Poet Edgar Allan Poe dies mysteriously in Baltimore in 1849. He is found on an election day, presumably drunk, taken to a hospital where he dies three days later. His monument and tomb are in downtown Baltimore.
Edgar Allan Poe dies in Baltimore Read More »
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.
Harriet Tubman, A Moses to her People Read More »
Henry Highland Garnet, Black Maryland abolitionist who opposes the tactics of Frederick Douglass, delivers a fiery abolitionist speech, “A Call to Rebellion”, to the National Convention of Colored Citizens in 1843.
Henry Highland Garnet, leading Maryland abolitionist, opposes non-violence Read More »
Thomas Smallwood coins the expression “underground railroad,” in a newspaper column in 1842. Born a slave in PG county he teams up with Charles Torrey (pictured), a white clergyman, to help over 400 slaves escape through DC.
“Underground railroad” term coined Read More »
James W.C. Pennington, born enslaved in Queen Anne’s County, publishes the first history of African Americans in the US in 1841.
James C. Pennington, publishes “The Origins and History of Colored People” Read More »
The first American college of dentistry is chartered in 1840 by the Maryland Assembly. Prior to its founding there is no successful effort to turn dentistry into a formal profession.
First American College of Dentistry chartered Read More »
Frederick Douglass, born in Talbot County, escapes enslavement by train in 1838. He becomes a powerful speaker for abolition and the most photographed American in the 19th Century.
Frederick Douglass escapes by train from Baltimore Read More »
Georgetown College, originally located in MD, arranges sale of 272 enslaved people in 1838 from its Southern MD plantations to Louisiana buyer for $115,000. It is among the largest and best documented slave sales in US history.
Georgetown College sells 272 enslaved individuals from Southern Maryland plantations Read More »
The Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company is incorporated in 1837. Within three years, two blast furnaces, a puddling furnace and a rolling mill make the Mount Savage Iron Works the largest in the US. It makes the rails for the B&O railroad.
Savage Iron Works shows industrial growth Read More »
The 1819 US Supreme Court decision in the McCulloch vs Maryland Case expands federal power by ruling for the national bank over state banks. Chief US Justice John Marshall rules in favor of the federal government.
McCulloch vs. Maryland is the largest expansion of federal power to date Read More »
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.
© 2023 MARYLAND 400
