THE MARYLAND CONSTITUTION OF 1864

I.

It is a well-known fact that the two powerful and op-
posing forces of "freedom" and "slavery" battled with
each other for years in the economic and political life of
our country, till they ended in the Civil War of 1861-5. In
fact, around these forces centred all the history of the
United States up to that time, for they were born of our
Constitution, were nursed into self-assertive strength under
its provisions, and grew as the nation expanded, step by
step, year by year, from one administration to another,
till finally they overthrew all other ties of political fealty,
religious association, and patriotic allegiance, and asserted
themselves in the great question of the hour. This ques-
tion was: Shall the nation be free in its domestic rela-
tions as in its government, or shall it countenance and pro-
tect negro slavery?

Although veiled under the immediate doctrine of
"State's Rights," this fundamental contention soon pushed
its way to the fore, and in a terrible struggle of brother
against brother, was settled forever on the basis of negro
emancipation and the integrity of the Union.

The state of Maryland, situated midway between the
North and the South, the two great sections of the country
that championed the respective sides of the question, united
within her borders both the slave system, dominant in
the southern counties, as well as the practically free labor
of the northern counties and the mountain districts. To
these must be added the city of Baltimore, a seething
cauldron of divided political sentiment, and which was often
opposed by the remainder of the Commonwealth in matters
of state polity. Hence Maryland naturally became the
scene of bitter strife, consequent upon and contempora-