Maryland - To Secede or Not

The question for Maryland was whether to secede. Virginia had already seceded on April 17, and Pennsylvania was obviously pro-Union, so Maryland was stuck in the middle. Ideally, they would liked to have remained neutral, but that was not to be. The federal government saw the prospect of the capital of Washington being surrounded if Maryland went south, and took action to occupy Annapolis and secure Baltimore. Lincoln declared martial law, and on the 27th of April suspends habeus corpus. This allows his army to detain Marylanders loyal to the South without indictment or arraignment.

Today we attended a debate in Frederick that discussed the question of whether to secede or not. Governor Hicks, a slaveowner himself, argues the point that the Union must be preserved. Mr. Wallace, who is later detained that fall and held for over a year without charges, argues that the state must break away, in this our new revolution. The legislature actually met here that spring of 1861 in the attempt to remove themselves from the heated emotions of the day in other parts of the state.

Maryland had many slaveowners, even in Frederick County, and was the home of Justice Taney who had ruled on the infamous Dred Scott decision in the Supreme Court. Attached are some pictures and short videos from today's events.