General George Washington resigns his Continental Army Commission to the U.S. Congress in the Annapolis Statehouse. He refuses to become an authoritarian military leader and sets the new country toward civilian control of the military, an unprecedented first. This totally new concept of government has been a guiding principle throughout our history.
Finished in the 1780s, the Maryland Statehouse is the oldest capital in continuous use in the U.S.
James W.C. Pennington, born enslaved in Queen Anne’s County, publishes the first history of African Americans in the US in 1841.
Carla Hayden heads the country’s oldest federal institution, The Library of Congress, in 2019. She is the first professional librarian, first woman and first African American in the post. Previously she directed the Enoch Pratt in Baltimore for 13 years.
Harriet Tubman escapes slavery with two brothers in 1849. Subsequently she leads 13 more escape missions, rescuing 70 individuals and she participates in Civil War military engagements in South Carolina.
We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.
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