Pre-Revolutionary Maryland centered on Annapolis, which was the colonial capital, and the rapidly growing city of Baltimore. The economy had long been tobacco-driven, with taxes paid to the British Crown in hogsheads, but as tobacco depleted the soil, Baltimore, which was the westernmost Atlantic port in the colonies, became a strategic center for trade in grain and other goods. Taverns and coffeehouses in both cities became incubators for Revolutionary sentiment and the formation of early militia groups. The Stamp Act, which taxed newspapers and sought to control the press, provoked particular resistance. Maryland’s four Declaration signers—Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Samuel Chase, William Paca, and Thomas Stone—were all wealthy men with houses in Annapolis and vast landholdings, heavily reliant on enslaved labor even as they championed the cause of liberty.
Interviewees
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Catherine Arthur
- Vice President of Collections and Chief Curator, Maryland Center for History and Culture
