Maryland: Difference between revisions

Maryland's coastline was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. Prior to that, it was inhabited by several [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes, mostly the [[Algonquian peoples]].<ref>{{cite web |title=People, Tribes and Bands |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/native/html/01native.html |website=Maryland Manual On-line: A Guide to Maryland and its Government |publisher=Maryland State Archives |access-date=August 25, 2019 |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717013734/https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/native/html/01native.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As one of the original [[Thirteen Colonies]], Maryland was founded by [[George Calvert]], 1st Baron Baltimore, a [[Catholic Church in England and Wales|Catholic]] convert<ref name="Cecilius Calvert 2010">"George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert, Barons Baltimore" William Hand Browne, Nabu Press (August 1, 2010), {{ISBN|117662539X}} {{ISBN|978-1176625396}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=English and Catholic : the Lords Baltimore in the seventeenth century|author=Krugler, John D.|date=2004|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0801879630|location=Baltimore|oclc=53967315}}</ref> who sought to provide a religious haven for Catholics persecuted in England.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=History of Maryland: Province and State|last=Andrews|first=Matthew Page|publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc|year=1929|location=Garden City, New York|pages=3–5}}</ref> In 1632, [[Charles I of England]] granted Lord Baltimore a [[colonial charter]], naming the colony after his wife, [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henrietta Maria]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ma01.asp|title=The Charter of Maryland : 1632|date=December 18, 1998|website=avalon.law.yale.edu|access-date=May 2, 2018|archive-date=March 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325164510/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ma01.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1649, the Maryland General Assembly passed an [[Maryland Toleration Act|Act Concerning Religion]], which enshrined the principle of [[toleration]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/maryland_toleration.asp|title=Avalon Project—Maryland Toleration Act; September 21, 1649|website=avalon.law.yale.edu|access-date=May 3, 2018|archive-date=November 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125140850/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/maryland_toleration.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> Religious strife was common in Maryland's early years, and Catholics remained a minority, albeit in greater numbers than in any other English colony. Maryland's early settlements and population centers clustered around waterways that empty into the [[Chesapeake Bay]]. Its economy was heavily [[Plantation economy|plantation-based]] and centered mostly on the cultivation of [[tobacco]]. Demand for cheap labor from Maryland colonists led to the importation of numerous [[Indentured servitude in British America|indentured servants]] and [[History of slavery in Maryland|enslaved Africans]]. In 1760, Maryland's current boundaries took form following the [[Mason–Dixon line|settlement]] of a long-running border dispute with Pennsylvania. Many of its citizens played [[Maryland in the American Revolution|key political and military roles]] in the American Revolutionary War. Although it was a [[Slave states and free states|slave state]], Maryland [[Border states (American Civil War)|remained in the Union]] during the [[American Civil War]], and its proximity to Washington D.C. and Virginia made it [[Maryland in the American Civil War|a significant strategic location]]. After the Civil War ended, Maryland took part in the [[Industrial Revolution in the United States|Industrial Revolution]], driven by its seaports, railroad networks, and mass immigration from Europe.

[[File:Kurz & Allison - Battle of Antietam.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Antietam]] in 1862, one of the bloodiest battles of the [[American Civil War]], with nearly 23,000 casualties]]

The state remained in the Union during the [[American Civil War]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://civilwarmonths.com/2016/04/29/maryland-remains-in-the-union/ |title=Maryland Remains in the Union |access-date=July 7, 2016 |date=April 29, 2016 |publisher=Walter Coffey |author=Walter Coffey |website=The Civil War Months |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817135903/https://civilwarmonths.com/2016/04/29/maryland-remains-in-the-union/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> due in significant part to demographics and Federal intervention. The 1860 census, held shortly before the outbreak of the civil war, showed that 49% of Maryland's African Americans were [[free black|free]].<ref name="Kolchin">Peter Kolchin, ''American Slavery: 1619–1877'', New York: Hill and Wang, 1993, pp. 81–82</ref>

Following the [[American Civil War]], Maryland's elections have [[Political party strength in Maryland|largely been controlled]] by the [[U.S. Democratic Party|Democratic Party]], which accounted for 54.9% of the state's registered voters as of May 2017.<ref name="Maryland State Board of Elections">{{cite web|url=http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/stats.html|title=Voter Registration Statistics|author=Maryland State Board of Elections|access-date=February 24, 2016|archive-date=February 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225170208/http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/stats.html|url-status=live}}</ref>