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NUMBER 12.
RESOLUTIONS remonstrating against the unlaw-
ful arrests of citizens of Maryland and the mani-
fold usurpations and oppressions of the Federal
Government.
WHEREAS, Ross Winans, a member of the House
of Delegates of Maryland, from the city of Balti-
more, on his way to his home from the discharge
of his official duties, on the fourteenth of May last,
was arbitrarily and illegally arrested on a public
highway, in the presence of the Governor of this
State, by an armed force under the orders of the
Federal Government, and was forcibly imprisoned
and held in custody, thereafter, at Annapolis and
Fort McHenry, without color of lawful process or
right by the command, and at the arbitrary will
and pleasure of the President of the United States;
AND WHEREAS, sundry other citizens of Maryland
have been unlawfully dealt with in the same des-
potic and oppressive manner, by the same usurped
authority, and some of them have in fact been re-
moved by force beyond the limits of the State of
Maryland, and the jurisdiction of her tribunals, in
utter violation of their rights, as citizens, and of
the rights of the State, as a member of the Fede-
ral Union; and
WHEREAS, the unconstitutional and arbitrary
proceedings of the Federal Executive have not been
confined to the violation of the personal rights and
liberties of the citizens of Maryland, but have been
extended into every department of oppressive
illegality, so that the property of no man is safe;
the sanctity of no dwelling is respected, and the
sacredness of private correspondence no longer ex-
ists; and,
WHEREAS, the Senate and House of Delegates of
Maryland, recognizing the obligation of the State,
as far as in her lies, to protect and defend her peo-
ple against usurped and arbitrary power, how-
ever difficult the fulfilment of that high obligation
May be rendered by disastrous circumstances, feel it
due to her dignity and independence, that History
13
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NUMBER 12
Assented to
June 22, 1861.
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