A catastrophic naval voyage with the son of the Secretary of War aboard results in a grisly outcome and the creation of the Naval Academy in 1845. Note bodies hanging from yardarm.
U.S. Naval Academy is founded Read More »
John Brown leaves his 1859 hideout at the Kennedy Farm in Washington County, crosses Potomac with party of 22 to raid the Harpers Ferry Arsenal, intending to create a slave rebellion.
John Brown hides out at Kennedy Farm, preparing to attack Harpers Ferry Read More »
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, born in Baltimore, abolitionist, suffragist and writer, in 1859 publishes the first short story, then a novel by a Black woman.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper publishes first short story by a black woman. Read More »
Roger Taney, Maryland native and Supreme Court Chief Justice, delivers 7-2 opinion in 1857, in the Dred Scott case, declaring that Blacks in the US are not considered citizens nor entitled to government protection, and that Congress cannot prohibit slavery. The decision becomes a major factor leading to the Civil War.
Marylander Roger B. Taney hands down the Dred Scott decision. Read More »
Gangs from the Know Nothing Party and Southern sympathizers riot in Baltimore during elections. In 1857 fighting kills 17 gang members and injures 67 in the most intense violence of the Know Nothing era. Riots in “Mobtown” make national headlines.
Baltimore earns the label of “Mobtown” Read More »
The Poole and Hunt Foundry and Machine Works, opened in 1854, makes construction in the US Capitol possible, specifically the dome and the House and Senate wings. Poole and Hunt becomes an industrial hub with 700 employees on the Jones Falls after the Civil War.
Poole and Hunt Foundry becomes an industrial hub Read More »
Quaker abolitionist Martha Ellicott Tyson knew Benjamin Banneker when she was a child. She publishes the biography in 1854.
Abolitionist Martha Ellicott Tyson publishes first biography of Benjamin Banneker Read More »
Josiah Henson, born in Port Tobacco, escapes slavery, leads a community and learns to read and write. He becomes the model for the title character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a nationally popular anti-slavery story published in 1852.
The original slave cabin can be seen in Henson Park.
“Uncle Tom” is based on a Marylander Read More »
Dairyman and abolitionist Jacob Fussell invents the ice cream industry in 1851 in Baltimore. Looking for ways to use the extra cream in his dairy business, he sells ice cream to Baltimore. Fussell’s original ice cream wagon is in the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Ice Cream industry begins Read More »
Edward Gorsuch of Monkton, pursues 13 enslaved escapees in 1851 to Christiana, just over the Pennsylvania line. Although he has a warrant under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act., the free Black community defends the escapees and Gorsuch is killed. It is the first test of federal legislation to retrieve escaped slaves.
Fugitive Slave Act is tested in Monkton 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.
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