A little known fact of Maryland's history, outside of Maryland (and inside Maryland if you are not originally from the state), is our relationship with President Lincoln. Although Abraham Lincoln has been held in near reverence throughout the United States, Marylanders have always had an uneasy relationship with our 16th president.
"Maryland was a slave state, and its citizens were sharply divided by the Civil War. The federal government acted to ensure that Maryland did not secede from the Union and thus isolate the District of Columbia in Southern territory. In 1861, Federal troops occupied Annapolis and Baltimore and remained there throughout the war. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended. Supporters of secession in the Maryland General Assembly and throughout the state were arrested and imprisoned. James Ryder Randall lamented the “despot’s heel” of occupation by “Union scum” when he penned his poem “Maryland, My Maryland” in 1861. It was adopted as the official state song in 1939." Source: Maryland Postal History Project
Marylanders, to this day, are outraged that our state senators were actually arrested on the floor of the senate. Maryland was surrounded by Federal troops to make sure that the state stayed in the Union. Shortly after this action, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War was fought at Antietam.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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At the onset of The Civil War it was Anna Ella Carroll, daughter of a former Governor, who assisted Governor Hicks with the strategy that kept Maryland a part of the Union and by preserving Washington D.C. as our nation’s Capital the center of government avoided being surrounded by the enemy. After her introduction to President Lincoln, who found her extensive legal and Constitutional knowledge a great asset, She quickly produced scores of written legal briefings for the President, including the War Powers of The General Government which convinced the President he had the power to suspend the constitutionally protected right to writs of habeas corpus. Thus the way was cleared for the President to declare war.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Baltimore Frank, for adding to our knowledge of this topic.
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