Maryland

Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAR : Maryland

Maryland counties

Maryland (IPA: [ˈmæɹ.ɪ.lənd]), is both a Southern and a Mid-Atlantic state located on the East Coast of the United States and is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a South-Atlantic state. It is the seventh state admitted to the U.S. and is nicknamed the Old Line State and the Free State. Its history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and Southern regions of the United States.

Geography

For a small state, Maryland possesses a great variety of topography; hence its other nickname, "America in Miniature." It ranges from sandy dunes dotted with seagrass in the east, to low marshlands teeming with water moccasins and large bald cypress near the bay, to gently rolling hills of oak forest in the piedmont region, and mountain pine groves in the west.

Maryland is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania; on the west by West Virginia; on the north and east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean; and on the south, across the Potomac River, by Virginia and West Virginia. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted on the Maryland side by Washington, DC, which sits on land originally part of Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state, and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. A portion of extreme western Maryland in Garrett County is drained by the Youghiogheny River, as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, while the remainder of the state drains, via the Bay, into the Atlantic Ocean. So prominent is the Chesapeake in Maryland's geography and economic life that there has been periodic agitation to change the state's official nickname to "Bay State", a name currently used by Massachusetts.

The highest point in Maryland is Backbone Mountain, which is the southwest corner of Garrett County, near the border with West Virginia and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac. In western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state, is a point at which the state is only two miles (3 km) wide. This geographical curiosity, which makes Maryland the narrowest state, is located near the small town of Hancock, and results from Maryland's northern and southern boundaries being marked by the Mason-Dixon Line and the north-arching Potomac River, respectively.

The Delmarva Peninsula comprises the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the entire state of Delaware, and two counties of Virginia, which together form a long extension down the Atlantic seaboard. One of the most noted features of Delmarva is Maryland's Assateague Island, on the Atlantic, with its herd of wild ponies accustomed to the seashore.

National Park Service

• Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg
• Antietam National Cemetery
• Appalachian National Scenic Trail
• Assateague Island National Seashore
• Baltimore-Washington Parkway
• Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland
• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park on the Potomac River
• Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network
• Clara Barton National Historic Site at Glen Echo
• Fort Foote Park in Oxon Hill
• Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore
• Fort Washington Park in Fort Washington
• George Washington Memorial Parkway
• Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo
• Greenbelt Park at Greenbelt
• Hampton National Historic Site near Towson
• Harmony Hall in Prince George's County
• Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick
• Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm in Oxon Hill
• Piscataway Park in Accokeek
• Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, the corridor between the Chesapeake Bay and the Allegheny Highlands
• Suitland Parkway in Prince Georges County
• Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Port Tobacco

Climate

The 2003 USDA Zone Map for Maryland.

Precipitation in the state is very generous, as is most of the East Coast. Annual rainfall ranges from 40-45 inches in virtually every part of the state, falling very evenly. Nearly every part of Maryland receives 3.5-4.5 inches per month of liquid precip. Snowfall varies from nine inches in the coastal areas to over 100 inches a winter in the western mountains of the state. [Snowfall Map]

History

In 1629 George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, applied to Charles I for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland, which was at the time the northern part of Virginia. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The new colony was named in honor of Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I [link].

On March 25, 1634, Lord Baltimore sent the first settlers into this area, which would soon become one of the few predominantly Catholic regions among the English colonies. Maryland was also one of the key destinations of tens of thousands of British convicts. The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 was one of the first laws that explicitly dictated religious tolerance (as long as it was Christian). The act is sometimes seen as a precursor to the First Amendment.

Based on an incorrect map, the royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel. This proved a problem, because the northern boundary would put Philadelphia, the major city in Pennsylvania, within Maryland. The Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania, engaged two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to survey what became known as the Mason-Dixon line, which would form the boundary between their two colonies and would later become the dividing line between North and South.

After Virginia made the practice of Anglicanism mandatory, a large number of Puritans migrated from Virginia to Maryland, and were given land for a settlement called Providence (now Annapolis). In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government and set up a new government that outlawed both Catholicism and Anglicanism. This lasted until 1658, when the Calvert family regained control and re-enacted the Toleration Act. However, after England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, when William of Orange and his wife Mary came to the throne and firmly established the Protestant faith in England, Catholicism was again outlawed in Maryland, until after the Revolutionary War. Many wealthy plantation owners built chapels on their land so they could practice their Catholicism in relative secrecy. During the persecution of Maryland Catholics by the Puritan revolutionary government, all of the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland were burned down.

St. Mary's City was the largest site of the original Maryland colony, and was the seat of the colonial government until 1708. St Mary's is now an archaeological site, with a small tourist center. In 1708 the seat of government was moved to Providence and renamed Annapolis in honor of Queen Anne.

Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, and became the seventh state admitted to the US after ratifying the new Constitution. The following year, in December of 1790, Maryland ceded land selected by President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of Washington, D.C..

During the War of 1812, the British military attempted to capture the port of Baltimore, which was protected by Fort McHenry. It was during this bombardment that the Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key.

Despite strong support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the American Civil War, in part due to precautions taken by the government in Washington, D.C. President Lincoln suspended several civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus, ordered US troops to place artillery on Federal Hill to directly threaten the city of Baltimore and helped ensure the election of a new pro-union governor and legislature. President Lincoln even went so far as to jail certain pro-south members of the state legislature at Fort McHenry including, ironically, the grandson of Francis Scott Key. The Constitutionality of these actions is still a source of controversy and debate. Because Maryland had not seceded from the Union, it was exempted from the anti-slavery provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation (The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states in rebellion). A constitutional convention was held during 1864 that culminated in the passage of a new state constitution on November 1 of that year. Article 24 of that document outlawed the practice of slavery. The right to vote was extended to non-white males in 1867.

Demographics

Maryland population distribution

As of 2005, Maryland has an estimated population of 5,600,388, which is an increase of 39,056, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 303,882, or 5.7%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 165,707 people (that is 395,775 births minus 230,068 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 118,724 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 108,972 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 9,752 people.

As of 2004, Maryland's population included 583,900 foreign-born residents (10.6% of the state population), of which an estimated 56,000 are undocumented immigrants(1% of the state population).

Most of the population of Maryland lives in the central region of the state, in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The Eastern Shore is less populous and more rural, as are the counties of southern Maryland.

Historical populations
Census year	Population
1790	319,728
1800	341,548
1810	380,546
1820	407,350
1830	447,040
1840	470,019
1850	583,034
1860	687,049
1870	780,894
1880	934,943
1890	1,042,390
1900	1,188,044
1910	1,295,346
1920	1,449,661
1930	1,631,526
1940	1,821,244
1950	2,343,001
1960	3,100,689
1970	3,922,399
1980	4,216,975
1990	4,781,468
2000	5,296,486

The three counties of Western Maryland (Allegany, Garrett, and Washington) are mountainous and sparsely populated, resembling West Virginia more than they do the rest of Maryland. Although the African American proportion is not as high as it was during the eighteenth century peak of tobacco plantation production (when it was 38%), Maryland still has the largest black population of any state outside of the Deep South.

Race

• 59.8% White, not Hispanic
• 29.1% Black
• 4.6% Asian
• 0.3% Native American
• 1.5% Mixed race

The four largest reported ancestries in Maryland are: German (15.7%), Irish (11.7%), English (9%), American (5.8%).

Blacks are concentrated in Baltimore City, Prince George's County, and the southern Eastern Shore. Most of the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland are populated by Marylanders of British ancestry. Western and northern Maryland have large German-American populations.

Maryland has one of the largest proportions of racial minorities in the country, trailing only the four minority-majority states.

Religion

• Christian – 82%
• *Protestant – 56%
• **Baptist – 18%
• **Methodist – 11%
• **Lutheran – 5%
• **Episcopal – 3%
• **Other Protestant or general Protestant – 19%
• *Roman Catholic – 23%
• *Other Christian – 3%
• Jewish – 3%
• Other Religions – 1%
• Non-Religious – 14%

Notwithstanding numerical positions, the founding intent of Maryland has made the state prominent in US Catholic tradition. For example, Baltimore was the location of the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. (1789) and Emmitsburg was the home and burial place of the first American-born citizen to be canonized, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Economy

[The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that Maryland's gross state product in 2004 was US$228 billion[link]. Per capita personal income in 2003 was US$37,446, 5^th in the nation.

Maryland's economic activity is strongly concentrated in the tertiary service sector, and this sector, in turn, is strongly influenced by location. One major service activity is transportation, centered around the Port of Baltimore and its related rail and trucking access. The port ranked 10th in the U.S. by tonnage in 2002 (Source: U.S. Corps of Engineers, "Waterborn Commerce Statistics"). Although the port handles a wide variety of products, the most typical imports are raw materials and bulk commodities, such as iron ore, petroleum, sugar, and fertilizers, often distributed to the relatively close manufacturing centers of the inland Midwest via good overland transportation. The port also receives several different brands of imported motor vehicles.

A second service activity takes advantage of the close location of the center of government in Washington, D.C. and emphasizes technical and administrative tasks for the defense/aerospace industry and bio-research laboratories, as well as staffing of satellite government headquarters in the suburban or exurban Baltimore/Washington area. In addition many educational and medical research institutions are located in the state. In fact, the various components of Johns Hopkins University and its medical research facilities are now the largest single employer in the Baltimore area. Altogether, white collar technical and administrative workers comprise 25% of Maryland's labor force, one of the highest state percentages in the country.

Many Federal government agencies are located in Maryland, including:

• * Census Bureau
• * Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• * Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
• * Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• * Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• * Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• * National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
• * National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center
• * National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), formerly the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
• * National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• * National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• * Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
• * National Security Agency (NSA)
• * Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
• * Social Security Administration (SSA)
• * Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• * Consumer Product Safety Commission

• Aberdeen Proving Ground
• Andrews Air Force Base
• Army Research Laboratory
• National Naval Medical Center
• Fort Meade
• Fort Detrick
• Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center
• Naval Air Station Patuxent River
• School of Military Packing Technology
• United States Naval Academy
• Webster Field
• Bainbridge Naval Training Center (closed in 1976)

Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones, although this land use is being encroached upon by urbanization. Agriculture is oriented to dairying for nearby large city milksheads plus specialty perishable horticulture crops, such as cucumbers, watermelons, sweet corn, tomatoes, muskmelons, squash, and peas (Source:USDA Crop Profiles). In addition, the southern counties of the western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay are warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop zone, which has existed since early Colonial times. There is also a large chicken-farming sector in the state.

The third component of the food producing sector is Maryland's food processing plants, which are the most significant type of manufacturing by value in the state.

Manufacturing, while large in dollar value, is highly diversified with no sub-sector contributing over 20% of the total. Typical forms of manufacturing include electronics, computer equipment, and chemicals. The once mighty primary metals sub-sector, which at one time included what was then the largest steel factory in the world at Sparrows Point, still exists, but is pressed with foreign competition, bankruptcies, and company mergers.

Mining other than construction materials is virtually limited to coal, which is located in the mountainous western part of the state. The brownstone quarries in the east, which gave Baltimore and Washington much of their characteristic architecture in the mid-1800s, were once a predominant natural resource. Historically, there used to be small gold mining operations in Maryland, some surprisingly near Washington, but these no longer exist.

Maryland imposes 4 income tax brackets, ranging from 2 percent to 4.75 percent of personal income. The city of Baltimore and Maryland's 23 counties levy local "piggyback" income taxes at rates between 1.25 percent and 3.2 percent of Maryland taxable income. Local officials set the rates and the revenue is returned to the local governments quarterly. Maryland's state sales tax is 5 percent. All real property in Maryland is subject to the property tax. Generally, properties that are owned and used by religious, charitable, or educational organizations or property owned by the federal, state or local governments are exempt. Property tax rates vary widely. No restrictions or limitations on property taxes are imposed by the state, meaning cities and counties can set tax rates at the level they deem necessary to fund governmental services. These rates can increase, decrease or remain the same from year to year. If the proposed tax rate increases the total property tax revenues, the governing body must advertise that fact and hold a public hearing on the new tax rate. This is called the Constant Yield Tax Rate process.

Baltimore City is the eighth largest port in the nation, and was recently at the center of a controversy over the Dubai Ports World deal because it was considered to be of such strategic importance. The state as a whole is heavily industrialized, with a booming economy and influential technology centers. Its computer industries are some of the most sophisticated in the United States, and the federal government has invested heavily in the area. Maryland is home to several large military bases and scores of high level government jobs.

Maryland is the fifth wealthiest state in the nation [link].

Transportation

Roads

-->

Maryland's Interstate highways include I-95, which enters the northeast portion of the state, goes through Baltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-68 connects the western portions of the state to I-70 at the small town of Hancock. I-70 continues east to Baltimore, connecting Hagerstown and Frederick along the way. I-83 connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and York, Pennsylvania). Maryland also has a portion of I-81 that runs through the state near Hagerstown. I-97, fully contained within the state, the shortest one- or two-digit Interstate highway outside of Hawaii, connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area.

There are also several auxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland. Among them are I-695, the McKeldin (Baltimore) Beltway, which encircles Baltimore; a portion of I-495, the Capital Beltway, which encircles Washington, D.C.; and I-270, which connects the Frederick area with the Washington area. The Capital Beltway is currently heavily congested, however, the ICC or Intercounty Connector, which may begin construction in 2006 or early 2007, could be the beginning of an outer, second beltway. Construction of the ICC was a major part of the campaign platform of Governor Robert Ehrlich, who took office in 2003.

Maryland also has a state highway system that contains routes numbered from 2 through 999, however most of the higher-numbered routes are either not signed or are relatively short (see List of minor Maryland state highways). Some of the major state highways of Maryland include Routes 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway/Solomons Island Road), 4, 7, 100, 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway), and 404.

Airports

Trains

Law and government

The Government of Maryland is conducted according to the state constitution. The Government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States. Maryland is a republic; the United States guarantees her "republican form of government" ^[] although there is considerable disagreement about the meaning of that phrase.

Power in Maryland is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. Unlike most other states, significant autonomy is granted to many of Maryland's counties.

Most of the business of government is done in Annapolis, the state capital. Virtually all state and county elections are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four, in which the President of the United States is not elected - this, as in other states, is intended to divide state and federal politics.

Politics

Maryland has supported the Democrat candidate in the last four presidential elections, and by an average of 15.4%. In 1980, it was one of just 6 states to vote for Jimmy Carter. Maryland is often among the Democrat nominees' best states. In 1992, Bill Clinton faired better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas. In 1996, Maryland was Clinton's 6th best, in 2000 Maryland ranked 4th for Gore and in 2004 John Kerry showed his 5th best performance in Maryland.

Both Maryland Senators and six of its eight Representatives in Congress are Democrats, and Democrats hold super-majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates. John Kerry easily won the state's 10 electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 13 percentage points with 55.9% of the vote. However, presidential election years are not deeply contested as national party resources are spent mostly in swing states, and turnout and interest is frequently relatively low.

The 2006 election cycle will be an exception in Maryland politics as there are two highly contested races shaping up. It has a high chance of also garnering national attention. Senator Paul Sarbanes is retiring, leaving an open seat for the senate. Congressman Benjamin Cardin and former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume are currently the two front runners for the democratic ticket while current Lt. Govenor Michael Steele is likely to be the Republican nominee. Race may play an issue in the election as Michael Steele is one of few black G.O.P. members running on statewide tickets. The govenorship is also a point of interest as Robert Ehrlich will be the republican incubment against Martin O'Malley. Doug Duncan, another leading candidate for the Democratic slot, pulled out of the highly anticipated primary announcing his withdrawal on June 22, 2006 citing clinical depression.

Important cities and towns

• Annapolis – state capital, home of United States Naval Academy
• Baltimore – most populous city; commercial and cultural hub
• Bethesda – Suburb of D.C; Home to National Institutes of Health (N.I.H) and Bethesda Naval Hospital; best-educated city in the U.S with a population of 50,000 or more.
• College Park – D.C. suburb, home to the University of Maryland, College Park and College Park Airport, the oldest continuously operated airport in the United States
• Columbia – large unincorporated planned community managed by the Columbia Association; were it incorporated, it would be Maryland's 2nd largest city
• Cumberland – county seat of Allegany County; regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland
• Ellicott City – county seat of Howard County
• Frederick – western gateway to Appalachian Mountains, suburban center, county seat of Frederick County
• Germantown – home to the Department of Energy; fastest growning community in Montgomery County
• Gaithersburg – home to National Institute of Standards and Technology; 2nd most populous city.
• Hagerstown – largest community in 3 county Western Maryland region
• Ocean City – very popular beach resort on Atlantic coastline; 2nd most populous city in numbers of residents during the summer months
• Rockville – county seat and business center of Montgomery County northwest of Washington; 3rd largest city
• Salisbury – largest city and business center of Delmarva peninsula
• Silver Spring – (Unincorporated City) 2nd largest "place" (population-wise) in Maryland. Home to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the headquarters of the Discovery Channel.
• Towson – county seat of suburban Baltimore County

Education

Colleges and universities

Professional sports

• Maryland Championship Wrestling

Miscellaneous topics

State symbols

• State bird: Baltimore Oriole
• State boat: skipjack
• State cat: calico cat
• State crustacean: blue crab
• State dinosaur: Astrodon johnstoni
• State dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
• State drink: milk
• State fish: rockfish (striped bass)
• State flower: Black-eyed Susan
• State folk dance: square dance
• State fossil: Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae
• State gem: Patuxent River Stone
• State horse: thoroughbred horse
• State insect: Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
• State nicknames: "The Old Line State" and "The Free State."
• State reptile: diamondback terrapin
• State song: "Maryland, My Maryland"
• State sport: jousting, lacrosse (state team sport)
• State theatres: Center Stage and Olney Theatre
• State tree: white oak

Sister states

• Anhui Province, China
• State of Jalisco, Mexico
• Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
• Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea
• Łódź Voivodship, Poland
• State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Wallonia, Belgium
• Région Nord-Pas de Calais, France

• Saint Petersburg, Russia

Further reading

• Robert J. Brugger. Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980 (1996) full scale history
• Suzanne Ellery Greene Chappelle, Jean H. Baker, Dean R. Esslinger, and Whitman H. Ridgeway. Maryland: A History of its People (1986)
• Lawrence Denton. A Southern Star for Maryland (1995)

See also

• List of people from Maryland
• List of parks in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area
• Scouting in Maryland

External links

• [State of Maryland] (government website)
• [U.S. Census Bureau]
• [Maryland Authors and Literature]
• [League of the South - Maryland Chapter]
• [Catholic Encyclopedia article]
• [Jewish Encyclopedia article]
• [Maryland State Facts]

1. redirect

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.