10/Maryland Manual Capsule Chronology

1776, June 26 .................. Departure of Robert Eden, Maryland's last colonial governor.

1776, July 3 .................... Maryland Convention declared independence from Great Britain.

1776, July 4 .................... Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia. Engrossed copy

signed by Marylanders William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton,

Thomas Stone, and Samuel Chase.
1776, Nov. 3 ................... Declaration of Rights adopted by Ninth Convention. Church of England

disestablished.
1776, Nov. 8 ................... First State Constitution adopted by Ninth Convention.

1776. Dec. 20-1777, March Continental Congress met at Baltimore.

1777. Feb. 5 .................... First General Assembly elected under State Constitution of 1776 met at

Annapolis.
1781, March 1 ................. Maryland ratified Articles of Confederation.

1781, Nov. 5 ................... John Hanson elected President of the United States in Congress

Assembled.
1782 .............................. Washington College established at Chestertown.

1783, Nov. 26-1784, June 3 Continental Congress met at Annapolis.
1783, Dec. 23 .................. Washington resigned commission as commander in chief of the

Continental Army at State House in Annapolis.
1784 .............................. St. John's College established at Annapolis.

1784. Jan. 14 ................... Treaty of Paris ending Revolutionary War ratified by Congress at

Annapolis.

1785. Aug. ...................... China trade begun with arrival of Canton cargo at Baltimore.

1785. Dec. 5 ................... General Assembly endorsed Compact of 1785, an agreement with Virginia

on navigation and fishing in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay.

1786. Sept. 11-14 ............. Annapolis Convention held to discuss revisions to Articles of

Confederation. Maryland sent no representatives.
1788, April 26 ................. Maryland ratified Federal Constitution.

1791, Dec. 19 .................. Maryland ceded land for District of Columbia.

1796 .............................. Baltimore City incorporated.

1802 .............................. Property qualification for voting removed in local elections.

1803 .............................. Viva wee voting at elections changed to voting by ballot.

1807, Dec. 18 .................. University of Maryland chartered as the College of Medicine of Maryland.

1810 .............................. Property qualification ended in voting for electors for president, vice-
president, and congressmen.
1810 .............................. Free blacks disenfranchised.

1814, Aug. 24 .................. Battle of Bladensburg.

1814, Sept. 12 .................. British repulsed at Battle of North Point.

1814, Sept. 13 .................. Bombardment of Fort McHenry, which inspired Francis Scott Key to

write "Star-Spangled Banner."
1818 .............................. National Road completed from Cumberland to Wheeling.

1819, March 6 ................. In M'Culloch v. Maryland, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall interpreted

Constitution to signify implied powers of federal government.
1824-1829 ....................... Chesapeake and Delaware Canal constructed.

1826 .............................. Jewish enfranchisement.

1827, Feb. 28 .................. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad chartered.

1828-1848 ....................... Chesapeake and Ohio Canal constructed (to Cumberland by 1848).

1838, Oct. 3 .................... Governor and State senators first elected by voters rather than by

legislature.

1844. May 24 .................. Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated telegraph line from Washington, D.C.,

to Baltimore.

1845. Oct. 10 .................. U. S. Naval Academy founded.

1850. Nov.4-1851, May 13 . Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851.

1851. June 14 .................. Second State Constitution adopted.

1854-1859 ....................... Rise of Know Nothing Party. Baltimore riots caused city to be known as

"Mobtown."
1859, Oct. 6 .................... Maryland Agricultural College opened at College Park.

1859, Oct. 16 .................. John Brown's raid launched from site in Maryland on federal arsenal at

Harper's Ferry.