HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

1800 - 1899


1802. Property qualification for voting removed in local elections.

1803. Viva voce voting at elections changed to voting by ballot.

1807, Dec. 18. University of Maryland chartered as the College of Medicine of Maryland.

1810. Property qualification ended in voting for electors for president, vice-president, and congressmen.

1810. Free blacks disenfranchised.

1814, Aug. 24. Battle of Bladensburg.

1814, Sept. 12. British repulsed at Battle of North Point.

1814, Sept. 13. Bombardment of Fort McHenry, inspired Francis Scott Key to write "Star-Spangled Banner."

1818. National Road completed from Cumberland to Wheeling, West Virginia.

1819, March 6. In M'Culloch v. Maryland, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall interpreted Constitution to signify implied powers of federal government.

1824-1829. Chesapeake and Delaware Canal constructed through Cecil County to link Chesapeake Bay with Delaware River.

1826. Jewish enfranchisement, religious qualification for civil office removed.

1827, Feb. 28. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad chartered.

1828-1848. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal constructed (to Cumberland by 1848).


[color photograph of Roger Brooke Taney statue]
Statue of Roger Brooke Taney,
State House grounds, Annapolis, Maryland,
April 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Taney served as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1836-64.


1837, May 17. The Baltimore Sun began publication.

1838, Oct. 3. Governor and State senators first elected by voters rather than by legislature.

1844, May 24. Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated telegraph line from Washington, DC, to Baltimore.

1845, Oct. 10. U.S. Naval Academy founded at Annapolis.

1850, Nov. 4-1851, May 13. Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851.

1851, June 14. Second State Constitution adopted.

1854-1859. Rise of Know Nothing Party. Baltimore riots named city "Mobtown."

1857. Peabody Institute founded in Baltimore. (The Institute is now affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University.)

1859, Oct. 6. Maryland Agricultural College opened at College Park.

1859, Oct. 16. John Brown launched raid from Maryland on federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.

1861, April 19. Sixth Massachusetts Union Regiment attacked by Baltimore mob.

1861, April 26. General Assembly met in special session at Frederick while federal troops occupied Annapolis.

1861, May 13. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Union forces occupied Baltimore.

1862, Sept. 14. Battle of South Mountain.

1862, Sept. 17. Battle of Antietam.

1863, June. Confederates invaded Maryland en route to Gettysburg.

1864, April 27-Sept. 6. Constitutional Convention of 1864.

1864, July 6. Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederates.

1864, July 9. Frederick held for ransom by Confederates.

1864, July 9. Battle of Monocacy.

1864, Oct. 12-13, 29. Gov. Bradford declared Third State Constitution adopted after soldiers' vote was added to election totals. A test oath was required of all voters.

1864, Nov. 1. Maryland slaves emancipated by State Constitution of 1864.

1867, May 8-Aug. 17. Constitutional Convention of 1867.

1867, Sept. 18. Fourth State Constitution adopted.

1876, Oct. 3. The Johns Hopkins University opened in Baltimore.

1877, Jan. 16. Maryland-Virginia boundary demarcated by Jenkins-Black Award.

1877, July 20-22. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad strike and riot at Baltimore.

1886, Jan. 5. Enoch Pratt Free Library opened in Baltimore.

1888-1889. Oyster Wars; Maryland and Virginia watermen fought on Chesapeake Bay.

1889, May 7. The Johns Hopkins Hospital dedicated in Baltimore.

1890. Australian secret ballot in elections adopted.

1893, Oct. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened in Baltimore.

1894. First child labor law passed. signed in Washington, DC, Oct. 23, 1998.

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