Maryland is the 19th largest state in the county population wise with just over 6 million
inhabitants.
The state was the 7th to join the Union on April 28th, 1788, 82 days after Massachusetts,
the 6th state, ratified the Constitution and became a state on February 6th, 1788.
Maryland has an area 12,407 square miles, making it larger than 8 states.
The state is directly behind Missouri population wise with approximately 70,000 less inhabitants,
while it is directly ahead of Wisconsin with around 230,000 more inhabitants.
Maryland borders Pennsylvania in the North, Delaware in the East, Virginia and Washington,
D.C. in the Southwest, as well as West Virginia in the West.
It’s location places it in the Eastern Time Zone.
The highest point in the state is Hoye Crest at 3,360 feet above sea level on Backbone
Mountain.
The lowest point in the state is where Maryland meets the Atlantic Ocean at sea level.
The largest city in the state is Baltimore with an approximate population of 620,000
in the city itself and 2.8 million in the metropolitan area, making it the 21st largest
metropolitan area in the country.
Baltimore is located on the coast of the Chesapeake Bay.
The second largest city in the state, Columbia, is located a mere 15 miles from Baltimore
and is a part of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
This city has a population of around 100,000.
The capital of Maryland, Annapolis, is located 23 miles from Baltimore and has a population
of around 40,000.
Annapolis is located in Anne Arundel County, the fourth most populous of Maryland’s 23
counties with a population of around 565,000.
Somewhat strangely, the city of Baltimore is not in a county but is considered an independent
city.
The most populous county in the state is Montgomery County with a population of around 1 million,
located directly outside of the Baltimore metropolitan area and within the Washington
D.C. metropolitan area.
Kent County is the least populated county in the state with a population of around 20,000,
located across Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore.
The current flag of Maryland consist of the seals of the Calvert and Crossland families.
The yellow and black design belongs to the Calvert family, of which Cecilius Calvert
was a member of.
Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, founded Maryland as an English colony in 1634.
This design was the entire Maryland flag before the Civil War broke out.
The Crossland design began to be used to Maryland born Confederates, and by the end of the war
Maryland was synonymous with both the Calvert and the Crossland designs.
These two seals, however, were not combined into one flag until, at latest, October of
1880.
This was during Baltimore’s 150th anniversary celebration, when the first illustration was
created showing Maryland’s flag.
The first European to explore Maryland and it’s surroundings was John Cabot in 1498.
In 1632, George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, applied for a royal charter for a new colony
known as Maryland.
Shortly after George Calvert died, King Charles I granted the colony to his son, Cecilius.
Two years later, in 1634, 150 English men set sail for the new colony from England,
arriving in the South on St. Clement’s Island.
In celebration of their arrival and the founding of their new settlement known as St. Mary’s,
the colonists held their first Catholic mass on March 25th, 1634.
This day is now known as Maryland day.
From 1763 to 1767, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed Maryland’s borders with Delaware
and Pennsylvania as well as a small section of the West Virginia- Pennsylvania border,
establishing the original Mason Dixon line.
This was in an effort to resolve border disputes between Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
However, this line is more widely known for it’s later use as a divider between free
and slave states in the Civil War.
During the Revolutionary War, no significant military action occurred within the state,
however Maryland supplied the Continental Army with men, arms, ships, and more.
Following the U.S.’s victory Maryland became the 7th state to join the Union on April 28th,
1788.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Maryland remained in the Union as a border state.
Despite slavery still being legal, about half of Maryland’s African American population
was free at this time.
Antietam, a major battle in the Civil War, occurred in Sharpsburg, Maryland.
This battle resulted in 23,000 total casualties as well as Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
In the 21st century, Maryland continues to be an important member of the Union.
So that’s a brief tour of Maryland.
The state has been an important member of the country since the revolutionary war and
continues to play its part in the Union . This is Morrethy.
Thanks for watching.