355]           The Maryland Constitution of 1864.                9

electing Augustus W. Bradford governor by over 31,000
majority, 15,000 more votes than the highest candidate at
the presidential election of the preceding year.² A large
majority of the Legislature also was loyal.

By this election Maryland was definitely lost to the
cause of secession, and hereafter the main struggle was over
the support of the National Government in the war meas-
ures mentioned above. The most important of these,
which dealt with the original cause of the differences be-
tween the North and the South, was slavery, and around
the question of emancipation soon centred the political ac-
tivity of, the next three years. President Lincoln precipi-
tated the struggle in the spring of 1862, when he declared
his policy of compensated emancipation, especially for
the border states that had remained in the Union, and ulti-
mately leading to national abolition of slavery. He first
suggested this to some of the leading politicians, and
afterwards officially recommended it to Congress, but de-
sired the action of the above states to be voluntary.³

Before going further in tracing this movement, we must
take a hasty look at the changed condition of slavery in
Maryland at this time. While the interest of the people
was directed towards the stirring national affairs of political
and military moment, a domestic revolution had taken
place, not so much as dreamed of a few years before.⁴

"Scarcely a year had elapsed after the war commenced
before the institution of slavery in Maryland became utterly
demoralized. The master lost all control over his slave.
The relation between master and slave existed only as a
feature in the legislation of the past. There was no power
to compel obedience or submission on the part of the slave,

² Scharf, "Hist, of Md.," iii, 460, states that many illegal votes
were cast by Union soldiers stationed in Maryland and other in-
terested persons.

³ Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," viii, 450-1.

⁴ "American," Oct. 10, 1863 (Baltimore papers referred to, unless
otherwise stated).