At the close of the war, the Continental Congress met at
Annapolis, and in one of the dramatic moments of American
history George Washington resigned his commission in the
Senate Chamber of the State House on December 23, 1783.
It was at Annapolis also that Congress, on January 14, 1784,
ratified the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War.

The Maryland capital again played a part in the national
scene by entertaining delegates from New York, New Jersey,
Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia September 11-14,
1786. Ironically, Maryland did not participate. The delegates
discussed means of improving and strengthening relations
between the states. Recognizing the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation, the delegates urged that another
meeting be held to devise means of remedying these defects.
Accordingly, the Federal Constitutional Convention met in
May 1787 at Philadelphia. On April 28, 1788, Maryland
ratified the Constitution; the seventh state to endorse the
document which she had helped to bring into being.

Because of the exhaustion of the tobacco lands, however,
serious agricultural problems remained. Slavery was be-
coming a burden, and currency problems vexed Maryland's
economic life. In the formation of a new nation, Maryland
did its part by sacrificing its territory and advancing money
for public buildings to form the District of Columbia
(1791). To offset some of the difficulties, Baltimore had
grown until it was five times as great as Annapolis, the
flourishing port of the "Golden Age." Early in the new
century exports from Maryland ports reached the
$14,000,000 mark.

The Second British Conflict

This shipping was, however, seriously hampered by Brit-
ish policy. Finally British interference with our vessels and
crews brought on the War of 1812. Fighting began in
Canada but was soon carried south by the British. From
1813 Maryland bore the brunt of the war. British troops
routed our forces at Bladensburg and then proceeded to
Washington, where they burned the public buildings. But
defeats at North Point and Fort McHenry prevented the
British from capturing Baltimore. During the bombard-
ment of Fort McHenry on the night of September 13, 1814,
a Maryland lawyer, Francis Scott Key, was inspired to write
the "Star Spangled Banner".

At sea, Marylanders, sailing in the speedy Baltimore
clippers, terrorized British shipping to the coasts of Eng-
land, accounting for 556 British vessels, almost a third of
the total taken by American vessels. Outstanding privateers-