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the  special  characteristics  of slavery  in Maryland  are  directly  related to the cultural and economic landscape of the state.    For example, Maryland  is  known to have  had relatively  large  tobacco  plantations, but many slaves also worked in small towns as well as in Baltimore City performing a number of urban and artisan tasks.    As a geographer,  I  am concerned with the  spatial variation  of phenomena.     Because  of the  cultural  and  economic  differences among  the  central,  southern,  western,  and  Eastern     Shore communities,  there  were  considerable  variations   in  the  number  and distribution of enslaved Africans and their behavior, as well as their interactions  with slave holders.  However,  relatively little is known about  the  spatial  variation  of these  relationships.
One  should not overlook the temporal dimension of slavery in Maryland's  geographic  regions  and the  degree  to  which the  colony's social order evolved.  How does this social order relate to the developing enslaved labor system?    How harsh was slavery in Maryland?  Did  it  become  harsher when  profitability  from  tobacco crops  were threatened by exhausted lands?     There  is  much research to be done to show the relationship between declining yields of tobacco  and  declining  profitability  and  the  treatment  of enslaved Africans.     In many cases,  planters  adopted more  intensive  farming