Unit 3: A Changing State

Unit 3: A Changing State

In our third unit we will be learning about changes over time in Maryland and the United States from the Civil War to today.

Key Vocabulary

Abolitionist	Someone who worked to end slavery in the United States.
Allies	A person or group that joins with another person or group to work toward a goal.
Amendment	A change or addition to a constitution
Beltway	Major road that travels around a city rather than through it.
Black Codes	Unfair laws that limited the rights of newly freed African Americans.
Blockade	Use of ships or troops to keep people and goods from entering or leaving an area.
Border State	A state that  allowed slavery but chose not to secede from the Union.
Casualty	A soldier who is killed or wounded.
Citizen	Someone who is born in a country or who promises to be loyal to that country.
Civil Rights	The rights that the government guarantees its citizens.
Civil War	People who live in the same country fight against one another.
Confederacy	The group of southern states that tried to start their own country during the Civil War.
Constitution	A written plan for government.
Depression	A period when businesses fail, prices drop, and jobs are hard to find.
Dictator	A ruler who has total power over a country.
Dredge	To drag large baskets along the bottom of a body of water to catch oysters.
Emancipation	To free.
Emancipation Proclamation	Gave freedom to enslaved people in the states that were rebelling against the Union.
Freedman’s Bureau	An organization that provided food, clothing, and advice to poor African Americans.
Immigrant	Someone who moves to a new country.
Integration	Bringing people of different races together.
Plantation	A large farm on which crops are grown by workers who live there.
Protest	To complain against an idea or action; to speak out against something.
Reconstruction	Period when the United States had to rebuild cities and decide how the South would become part of the Union.
Reform	A change that makes something better.
Rule of Law	The idea that laws should apply to everyone in the same way.
Secede	To leave or break off from a country
Segregation	Keeping people of different races apart, especially in public places like schools.
Slavery	A system in which people can be bought and sold and made to work without pay.1
Suburb	A community outside a large city.
Surrender	To give up.
Sweatshop	Small factory in which people worked very hard in poor conditions for little money.
Unemployment	The condition of being without a job.
Union	Another name for the United States; the northern states during the American Civil War.

Maryland's Economy

By the mid-1800s, the Northern and Southern portions of Maryland had developed very different economies.  Southern Maryland depended mostly on farming crops such as cotton and tobacco.  In the north, the economy was based on idustry.  Factories, shipbuilding, transportation, and iron industries.  While the south depended on slavery, the northern industries did not depend on slavery.  Due to this, Marylanders were divided on the issue of slavery.  To learn more about Maryland's farming economy go to the link Wheat and Tobacco Crops That Built a State.  To learn more about the shipbuilding industry go to the link Shipbuilding on the Chesapeake.

Slavery in Maryland

Not all African Americans in Maryland were enslaved.  In 1860, there were more than 80,000 free African Americans in the state.  Life for free African Americans was very difficult, especially on the Eastern Shore.  These workers were often paid in food and clothing and had few opportunites for better lives.  Free African Americans in Baltimore were more successful and some worked as blacksmiths, barbers, shoemakers, shopkeepers, and shipbuilders.  In Baltimore free African Americans formed a community a built churches, schools, and banks.

In the mid-1800s Marylanders were divided on whether slavery should be allowed.  Some people became abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass.  Other abolitionists helped enslaved people escape on the Underground Railroad.  Many routes went through Maryland.  Harriet Tubman was a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad who helped about 300 people escape.  To learn more about Maryland and the Underground Railroad go to the link Pathway to Freedom: Maryland and the Underground Railroad.  To learn more about slavery in Baltimore read a story of two slaves brought to Baltimore at the link On the Block in Baltimore: From Slavery to Freedom.

In 1864, Maryland wrote a new constitution, which ended slavery in the state.

Civil War

To learn about the causes of the Civil War go to the link Causes and Effects of the Civil War. To follow the events of the Civil War go to the link Timeline of the Civil War.  To learn about Civil War soldiers and become one yourself go to the interactive link Civil War Soldier.  To learn about African American and women soldiers of the Civil War go to the links Civil War: African American Soldiers and Women of the American Civil War.  Extend your learning with the Thinkquest, The American Civil War.

Maryland and the Civil War

In 1860, southern states began seceding and formed a new country called the Confederate States of America.  Maryland's citizens were divided about whether to secede.  Eastern and southern Marylanders who depended on slavery for their farms and plantations often sided with the Confederacy.  Western Marylanders who depended more on industry often sided with the North.  The governor of Maryland called the state government together to decide whether to secede.  Maryland decided to stay in the Union and became a border state.  Although Maryland stayed in the Union throughout the war, many Marylanders fought on the side of the Confederacy.   As the war continued troops from both sides traveled through Maryland.  In addition to the Battle of Antietam, several smaller battles were also fought in Maryland.  To learn more about the battles in Maryland go to the links Maryland Civil War Map of Battles , Battle of Antietam Newspaper Article, and Maryland in the Civil War: Signaling an Invasion.

Rebuilding Maryland

After the war, in 1870, African Americans were given the right to vote.  When African Americans tried to vote, some Marylanders trip to keep them from voting.  African Americans faced segregation in Maryland and elsewhere.

Maryland's economy was struggling.  Railroads and canals had been destroyed during the war.  Some factories and businesses closed during the war.

Industries that provided supplies to Union troops did well.  As transportation routes improved, new industries started in the state.  Growth in the farming and oyster-harvesting industries helped the canning industry grow.    During the late 1800's industries grew quickly, cities were growing, and more people were coming to Maryland.

Maryland in a Changing World

Additional historical events we will be covering, with less detail are:

• Maryland during World War I: Maryland factories produced ships, guns, and uniforms.  Army and navy hospitals and training centers opened.  Marylanders rationed food.
• Great Depression in Maryland:  Many banks in Maryland closed so many people lost their life savings.  Unemployment increased.  A federal government program built new communities, such as Greenbelt, Maryland.
• Maryland during World War II: More than 200,000 Marylanders served during the war.  Military camps trained troops from all over the country.  The National Naval Medical Center was built to help wounded soldiers.  Maryland factories made war supplies such as ships and airplanes.
• Civil Rights in Maryland: Starting with schools in Baltimore, schools throughout Maryland and the nation began to integrate.   Maryland, like the rest of the country, supported or opposed various civil rights.

 To learn more about U.S. History from The Great Depression to World War II.

 To learn about immigration.

 To learn about African American History go to this timeline.

 To read biographies of distinguished Maryland African Americans.

 To learn more about immigration to Baltimore in 1883.

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