Maryland in the American Revolution
Then
Although no major Battles of the
During the war itself, Baltimore Town served as the temporary capital of the colonies when the
Like other states, Maryland was bitterly divided by the war; many
Background
History of Maryland |
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Maryland portal |
The State of Maryland began as the
The ship
Religious strife
Although Maryland was an early pioneer of religious toleration in the British colonies, religious strife among
The
Economy
Despite early competition with the colony of
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 and Maryland's major port city of Baltimore.
Economic tensions
Among the many tensions between Maryland and the mother country were economic problems, focused around the sale of Maryland's principal cash crop, tobacco. A handful of Glasgow tobacco merchants increasingly dominated the tobacco trade between Britain and her colonies, manipulating prices and causing great distress among Maryland and Virginia planters, who by the time of the outbreak of war had accumulated debts of around £1,000,000, a huge sum at the time. These debts, as much as the taxation imposed by Westminster, were among the colonists' most bitter grievances.[2]
Prior to 1740, Glasgow merchants were responsible for the import of less than 10% of America's tobacco crop, but by the 1750s a handful of Glasgow Tobacco Lords handled more of the trade than the rest of Britain's ports combined.[2] Heavily capitalised, and taking great personal risks, these men made immense fortunes from the "Clockwork Operation" of fast ships coupled with ruthless dealmaking and the manipulation of credit.[3] Maryland planters were offered easy credit by the Glaswegian merchants, enabling them to buy European consumer goods and other luxuries before harvest time gave them the ready cash to do so. But, when the time came to sell the crop, the indebted growers found themselves forced by the canny traders to accept low prices for their harvest simply in order to stave off bankruptcy.[4]
In neighbouring Virginia, tobacco planters experienced similar problems. At his Mount Vernon plantation, future President of the United States George Washington saw his liabilities swell to nearly £2000 by the late 1760s.[5] Thomas Jefferson, on the verge of losing his own farm, accused British merchants of unfairly depressing tobacco prices and forcing Virginia farmers to take on unsustainable debt loads. In 1786, he remarked:
A powerful engine for this [mercantile profiting] was the giving of good prices and credit to the planter till they got him more immersed in debt than he could pay without selling lands or slaves. They then reduced the prices given for his tobacco so that ... they never permitted him to clear off his debt.[6]
Many Marylanders sought to use the opportunity posed by war to repudiate their debts. One of the "Resolves" later adopted by the citizens of Annapolis on May 25, 1774, would read as follows:
Resolved, that it is the opinion of the meeting, that the gentlemen of the law of this province bring no suit for the recovery of any debt, due from any inhabitant of this province to any inhabitant of Great Britain, until the said act [The Stamp Act] be repealed[7]
After the war, few of the enormous debts owed by the colonists would never be repaid.
There were also serious tensions between the colonists and the British over land, especially after the Crown effectively confirmed Indian land rights in 1763. Washington himself was appalled by this decision to protect native property rights, writing to his future partner William Crawford in 1767 that he:
could never look upon that Proclamation in any other light ... than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the Indians. It must fall, of course, in a few years, especially when those Indians consent to our occupying their lands.[8]
Tax protests
In 1764 Britain imposed a
Meanwhile, an Annapolis merchant by the name of Zachariah Hood, charged by the British with the task of collecting the new stamp duty, was injured at the dock on his return to Maryland by an angry crowd in what has been called the "first successful, forcible resistance in America to King George's authority".[11] Shunned by his friends and fearful of his life, Hood, at the invitation pf governor Cadwallader Colden of New York, fled Maryland for New York and took refuge at Fort George. Governor Sharpe reported in September 1765 that he was "very apprehensive that if the stamp paper was to arrive here and be landed at this time it would not be in my power to preserve it from being burnt".[11]
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
One of the early voices for independence in Maryland was the wealthy
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 (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".[12]
Writing in the
From 1774 to 1776, Carroll was a member of the
It is possible that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution - guaranteeing freedom of religion - was written in appreciation for Carroll's considerable financial support during the Revolutionary War. Carroll was the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence, and until his death in 1832 he was its last living signatory.
Samuel Chase
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
One prominent Loyalist was
Coming of Revolution
In 1774,
Annapolis Tea party
On October 19, 1774, the Peggy Stewart, a Maryland cargo vessel, was set alight and burned by an angry mob in Annapolis, punishing the ship's captain for contravening the boycott on tea imports and mimicking the events of the more famous Boston Tea Party in December 1773. This event has since become known as the "Annapolis Tea Party".[17]
In May 1774, according to local legend,[18] the Chestertown Tea Party took place in Chestertown, Maryland, during which Maryland patriots boarded the brigantine Geddes in broad daylight and threw its cargo of tea into the Chester River, as a protest against taxes imposed by the British Tea Act. The event is still celebrated to this day each Memorial Day weekend with a festival and historic re-enactment known as the Chestertown Tea Party Festival.[19]
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
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.[20]
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
Assembly of Freemen
During this initial phase of the Revolutionary period, Maryland was governed by the
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
Declaration of Independence
In 1777, all Maryland voters were required to take the Oath of Fidelity and Support. This 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 required to take the oath no later than March 1, 1778.[21][22] It was signed by 3,136 residents of Montgomery and Washington counties.[23]
On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation 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 and New York agreed to rescind their claims to lands in what became the Northwest Territory.
Maryland would later accept the
Revolutionary War
Although no major
The state also filled other roles during the war. For instance, the
Marylander John Hanson served as President of the Continental Congress 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. (Annapolis was a candidate to become the new nation's permanent capital before Washington, D.C. was built). It was in the old senate chamber[24] that George Washington resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. It was also there that the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, was ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784.
Loyalists and the war
During the war many Marylanders, such as
On May 13, 1777 Benedict Swingate Calvert was forced to resign his position as Judge of the Land Office,[26] 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".[27]
Calvert did not leave Maryland, nor did he involve himself in the fighting, though he did on occasion supply the 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 and his lands and property remained unconfiscated.[28]
African Americans and the war
The principal cause of the
... 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[29]
About 800 men joined up; some helped rout the Virginia militia at the Battle of Kemp's Landing and fought in the Battle of Great Bridge on the Elizabeth River, 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, after which they served in the Chesapeake area. Unfortunately the camp that they had set up there suffered an outbreak of smallpox 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; ultimately, more than 5,000 African Americans (many of them enslaved) served in Patriot military units during the war.[30][31]
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, the last proprietarial governor of Maryland and the illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, attempted to recover his estates in Maryland which had been confiscated during the American Revolution, where he was a witness to George Washington's 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. However, he had no success in retrieving his land, in spite of the fact that Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Samuel Chase argued in his favor. In 1786, the case was decided by the 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
Following the
See also
- Annapolis Convention (1774–1776)
- Chestertown Tea Party
- Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore
- History of Maryland
- List of delegates to the Maryland Constitutional Convention (1776)
- List of delegates to the Maryland State Convention (1788)
- Oath of Fidelity and Support
- Province of Maryland
Notes
- ^ Events that Changed America Through the seventeenth century by John E. Findling, Frank W. Thackeray, pp. 133–34.
- ^ a b Oliver, Neil, p. 340
- ^ Oliver, p. 341
- ^ Oliver, p. 342
- Randall, Willard Sterne. George Washington a Life. New York: Henry Holt &, 1998. Print.
- ^ Breen, T. H. Tobacco Culture: the Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1985. Print.
- ^ Andrews, p. 293
- ^ Ferguson, p. 116
- ^ Andrews, p. 276
- ^ Andrews, p. 277
- ^ a b Andrews, p. 279
- ^ McClanahan, Brion T., p. 204, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers. Retrieved November 2010.
- ^ aoc.gov Article on Carroll at www.aoc.gov Retrieved May 7, 2010
- ^ Charles Carroll
- ^ Sanderson, John J, p. 67, Biography of the Signers To the Declaration of Independence, Volume 5, published by R W Pomery (1823). Retrieved Jan 21 2010
- ^ a b c d Andrews, p. 284
- ^ Annapolis tea party at www.nytimes.com Retrieved May 9, 2010
- ^ Goodhart, Adam, Tea & Fantasy, published in The American Scholar Retrieved November 2010 Archived November 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ www.chestertownteaparty.com Retrieved May 9, 2010 Archived April 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Matthews, p. 303
- ^ John Thomas Scharf, History of Maryland from the Earliest Period to the Present Day. Published by J. B. Piet, 1879
- ISBN 1-58549-401-1
- ^ Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. Daughters of the American Revolution, Published by R.R. Bowker Co., 1916 v. 50 1917 Jan–Jun
- ^ a b Maryland State Archive Online
- ^ Montgomery, Lori (March 14, 2000). "Two-Bit Identity Crisis; Imprint Befuddles the Free – Make That 'Old Line' – State". The Washington Post. gwpapers.virginia.edu. Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
- ^ Yentsch p. 269
- ^ Yentsch p. 272
- ^ Yentsch p. 270
- ^ "Lord Dunmore's Proclamation". Digital History. 2007-10-18. Archived from the original on 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ White, Deborah; Bay, Mia; Martin Jr., Waldo E. (2013). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans. Boston: Bedford St. Martin's. pp. 124–127.
- ^ The Philipsburg Proclamation Archived 2007-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Room, Adrian, p. 27, Dictionary of World Place Names Derived from British Names. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
References
- Andrews, Matthew Page, History of Maryland, Doubleday Doran & Co, New York, (1929)
- Ferguson, Niall, Civilization - The Six Killer Apps of Western Power, Penguin Books, London, (2012)
- Oliver, Neil, A History of Scotland, Phoenix, London (2010) ISBN 0753826631
- Yentsch, Anne E, p.55, A Chesapeake Family and their Slaves: a Study in Historical Archaeology, Cambridge University Press (1994) Retrieved Jan 28 2010
- Engelman, F. L. (October 1953). "Cadwallader Colden and the New York Stamp Act Riots". The William and Mary Quarterly. 10 (4). Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: 560–578. JSTOR 1923595.
External links
- Frederick Calvert, 6th Lord Baltimore Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- Bibliography of the Continental Army in Maryland compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History