Maryland is both a Southern and a Mid-Atlantic state located on the East Coast of the United States and is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a South-Atlantic state. It was the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution, and is nicknamed the Old Line State and the Free State. Its history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and Southern regions of the United States.
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For a small state, Maryland possesses a great variety of topography; hence its other nickname, "America in Miniature." It ranges from sandy dunes dotted with seagrass in the east, to low marshlands teeming with water moccasins and large bald cypress near the bay, to gently rolling hills of oak forest in the piedmont region, and mountain pine groves in the west.
Maryland is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania; on the west by West Virginia; on the north and east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean; and on the south, across the Potomac River, by Virginia and West Virginia. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted on the Maryland side by Washington, DC, which sits on land originally part of Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state, and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. A portion of extreme western Maryland in Garrett County is drained by the Youghiogheny River, as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, while the remainder of the state drains, via the Bay, into the Atlantic Ocean. So prominent is the Chesapeake in Maryland's geography and economic life that there has been periodic agitation to change the state's official nickname to "Bay State", a name currently used by Massachusetts.
The highest point in Maryland is Backbone Mountain, which is the southwest corner of Garrett County, near the border with West Virginia and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac. In western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state, is a point at which the state is only two miles (3 km) wide. This geographical curiosity, which makes Maryland the narrowest state, is located near the small town of Hancock, and results from Maryland's northern and southern boundaries being marked by the Mason-Dixon Line and the north-arching Potomac River, respectively.
The Delmarva Peninsula comprises the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the entire state of Delaware, and two counties of Virginia, which together form a long extension down the Atlantic seaboard. One of the most noted features of Delmarva is Maryland's Assateague Island, on the Atlantic, with its herd of wild ponies accustomed to the seashore.
In 1629 George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, applied to Charles I for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland, which was at the time the northern part of Virginia. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cęcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The new colony was named in honor of Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I.
On March 25, 1634, Lord Baltimore sent the first settlers into this area, which would soon become one of the few predominantly Catholic regions among the English colonies. Maryland was also one of the key destinations of tens of thousands of British convicts. The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 was one of the first laws that explicitly dictated religious tolerance (as long as it was Christian). The act is sometimes seen as a precursor to the First Amendment.
Based on an incorrect map, the royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel. This proved a problem, because the northern boundary would put Philadelphia, the major city in Pennsylvania, within Maryland. The Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania, engaged two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to survey what became known as the Mason-Dixon line, which would form the boundary between their two colonies and would later become the dividing line between North and South.
After Virginia made the practice of Anglicanism mandatory, a large number of Puritans migrated from Virginia to Maryland, and were given land for a settlement called Providence (now Annapolis). In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government and set up a new government that outlawed both Catholicism and Anglicanism.
This lasted until 1658, when the Calvert family regained control and re-enacted the Toleration Act. However, after England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, when William of Orange and his wife Mary came to the throne and firmly established the Protestant faith in England, Catholicism was again outlawed in Maryland, until after the Revolutionary War. Many wealthy plantation owners built chapels on their land so they could practice their Catholicism in relative secrecy. During the persecution of Maryland Catholics by the Puritan revolutionary government, all of the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland were burned down.
St. Mary's City was the largest site of the original Maryland colony, and was the seat of the colonial government until 1708. St Mary's is now an archaeological site, with a small tourist center. In 1708 the seat of government was moved to Providence and renamed Annapolis in honor of Queen Anne.
Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, and became the seventh state admitted to the US after ratifying the new Constitution. The following year, in December of 1790, Maryland ceded land selected by President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of Washington, D.C.
During the War of 1812, the British military attempted to capture the port of Baltimore, which was protected by Fort McHenry. It was during this bombardment that the Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key.
Despite strong support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the American Civil War, in part due to precautions taken by the government in Washington, D.C. President Lincoln suspended several civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus, ordered US troops to place artillery on Federal Hill to directly threaten the city of Baltimore and helped ensure the election of a new pro-union governor and legislature. President Lincoln even went so far as to jail certain pro-south members of the state legislature at Fort McHenry including, ironically, the grandson of Francis Scott Key. The Constitutionality of these actions is still a source of controversy and debate.
Because Maryland had not seceded from the Union, it was exempted from the anti-slavery provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation (The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states in rebellion). A constitutional convention was held during 1864 that culminated in the passage of a new state constitution on November 1 of that year. Article 24 of that document outlawed the practice of slavery. The right to vote was extended to non-white males in 1867.
Roads
Maryland's Interstate highways include I-95, which enters the northeast portion of the state, goes through Baltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-68 connects the western portions of the state to I-70 at the small town of Hancock. I-70 continues east to Baltimore, connecting Hagerstown and Frederick along the way. I-83 connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and York, Pennsylvania). Maryland also has a portion of I-81 that runs through the state near Hagerstown. I-97, fully contained within the state, the shortest one- or two-digit Interstate highway outside of Hawaii, connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area.
There are also several auxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland. Among them are I-695, the McKeldin (Baltimore) Beltway, which encircles Baltimore; a portion of I-495, the Capital Beltway, which encircles Washington, D.C.; and I-270, which connects the Frederick area with the Washington area. The Capital Beltway is currently heavily congested, however, the ICC or Intercounty Connector, which may begin construction in 2006 or early 2007, could be the beginning of an outer, second beltway. Construction of the ICC was a major part of the campaign platform of Governor Robert Ehrlich, who took office in 2003.
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Maryland also has a state highway system that contains routes numbered from 2 through 999, however most of the higher-numbered routes are either not signed or are relatively short. Some of the major state highways of Maryland include Routes 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway/Solomons Island Road), 4, 7, 100, 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway), and 404.
Airports
Maryland's main airport is Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (formerly known as Friendship Airport and recently renamed for former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was born in Baltimore). Other airports with commercial service are at Easton, Hagerstown, and Salisbury. The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. are also serviced by the other two airports in the region, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both in Northern Virginia.
Trains
Amtrak trains serve Baltimore along the Northeast Corridor. In addition, train service is provided to Rockville and Cumberland on the Amtrak Capitol Limited. MARC trains, operated by the State's Transit Authority, connect nearby Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and other towns. The Washington Metro subway and bus system serve Montgomery County and Prince George's County. The Maryland Transportation Authority's light rail and subway system serve Baltimore and adjacent suburbs.
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* For a state as small as Maryland is, it has a remarkably varied climate. It depends on various factors like elevation, rainfall, and proximity to a body of water (most significantly, the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean). The Eastern Shore region and the first ten or so miles of the Western Shore are part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This region gets hot, humid summers and cool to chilly winters, with a cool subtropical climate. This region includes the cities of Salisbury, coastal Baltimore, Annapolis, and Ocean City.
Beyond this region lies the Piedmont which has a warm Continental climate of moderately hot summers and moderately cold winters where significant snowfall is an annual occurrence. This region includes greater Washington, DC and Baltimore, Frederick, and Hagerstown. Extreme western Maryland, in Allegany County and Garrett County has a colder continental climate due to elevation (more typical of inland New England and the midwestern U.S.) with mild summers and cold, snowy winters.
Precipitation in the state is very generous, as is most of the East Coast. Annual rainfall ranges from 40-45 inches in virtually every part of the state, falling very evenly. Nearly every part of Maryland receives 3.5-4.5 inches per month of liquid precip. Snowfall varies from nine inches in the coastal areas to over 100 inches a winter in the western mountains of the state.
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* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
