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.
Turkey Tayac (Phillip Proctor), the prominent Piscataway-Conoy leader of the mid-20th century, is the first Native American buried by an Act of Congress in a national park in 1978.
Lincoln suspends Habeas Corpus to jail secessionists at Ft. McHenry in 1861. John Merryman (pictured on the left) sues and Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney (center in photo) rules against Lincoln who ignores the ruling.
U.S. Representative Benjamin Harris, a pro-slavery advocate, is the only Congressman to pray for a Confederate victory on the House floor on July 4, 1863.
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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