of our State, and in particular the re-enactment of the great battles
of Antietam and South Mountain.

Once again, let me express my sincere gratitude to the National
Civil War Centennial Commission for the high honor I have received
here today. With deep appreciation, I accept this medallion on behalf
of the members of our Maryland Civil War Centennial Commission
and all the others who have worked to make this centennial observance
a success. It is an inspiration to all of us to continue in our purpose
to bring honor to the heroes of the past, to reaffirm the principles
for which they lived and died and to rededicate ourselves to the causes
of the great country in which we live.

ADDRESS, RATIFICATION DAY

ANNAPOLIS
January 15, 1962

I am delighted to greet you on this occasion, and to share with you
the observance of this anniversary of one of the most significant events
in the history of our State and our nation. I hope this will continue
through the years as an annual observance.

The occasion we commemorate today is known to historians, but
to very few others. I have proclaimed it "Ratification Day" because
exactly 178 years ago, right here in our own State House, the Treaty
of Paris ending the American Revolution was ratified. The date of this
Act of Ratification should be honored by Americans as highly as the
Fourth of July. In the Declaration of Independence, we Americans
said we were free. By the Treaty of Paris, England agreed. At that time,
this historic building was the Capitol of the United States. No other
state house has ever held this honor. It is therefore fitting that we should
begin to commemorate Ratification Day here, in the very same building
in which the event occurred.

"The shot heard round the world, " had been fired nine years earlier.
Two years had passed since Cornwallis had surrendered to Washington
at Yorktown. General Sir Guy Carleton, with a strong British force,
still occupied New York. Washington had expressed fear that the war
might commence all over again and to quote him, "Prolong the calami-
ties of it. "

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