that Delaware became fully integrated, albeit with time and much effort. In October 1954, the city of Milford became the scene of one of the country's first pro-segregation boycotts after eleven Black students were enrolled in the previously all-white Milford High School . Mass protests continued in Milford; the school board eventually ceded to the protestors, expelling
1881-832: The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal embody a Southern culture , while densely-populated Northern Delaware above the canal—particularly Wilmington, a part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area —has more in common with that of the Northeast and the North . The U.S. Census Bureau designates Delaware as one of the South Atlantic States , but it is commonly associated with the Mid-Atlantic States or northeastern United States by other federal agencies,
1980-687: The President Street Station , spreading throughout President Street and subsequently to Howard Street, where it ended at the Camden Street Station . The riot produced the first deaths of Union volunteers by hostile action, although caused by civilians, in the American Civil War . Civilians among the attackers also were killed. In 1861, many Baltimoreans did not support a violent conflict with their southern neighbors and some of them strongly sympathized with
2079-486: The Southern cause. Historian David J. Eicher described Baltimore in 1861 as "the largely pro-Southern city of Baltimore". In the previous year's presidential election, Abraham Lincoln had received only 1,100 of more than 30,000 votes cast in the city. Lincoln's opponents were infuriated (and supporters disappointed) when the president-elect , fearing an infamous rumored assassination plot , traveled secretly through
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#17327912437352178-610: The Twelve-Mile Circle . The border follows the Circle for a short distance and then continues in a straight line due north until reaching the southern border of Pennsylvania. The Wedge of land between the northwest part of the arc and the Maryland border was claimed by both Delaware and Pennsylvania until 1921, when Delaware's claim was confirmed. Delaware is on a level plain, with the lowest mean elevation of any state in
2277-602: The Washington Monument and traveled to the station to confront the combined units of troops, which unbeknownst to them were unarmed and had their weapons unloaded. Kane's newly organized city police force generally succeeded in ensuring the Pennsylvania militia troops' safe passage marching south on Howard Street to Camden Street Station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad . Nevertheless, stones and bricks were hurled (along with many insults) and Nicholas Biddle,
2376-661: The Wecker which continued throughout the war to be a supporter of the Union cause. The editor moved to another paper in Illinois . As a result of the riot in Baltimore and pro-Southern sympathies of some of the city's populace, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company also declined the same day a Federal government request to transport Union forces to relieve the beleaguered Union naval yard facility at Portsmouth, Virginia . In Brown's later assessment, it
2475-485: The YMCA , Union soldiers were "neither birds to fly over Maryland, nor moles to burrow under it". On the evening of April 20 Hicks also authorized Brown to dispatch the Maryland state militia for the purpose of disabling the railroad bridges into the city—an act he would later deny. One of the militia leaders was John Merryman , who was arrested one month later, and held in defiance of a writ of habeas corpus , which led to
2574-424: The clean-up of property "lightly contaminated" by hazardous waste , the proceeds for which come from a tax on wholesale petroleum sales. Wilmington is the state's most populous city (70,635) and its economic hub. It is located within commuting distance of both Philadelphia and Baltimore. Dover is the state capital and the second most populous city (38,079). The table below lists the ten largest municipalities in
2673-591: The cupola of the courthouse in the city of New Castle . This boundary is often referred to as the Twelve-Mile Circle . Although the Twelve-Mile Circle is often claimed to be the only territorial boundary in the U.S. that is a true arc , the Mexican boundary with Texas includes several arcs, and many cities in the South (such as Plains, Georgia ) also have circular boundaries. This border extends all
2772-495: The sixth-most densely populated . Delaware's most populous city is Wilmington , and the state's capital is Dover , the second-most populous city in Delaware . The state is divided into three counties , the fewest number of counties of any of the 50 U.S. states; from north to south, the three counties are: New Castle County , Kent County , and Sussex County . The southern two counties, Kent and Sussex counties, historically have been predominantly agrarian economies. New Castle
2871-481: The windmill palm , needle palm , and dwarf palmetto . Delaware's all-time record high of 110 °F (43 °C) was recorded at Millsboro on July 21, 1930. The all-time record low of −17 °F (−27 °C) was also recorded at Millsboro, on January 17, 1893. The hardiness zones are 7B and 8A at the Delaware Beaches . The transitional climate of Delaware supports a wide variety of vegetation. In
2970-653: The 16th century, the state was inhabited by several Native American tribes, including the Lenape in the north and Nanticoke in the south. The state was first colonized by Dutch traders at Zwaanendael , near present-day Lewes, Delaware , in 1631. Delaware was one of the Thirteen Colonies that participated in the American Revolution against Great Britain , which established the United States as an independent nation. On December 7, 1787, Delaware
3069-585: The 1910s and 1920s. This included primary and secondary schools for Black people and women. Delaware suffered less during the Great Depression than other states, but the depression spurred further migration from the rural south to urban areas. Like in World War I, the state enjoyed a big stimulus to its gunpowder and shipyard industries in World War II. New job opportunities during and after
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3168-617: The 1940s and 1950s, Delaware attempted to integrate its schools, although the last segregated school in the state did not close until 1970. The University of Delaware admitted its first black student in 1948, and local courts ruled that primary schools had to be integrated. Delaware's integration efforts partially inspired the US Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education , which found racial segregation in United States public schools to be unconstitutional. The result of
3267-462: The Baltimore police; Kenly enrolled, organized, and armed 250 Unionists for a new police. When the old Board of Police would not recognize the new police, and tried to continue the old police, they were arrested and sent to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. On July 10, George R. Dodge, a civilian, was appointed as marshal of police. Major General John Adams Dix succeeded Banks in command of
3366-495: The Black students. The ensuing unrest, which included cross burnings , rallies, and pro-segregation demonstrations, contributed to desegregation in most of Southern Delaware being delayed for another ten years. Sussex County did not start closing or integrating its segregated schools until 1965, 11 years after the Brown ruling. Throughout the state, integration only encouraged more white flight, and poor economic conditions for
3465-586: The Confederate general and commander at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi , whose surrender in July 1863 resulted in the first split of the Confederacy ) returning from duty on the western frontier. They split off from Howard Street in downtown Baltimore and marched east along the waterfront to Fort McHenry and reported for duty there. Seven hundred "National Volunteers" of Southern sympathizers rallied at
3564-634: The Delaware River sharing land boundaries with New Jersey. The state of Delaware, together with the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and two counties of Virginia , form the Delmarva Peninsula , which stretches down the Mid-Atlantic Coast. The definition of the northern boundary of the state is unusual. Most of the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania was originally defined by an arc extending 12 miles (19.3 km) from
3663-441: The Department of Annapolis, and Colonel Abram Duryée 's 5th New York Volunteer Infantry , "Duryée's Zouaves," constructed Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore . To better secure the city, a ring of additional fortifications were built in and around the city, most notably Fort Worthington to the northeast (around present-day Berea ), and Fort Marshall (in present-day Highlandtown / Canton ). Some Southerners reacted with passion to
3762-621: The English colonists had arrived as indentured servants (contracted for a fixed period to pay for their passage), and in the early years the line between servant and slave was fluid. Most of the free African-American families in Delaware before the Revolution had migrated from Maryland to find more affordable land. They were descendants chiefly of relationships or marriages between white servant women and enslaved, servant or free African or African-American men. Under slavery law, children took
3861-475: The Lower Counties. The fact that Delaware and Pennsylvania shared the same governor was not unique; from 1703 to 1738, New York and New Jersey shared a governor. Massachusetts and New Hampshire also shared a governor for some time. Dependent in early years on indentured labor, Delaware imported more slaves as the number of English immigrants decreased with better economic conditions in England. The colony became
3960-573: The Mayor of Annapolis protested, but Butler (a clever politician) bullied them into allowing troops to land at Annapolis, saying, "'I must land, for my troops are hungry.'—'No one in Annapolis will sell them anything,' replied these authorities of the State and city." Butler intimated that armed men were not always limited to the necessity of purchasing food when famished. The 8th Massachusetts, with
4059-630: The U.S. In fact, prior to Lincoln's demand for 75,000 soldiers with which to invade the South, Virginia , North Carolina , and Arkansas had elected secession delegations which had voted to remain in the Union and Tennessee had held a referendum of the people to determine whether or not to elect a secession delegation, and had voted by about 2/3 majority to not even consider the matter. The other slave states of Delaware and Maryland , as well as Missouri and Kentucky (later known as " border states ") were in flux. When Fort Sumter fell on April 13, President Lincoln sent telegraphs followed by letters to
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4158-625: The USA average). Winters are modestly cool to cold in northern Delaware, and cool to mild in southern Delaware. The normal seasonal snowfall ranges from about 20.0 inches in Wilmington to only 10.0 inches in Lewes. In many winters no snow will fall in coastal Delaware. Northern Delaware falls into USDA Garden Zone 7a, while southern and coastal areas fall into USDA zone 7b and 8a. The milder climate in southern Delaware allows for subtropical flora such as
4257-427: The Union. As the war began, the city's divided loyalties created tension. Supporters of secession and slavery organized themselves into a force called "National Volunteers" while Unionists and abolitionists called themselves " Minute Men ". The conflict at Fort Sumter had occurred on April 12–13, one week before the riot. At the time, Virginia , North Carolina , Tennessee , and Arkansas had not yet seceded from
4356-543: The Union. Their discontent increased in the days afterward when Lincoln put out a call for volunteers to serve 90 days and end the insurrection. New militia units from several Northern states were starting to move south, particularly to protect Washington, D.C. , from the new Confederate threat in Virginia. Baltimore's newly elected reform mayor, George William Brown , and the new police marshal (chief), George Proctor Kane , anticipated trouble and began efforts to placate
4455-478: The agriculture economy from tobacco to mixed farming resulted in less need for slaves' labor. In addition local Methodists and Quakers encouraged slaveholders to free their slaves following the American Revolution, and many did so in a surge of individual manumissions for idealistic reasons. By 1810, three-quarters of all blacks in Delaware were free. When John Dickinson freed his slaves in 1777, he
4554-456: The all the governors of states that had not seceded, calling for 75,000 troops with which to re-possess U.S. property in the South. After receiving this communication, the Governor of Virginia directed Virginia's Secession Delegation to reconvene. Just nine days earlier, On April 4, 1861, Virginia's secession delegation had voted to stand with the Union by a vote of 90 to 45. However, in light of
4653-652: The black population led to some violence during the 1960s. Riots broke out in Wilmington in 1967 and again in 1968 in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr , after which the National Guard occupied the city for nine months to prevent further violence. Since WWII, the state has been generally economically prosperous and enjoyed relatively high per capita income because of its location between major cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC. Its population grew rapidly, particularly in
4752-785: The book were then arrested. A man supposed to be a Maryland State Militia soldier was detained in Fort McHenry, and Judge Giles, in Baltimore, issued a writ of habeas corpus, but Major W. W. Morris, commander of the fort, wrote back, "At the date of issuing your writ, and for two weeks previous, the city which you live, and where your court has been held, was entirely under the control of revolutionary authorities. Within that period United States soldiers, while committing no offense, had been perfidiously attacked and inhumanly murdered in your streets; no punishment had been awarded, and, I believe, no arrests had been made for these crimes; supplies of provisions intended for this garrison has been stopped;
4851-605: The call for troops, Virginia's Secession Delegation did meet once more and took another vote. On April 17, the new vote was 85 to 55 that Virginia would secede, with the condition that a referendum of the people would be held and secession would only occur if the people confirmed the vote of the Delegation. Virginia's secession was particularly significant due to the state's industrial capacity. Sympathetic Marylanders, who had supported secession ever since John C. Calhoun spoke of nullification , agitated to join Virginia in leaving
4950-541: The case of Ex parte Merryman . On April 19, Major General Robert Patterson , commander of the Department of Washington (Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia), ordered Brigadier General Benjamin Butler , with the 8th Massachusetts, to open and secure a route from Annapolis through Annapolis Junction to Washington. The 8th Massachusetts arrived by ship at Annapolis on April 20. Gov. Hicks and
5049-399: The city grew from $ 5.5 million in 1860 to $ 44 million in 1900. The most notable manufacturer in the state was the chemical company DuPont , which to this day is heavily credited with making the state what it is today in many ways. Because of Wilmington's growth, local politicians from the city and New Castle County pressured the state government to adopt a new constitution providing
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#17327912437355148-521: The city in the middle of the night on a different railroad protected by a few aides and detectives including the soon-to-be famous Allan Pinkerton in February en route to his inauguration (then constitutionally scheduled for March 4) in Washington, D.C. The city was also home to the country's largest population (25,000) of free African Americans, as well as many white abolitionists and supporters of
5247-824: The city's population. On Thursday, April 18, 460 newly mustered Pennsylvania state militia volunteers (generally from the Pottsville, Pennsylvania area) arrived from the state capital at Harrisburg on the Northern Central Railway at its Bolton Street Station (off present-day North Howard Street — across the street from the present site of the Fifth Regiment Armory of the Maryland National Guard , built 1900). They were joined by several regiments of regular United States Army troops under John C. Pemberton (later
5346-570: The direction of James, the Duke of York . Fighting off a prior claim by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , Proprietor of Maryland , the Duke passed his somewhat dubious ownership on to William Penn in 1682. Penn strongly desired access to the sea for his Pennsylvania province and leased what then came to be known as the "Lower Counties on the Delaware" from the Duke. Penn established representative government and briefly combined his two possessions under one General Assembly in 1682. However, by 1704
5445-478: The former slave states. The Delaware legislature declared Black people to be second-class citizens in 1866, and restricted their voting rights despite the 15th Amendment, ensuring continued Democratic success in the state throughout most of the 19th century. Fearful that the 1875 Civil Rights Act passed by Congress might establish racial equality, Delaware legislators passed Jim Crow laws that mandated segregation in public facilities. The state's educational system
5544-435: The front, and pay no attention to the mob, even if they throw stones, bricks, or other missiles; but if you are fired upon and any one of you is hit, your officers will order you to fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select, any man whom you may see aiming at you, and be sure you drop him. Indeed, as the militia regiment transferred between stations, a mob of anti-war supporters and Southern sympathizers attacked
5643-512: The growing numbers of federal troops in Maryland. At this time the legislature seems to have wanted to maintain Maryland's neutrality in the conflict. Many more Union troops arrived. On May 13, Butler sent Union troops into Baltimore and declared martial law . He was replaced as commander of the Department of Annapolis by George Cadwalader , another Brigadier General in the United States Volunteers . Lincoln subsequently had
5742-422: The head of a group of Swedes, Finns and Dutch. The colony of New Sweden lasted 17 years. In 1651, the Dutch, reinvigorated by the leadership of Peter Stuyvesant , established a fort at present-day New Castle and, in 1655, they conquered the New Sweden colony, annexing it into the Dutch New Netherland . Only nine years later, in 1664, the Dutch were conquered by a fleet of English ships by Sir Robert Carr under
5841-541: The incident. James Ryder Randall , a teacher in Louisiana but a native Marylander who had lost a friend in the riots, wrote " Maryland, My Maryland " for the Southern cause in response to the riots. The poem was later set to "Lauriger Horatius" (the tune of O Tannenbaum ), a melody popular in the South, and referred to the riots with lines such as "Avenge the patriotic gore / That flecked the streets of Baltimore". It did not become Maryland's state song until 78 years later (1939). After many efforts to revoke this status, it
5940-437: The intention to capture this fort had been boldly proclaimed; your most public thoroughfares were daily patrolled by large numbers of troops, armed and clothed, at least in part, with articles stolen from the United States; and the Federal flag, while waving over the Federal offices, was cut down by some person wearing the uniform of a Maryland soldier. To add the foregoing, an assembly elected in defiance of law, but claiming to be
6039-418: The leading proponents of a strong central United States with equal representation for each state. Many colonial settlers came to Delaware from Maryland and Virginia , where the population had been increasing rapidly. The economies of these colonies were chiefly based on labor-intensive tobacco and increasingly dependent on African slaves because of a decline in working class immigrants from England. Most of
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#17327912437356138-411: The legislative body of your State, and so recognized by the Executive of Maryland, was debating the Federal compact. If all this be not rebellion, I know not what to call it. I certainly regard it as sufficient legal cause for suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus ." Moreover, Morris wrote, "If, in an experience of thirty-three years, you have never before known the writ to be disobeyed, it
6237-462: The loss of their lands on the Delaware River and the destruction of the Minqua by the Iroquois of the Five Nations in the 1670s, the remnants of the Lenape who wished to remain identified as such left the region and moved over the Allegheny Mountains by the mid-18th century. Generally, those who did not relocate out of the state of Delaware were baptized, became Christian and were grouped together with other persons of color in official records and in
6336-505: The mayor, police chief, entire Board of Police, and city council of Baltimore imprisoned without charges, as well as one sitting U.S. Congressman from Baltimore . Chief Justice Roger B. Taney , also a native of Maryland, ruled on June 4, 1861, in ex parte Merryman that Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional; but Lincoln ignored the ruling, and in September when Baltimore newspaper editor Frank Key Howard , Francis Scott Key's grandson, criticized this in an editorial he too
6435-445: The media, and some residents. Delaware is the sixth most densely populated state, with a population density of 442.6 people per square mile, 356.4 per square mile more than the national average, and ranking 45th in population. Delaware is one of five U.S. states ( Maine , Vermont , West Virginia , Wyoming ) that do not have a single city with a population over 100,000 as of the 2010 census. The center of population of Delaware
6534-474: The minds of their non-Native American neighbors. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in present-day Delaware in the middle region by establishing a trading post at Zwaanendael , near the site of Lewes in 1631. Within a year, all the settlers were killed in a dispute with Native American tribes living in the area. In 1638, New Sweden , a Swedish trading post and colony, was established at Fort Christina (now in Wilmington ) by Peter Minuit at
6633-541: The nation. Its highest elevation, located at Ebright Azimuth , near Concord High School , is less than 450 feet (140 m) above sea level. The northernmost part of the state is part of the Piedmont Plateau with hills and rolling surfaces. The Atlantic Seaboard fall line approximately follows the Robert Kirkwood Highway between Newark and Wilmington ; south of this road is the Atlantic Coastal Plain with flat, sandy, and, in some parts, swampy ground. A ridge about 75 to 80 feet (23 to 24 m) high extends along
6732-415: The north with more representation. However, the subsequent 1897 constitution did not proportionally represent the north and continued to give the southern counties disproportionate influence. As manufacturing expanded, businesses became major players in state affairs and funders of politicians through families such as the Du Ponts. Republican John Addicks attempted to buy a US Senate seat multiple times in
6831-440: The northern third of the state are found Northeastern coastal forests and mixed oak forests typical of the northeastern United States. In the southern two-thirds of the state are found Middle Atlantic coastal forests . Trap Pond State Park , along with areas in other parts of Sussex County, for example, support the northernmost stands of bald cypress trees in North America. Delaware provides government subsidy support for
6930-534: The port of Wilmington had trading ties with the British. New Castle lawyer Thomas McKean denounced the Stamp Act in the strongest terms, and Kent County native John Dickinson became the "Penman of the Revolution". Anticipating the Declaration of Independence, Patriot leaders Thomas McKean and Caesar Rodney convinced the Colonial Assembly to declare itself separated from British and Pennsylvania rule on June 15, 1776. The person best representing Delaware's majority, George Read , could not bring himself to vote for
7029-406: The province of Pennsylvania had grown so large their representatives wanted to make decisions without the assent of the Lower Counties, and the two groups of representatives began meeting on their own, one at Philadelphia , and the other at New Castle. Penn and his heirs remained proprietors of both and always appointed the same person Governor for their province of Pennsylvania and their territory of
7128-681: The rear companies of the regiment with "bricks, paving stones, and pistols." In response, several soldiers fired into the mob, beginning a giant brawl between the soldiers, the mob, and the Baltimore police . In the end, the soldiers got to the Camden Station, and the police were able to block the crowd from them. The regiment had left behind much of their equipment, including their marching band's instruments. Five soldiers (Corporal Sumner Henry Needham of Company I and privates Luther C. Ladd , Charles Taylor, Addison Whitney and Sergeant John Ames of Company D) were killed or mortally wounded in
7227-454: The riot. After the April 19 riot, some small skirmishes occurred throughout Baltimore between citizens and police for the next month, but a sense of normalcy returned as the city was cleaned up. Mayor Brown and Maryland Governor Hicks implored President Lincoln to send no further troops through Maryland to avoid further confrontations. However, as Lincoln remarked to a peace delegation from
7326-471: The riot. About 36 men of the regiment were also wounded; many were left behind. At least 12 civilians were also killed. It is unknown how many more civilians were injured. Luther C. Ladd is often called the first Union soldier killed in action during the American Civil War . The same day, after the attack on the soldiers, the office of the Baltimore Wecker , a German-language newspaper,
7425-529: The situation. Since Annapolis, the capital, was occupied by Federal troops, and Baltimore was harboring many pro-Confederate mobs, Hicks directed the legislature to meet in Frederick , in the predominantly Unionist western part of the state. The legislature met on April 26; on April 29, it voted 53–13 against secession, though it also voted not to reopen rail links with the North, and requested that Lincoln remove
7524-452: The social status of their mothers, so children born to white women were free, regardless of their paternity, just as children born to enslaved women were born into slavery. As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions in England, more slaves were imported for labor and the caste lines hardened. By the end of the colonial period, the number of enslaved people in Delaware began to decline. Shifts in
7623-500: The state based on the 2020 United States census . The United States Census Bureau determined that the population of Delaware was 989,948 on April 1, 2020, an increase from the 2010 census figure of 897,934. Delaware's history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and the Southern regions of the United States. Generally, the rural Southern (or "Slower Lower") regions of Delaware below
7722-517: The state's large gunpowder industry. DuPont, the most dominant business in the state by WWI, produced an estimated 40% of all gunpowder used by the Allies during the war. It produced nylon in the state after the war and began investments into General Motors . Additionally, the company invested heavily in the expansion of public schools in the state and colleges such as the University of Delaware in
7821-531: The state, some served in companies on the Confederate side in Maryland and Virginia Regiments. Delaware is notable for being the only slave state from which no Confederate regiments or militia groups were assembled. Delaware essentially freed the few slaves who were still in bondage shortly after the Civil War but rejected the 13th , 14th , and 15th Amendments to the Constitution; the 13th Amendment
7920-508: The suburbs in the north where New Castle county became an extension of the Philadelphia metropolitan area . Americans, including migrants from Puerto Rico, and immigrants from Latin America flocked to the state. By 1990, only 50% of Delaware's population consisted of natives to the state. Delaware is 96 miles (154 km) long and ranges from 9 to 35 miles (14 to 56 km) across, with a land area of 1,982 square miles (5,130 km ) and
8019-407: The train cars and blocked the route. When it became apparent that they could not travel by horse-drawn railroad cars over the connecting track between the stations, the four companies, about 240 soldiers, got out of the cars and marched in formation through the city. However, the mob followed the soldiers, causing damage and placing obstructions until they finally blocked the soldiers. The mob attacked
8118-529: The two stations had to be pulled by horses along Pratt Street . Sometime after leaving Philadelphia, the unit's colonel, Edward F. Jones , received information that passage through Baltimore "would be resisted". According to his later report, Jones went through the railroad cars and gave this order: The regiment will march through Baltimore in column of sections, arms at will. You will undoubtedly be insulted, abused, and, perhaps, assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces to
8217-424: The unit headed on to Baltimore, where they anticipated a slow transit through the city. Because of an ordinance preventing the construction of steam rail lines through the city, there was no direct rail connection between the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad 's President Street Station and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 's Camden Station (ten blocks to the west). Rail cars that transferred between
8316-404: The war in the Wilmington area coaxed Black people from the southern counties to move to the city. The proportion of blacks constituting the city's population rose from 15% in 1950 to over 50% by 1980. The surge of Black migrants to the north sparked white flight , in which middle class whites moved from the city to suburban areas, leading to de facto segregation of Northern Delaware's society. In
8415-604: The way east to the low-tide mark on the New Jersey shore, then continues south along the shoreline until it again reaches the 12-mile (19 km) arc in the south; then the boundary continues in a more conventional way in the middle of the main channel ( thalweg ) of the Delaware River. On the west, Delaware and Maryland are mostly separated by a line running from the midpoint of the Transpeninsular Line , going slightly west of due north up to its tangent point on
8514-566: The western boundary of the state and separates the watersheds that feed Delaware River and Bay to the east and the Chesapeake Bay to the west. Since almost all of Delaware is a part of the Atlantic coastal plain , the effects of the ocean moderate its climate. The state lies in the humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa ) zone. Despite its small size (roughly 100 miles (160 km) from its northernmost to southernmost points), there
8613-661: The western part of the state before migrating across the Chesapeake Bay. The Kuskarawocks were most likely the Tuscarora . The Unami Lenape in the Delaware Valley were closely related to Munsee Lenape tribes along the Hudson River . They had a settled hunting and agricultural society, and they rapidly became middlemen in an increasingly frantic fur trade with their ancient enemy, the Minqua or Susquehannock . With
8712-499: Was Delaware's largest slave owner with 37 slaves. By 1860, the largest slaveholder owned 16 slaves. Although attempts to abolish slavery failed by narrow margins in the legislature, in practical terms the state had mostly ended the practice. By the 1860 census on the verge of the Civil War , 91.7% of the black population were free; 1,798 were slaves, as compared to 19,829 "free colored persons". An independent black denomination
8811-801: Was chartered in 1813 by freed slave Peter Spencer as the " Union Church of Africans ". This followed the 1793 establishment in Philadelphia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church by Richard Allen , which had ties to the Methodist Episcopal Church until 1816. Spencer built a church in Wilmington for the new denomination. This was renamed as the African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church and Connection , more commonly known as
8910-400: Was completely wrecked and the building seriously damaged by the same mob. The Wecker's founder, Carl Heinrich Schnauffer , as well as its prominent employees had fled Germany after the failed revolution of 1848–49 . The publisher, William Schnauffer, and the editor, Wilhelm Rapp , whose lives were threatened, were compelled to leave town. The publisher later returned and resumed publication of
9009-613: Was imprisoned without trial. Federal troops imprisoned the young newspaper editor in Fort McHenry , which, as he noted, was the same fort where the Star Spangled Banner had been waving "o'er the land of the free" in his grandfather's song. In 1863 Howard wrote about his experience as a political prisoner at Fort McHenry in the book Fourteen Months in the American Bastille ; two of the publishers selling
9108-564: Was named after its location on the Delaware Bay , which in turn derived its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1577–1618), the first governor of the Colony of Virginia . The Delaware people, a name used by Europeans for Lenape people Indigenous to the Delaware Valley, also derive their name from the same source. The name de La Warr was derived from Sussex and is of Anglo -French origin. It came probably from
9207-524: Was rejected on February 8, 1865, the 14th Amendment was rejected on February 8, 1867, and the 15th Amendment was rejected on March 18, 1869. Delaware officially ratified the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments on February 12, 1901. During the Reconstruction Era that followed the Civil War , Democratic Redeemer governments led by the South's Bourbon aristocracy continued to dominate the region and imposed explicitly white supremacist regimes in
9306-536: Was removed from being the state song in 2021. On September 17, 1861, the day the legislature reconvened to discuss these later events and Lincoln's possibly unconstitutional actions, twenty-seven state legislators (one-third of the Maryland General Assembly ) were arrested and jailed by federal troops, using Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus , and in further defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice's ex parte Merryman ruling. As
9405-434: Was segregated by operation of law. Delaware's segregation was written into the state constitution, which, while providing at Article X, Section 2, that "no distinction shall be made on account of race or color", nonetheless required that "separate schools for white and colored children shall be maintained." Beginning in the late 19th century, the Wilmington area grew into a manufacturing center. Investment in manufacturing in
9504-706: Was settled by European colonists, the present-day state was home to the Eastern Algonquian tribes known as the Unami Lenape , or Delaware, who lived mostly along the coast, and the Nanticoke who occupied much of the southern Delmarva Peninsula . John Smith also shows two Iroquoian tribes, the Kuskarawock and Tockwogh , living north of the Nanticoke—they may have held small portions of land in
9603-502: Was taken prisoner. The British remained in control of the Delaware River for much of the rest of the war, disrupting commerce and providing encouragement to an active Loyalist portion of the population, particularly in Sussex County. Because the British promised slaves of rebels freedom for fighting with them, escaped slaves flocked north to join their lines. Following the American Revolution , statesmen from Delaware were among
9702-600: Was the Baltimore riot that pushed the two sides over the edge into full-scale war, "because then was shed the first blood in a conflict between the North and the South; then a step was taken which made compromise or retreat almost impossible; then passions on both sides were aroused which could not be controlled". On July 10, 1861, a grand jury of the United States District Court indicted Samuel Mactier, Lewis Bitter, James McCartney, Philip Casmire, Michael Hooper and Richard H. Mitchell for their part in
9801-635: Was the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States , earning it the nickname "The First State". Since the turn of the 20th century, Delaware has become an onshore corporate haven whose corporate laws are deemed appealing to corporations; over half of all New York Stock Exchange -listed corporations and over three-fifths of the Fortune 500 are legally incorporated in Delaware. Over 90% of all U.S. based companies that went public in 2021 incorporated themselves in Delaware. Delaware
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