12 MARYLAND MANUAL.

ANNAPOLIS.

The first white person to behold the site of Annapolis, the-
present State capital, was Capt. John Smith, who saw it in
1608, in a voyage up the Chesapeake. It was settled in
1649, by a company of English Puritans seeking relief from
religious persecution, and called Providence. These men
were soon urged to take the oath of allegiance to Lord
Baltimore, but they refused, claiming that it were equiva-
lent to declaring their fealty to the Catholic Church, and
that Lord Baltimore was aiming at absolute dominion.
However, by 1650 the Courts of Anne Arundel county were
established, and Providence sent delegates to the General
Assembly of Maryland.

In 1694, the capital of the State was removed to Annapolis.
Annapolis, between this period and the Revolution, became
the centre of refined and attractive society, noted for its
gayety and intelligence, and which gained for the city the
title of "The Athens of America,"

On September 3d, 1765, Annapolis made the first forcible
and successful opposition to the Stamp Act. Zachariah Hood,
the stamp officer, was prevented from landing with his
stamps, and Thomas McNeir, one of the mob, had his thigh
broken in the first fight for American Liberty on American
soil.

In 1845, the United States Naval Academy was located at
Annapolis. It is claimed that the first free school in America,
the first building erected to the dramatic art, and the first
union of Federal and Confederate soldiers to decorate the
graves of their common dead, were at Annapolis. The last
event took place in May, 1883.

In addition to the Governor and Secretary of State the
following State officers are located in Annapolis: Comptroller,
Treasurer, Commissioner of the Land office, Tax Commis-
sioner and Commander of the State Fishery Force.

THE STATE HOUSE.

The first State House built at Annapolis was erected im
1696. It was burnt down in 1704.

The second State House was erected in 1704. This re-
mained until 1772, when it was pulled down to make room for
the present edifice.

The building of this, the third State House, on the same
site of the two preceding ones, was commenced in 1772, but
the dome was not finished until after the Revolution.