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28 MARYLAND MANUAL failed to spur Maryland during the final five years of the war. Prelude to Revolution The accession in 1751 of Frederick Calvert, a "gay young blade," to the title of Lord Baltimore meant less interfer- ence from the Proprietor; therefore Marylanders trans- ferred their complaints against the Proprietary to the Brit- ish Government. Conflict between French and English only sharpened the point. Debts to English merchants and taxes on imports led Maryland, this time in common with other colonies, to take drastic action. Maryland takes credit for first refusing to pay taxes under the Stamp Act; actual repudiation took place in Frederick County on November 23, 1765. The British Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts in 1770, but a strong feeling of rebellion remained. Support of Boston was vigorous after that port was closed; and the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, had its Maryland counterpart when a tea ship, the Peggy Stewart, was burned in Annapolis harbor on October 19, 1774. The first Provincial Convention, composed of ninety-two men representing every county in Maryland, met June 22-25, 1774 in Annapolis. It denounced the British blockade against Boston, proposed breaking off trade relations with Great Britain and selected delegates to attend the First Conti- nental Congress. When the Convention met on July 26, 1775, following the Battle of Lexington, it proceeded grimly to the business of preparing for war and organizing a civil government apart from that of the Proprietary which, although mainly inactive, was still the legal government. A year later, a Convention was elected for the express pur- pose of framing a new constitution, which was adopted on November 8,1776. The Revolutionary War From the first skirmish in Boston to the surrender at Yorktown, Maryland troops saw service. Despite frequent alarms, rarely did the British troops invade Maryland soil. The British Army passed through Cecil County on its way to Philadelphia in 1777, seizing the County records as it went. Minor raids occurred in Prince George's and Dor- chester counties in 1781. General Smallwood's regiment formed Washington's rearguard at the Battle of Brooklyn and enabled him to withdraw his army successfully. Three Marylanders, John Eager Howard, Mordecai Gist, and Otho Holland Williams, commanded the Maryland Line with dis- tinction during the Southern campaigns. Pulaski organized |
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Maryland Manual, 1965-66
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