University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

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Leonard Calvert — first Gov- ernor of Maryland.

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MARYLAND HISTORY The history of Maryland forms an integral part of the story of our national growth. First settlements were made in Maryland early in the period of American colonial development; and many of the characters and events outstanding in our national life have been as closely linked with the building of the Old Line State. Although the Spaniards were probably the first Europeans to sight Maryland ' s shores, as shown by old records, it remained tor Captain John Smith to make the first visit of any conse- quence and to explore the Chesapeake Bay region. This area, inherited by Cecilius Calvert. Lord Baltimore, was named Maryland in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria. Colonization was begun in 16 34 when some two hundred settlers arrived in the ships Ark and Dove. establishing themselves at St. Mary ' s on a tributary of the Potomac River. The area about St. Mary ' s was obtained by a treaty with the Indians by Governor Calvert, and today a marble shaft in the old graveyard marks the spot where the transfer occurred. In 1649 the Maryland Assembly passed the famous Act of Toleration, the first act of complete religious toleration to be enacted by any American colony. Maryland had been estab- lished on a sound agricultural basis and consequently steady progress was made. Among the western settlements of the colony Fort Cumberland was an important protection from French and Indian attacks. Large plantations were established and the hospitality of the Maryland planter was heralded far and wide. The Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary was disputed for many years, but the running of Mason and Dixon ' s line between 1763 and 1767 definitely established this border. Maryland men were prominent in the events preceding the Revolutionary War. During the war. Maryland ' s troops proved themselves among the most courageous of the colonial army. The bravery of the Old Liners was nowhere more apparent than at the battle of Long Island. August 1776, where some four hundred men of the Maryland battalion made six charges against four thousand of the British, and thus covered the retreat of a large part of General Washing- ton ' s army. At the close of the war the Annapolis State House was the scene of General Wash- ington ' s address when he surrendered his commission of commander of the Continental Army. In 1786. after the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation had been shown, a conference of the middle States was called at Annapolis. This convention ' s most important act was to call the convention at Philadelphia in 1787. which gave us our present Federal Constitution. It was during the War of 1812 that Francis Scott Key. a son of Maryland, was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner while watching the British fleet bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor. In the naval war with Tripoli. Stephen Decatur, another of Maryland ' s sons, brought further honor to his native State. In 1828 the cornerstone of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad — the first American railroad in the modern sense of the word — was laid at Baltimore. During the ensuing years Baltimore rose to become a great national trade center. The swift Baltimore clipper ship, modeled after the Chesapeake Bay craft — the bugeye and log canoe, was found on every sea. Another event of national importance was the opening of the first telegraph line In the world in 1844 between Baltimore and Washington. During the Civil War. Maryland ' s regiments performed with valor. The battles of South Mountain and Antictam were the only major engagements within Maryland ' s borders. Since the Civil War. the story of Maryland ' s growth, with that of the other States of the Union, has been more closely than ever interwoven with the narrative of national development. During the Great War her divisions won many glories. Today the Old Line is especially noted for her remarkable educational fa.ilities and her pioneer work in the establishment of a perfected State ' s road system. H. N. B.

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The first colonists arrived March 1634 in the shi] Ark ' ' and Dove. ADMINISTRATION