Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/157

MARYLAND. sects were tolerated, except the Catholics, who were denied the suffrage and forbidden to worship in public. The Anglican Church was established in 1692. Four years later a free high school was opened at Annapolis. The question of the northern boundary, which after 1730 threatened to bring on war with Pennsylvania, was settled by the drawing of the famous Mason and Dixon's line (1763-67).

Maryland took an active part in the wars resulting in the extinction of the French domination upon this continent, and in the last and most important of these its western border suffered severely from Indian attacks owing to the obstinacy of the Legislature in refusing to vote means for defense. The colony was also among the first to oppose the aggressions of the British Government, which led to the War of the Revolution. The Stamp Act was received with great indignation and the imposition of duties on tea was responded to by the burning of a tea ship (1774). In the same year a popular convention began to direct the revolutionary movement. It gradually assumed charge of the government. A bill of rights and a constitution were adopted in November, 1776, and the Legislature assembled at Annapolis, February 5, 1777. Maryland took a most efficient and honorable part in the Revolutionary War, though it did not join the Confederation till 1781, owing to her claim that the western lands should belong to the Union. In 1783 Congress met at Annapolis, and here, on December 23d after the conclusion of peace, Washington resigned his commission as general-in-chief. The Federal Constitution was adopted in the Maryland convention April 28, 1788, by a vote of 63 to 11. Maryland suffered considerably in the War of 1812. (See .) The beginning of the war was marked by a fierce riot against a Federalist newspaper of Baltimore, in which a number of people were killed. Havre de Grace and other villages were burned by the English fleet in 1813, Baltimore was unsuccessfully attacked by a British army, and Fort McHenry was bombarded in September, 1814. An elaborate system of internal improvements was initiated in 1828, when the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were begun. In 1844 the first line of electric telegraph in the United States was run from Baltimore to Washington. The position of Maryland in the Civil War was peculiar. As a slave-holding State her sympathies were naturally to a great extent with the South; but her proximity to Pennsylvania made her truly a Border State. Many of her people favored secession, a large number entered the Confederate Army, and in the first days of the war the passage of Union troops through Baltimore was opposed, several Massachusetts soldiers being killed on April 19, 1861; but the strength of the Union party, added to the efforts of the Governor, served to keep the State from seceding. Later, bitter feelings were aroused by the policy of the General Government in establishing military rule and suspending the habeas corpus in a large part of the State. The adherence of Maryland to the Union was extremely important in that it saved Washington from falling into the power of the Confederates.

Railroad development was facilitated by a system of State and county aid. For many years

the claims of the State against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for the recovery of the subsidy granted the company in 1836 were fought in the courts without definite result. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was constructed as far as Cumberland and was profitable for some years, but diversion of traffic and danger from storms made it bankrupt. In 1865 the educational system, antiquated and inefficient, was reformed. The present system of county boards was begun in 1868. The prevalence of corruption in city elections led to a revision of the election laws in 1889, and the adoption of the Australian ballot in 1890. In 1896 the bi-partisan system of election boards was fully recognized.

The Constitution of 1776 was often amended, especially in 1802, when the property qualification for the suffrage was abolished, and in 1837 the election of the Governor was given to the people. New constitutions were adopted in 1851, 1864, and 1867, the second of which abolished slavery. Its electoral vote has been as follows: 1796, Adams 7, Jefferson 4; 1800, Adams 5, Jefferson 11; 1804, Pinckney 2, Jefferson 9; 1808, Pinckney 2, Madison 9; 1812, Clinton 5, Madison 6; 1816, Monroe 8; 1820, Monroe 11; 1824, Jackson 7, Adams 3, Crawford 1; 1828, Adams 6, Jackson 5; 1832, Clay 5, Jackson 3. It went Whig from 1830 to 1848, Democratic in 1852, American Party (Know-Nothing) in 1850, and Democratic in 1860. In 1864 it voted for Lincoln, but from 1868 to 1892 was Democratic. In 1896 and 1900 it went Republican. The following is a list of the Governors of the State: