The SAR Magazine

NOV 2015

The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.

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FALL 2015 21 By Ryan Bass and Pat Barron, Sergeant Lawrence Everhart Chapter, MDSSAR I. A PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION The American Colonies are considered the frst experiment in British imperialism, and they would also be the frst to declare, and fght for, their independence from the Crown. One colony, Maryland, would play a unique role in transforming English subjects to independent states and fnally to a new nation. Some of the frst steps were taken in Frederick County, which encompassed the entire western part of Maryland at the time. The legal repudiation of the much-hated Stamp Act of 1765 by the 12 magistrates of the county's court helped lay the foundation for momentous events that would unfold less than a decade later. Maryland was founded by the Calvert family, who were Catholic. George Calvert, frst Lord Baltimore, was the driving force behind the creation of the Maryland Colony. His desire was to establish a place where people of different faiths, especially Catholics, could coexist, and he negotiated this into the founding document. He died while the documentation was being fnalized so the Charter of Maryland, confrmed by King Charles I on June 20, 1632, was issued to his son, Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore. The Charter made Maryland the frst of the proprietary Colonies, and the second Lord Baltimore was recognized lord proprietor. Article XX of the Charter set Maryland apart from the other North American Colonies. It stated in part, "Baron of Baltimore, His Heirs and Assigns, that We, our Heirs, and Successors, at no Time hereafter, will impose, or make or cause to be imposed, any Impositions, Customs, or other Taxations, Quotas, or Contributions whatsoever, in or upon the Residents or Inhabitants of the Province aforesaid for their Goods, Lands, or Tenements within the same Province, or upon any Tenements, Lands, Goods or Chattels within the Province aforesaid, or in or upon any Goods or Merchandizes within the Province aforesaid, or within the Ports or Harbors of the said Province." This "tax-exempt status" became a selling point for enticing Colonists to Maryland. To those who strove to settle there, the meaning was quite clear. It was this original charter that would become the "fy in the ointment" when, more than a century later, King and Parliament would attempt to impose the onerous Stamp Act on Maryland citizens in 1765. Maryland was in a geopolitical position, with Quaker Pennsylvania to the north and Loyalist Virginia to the south. Juxtaposed between religious tolerance and tobacco-growing capitalism, Maryland tried to be both, generally with success. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763) the Colony was in a unique strategic situation. The western part of Maryland was close to French interests in the Ohio Valley, in particular the forks of "La Belle Riviere" at present-day Pittsburgh. Fort Cumberland, on the Potomac, was just 100 miles to the southeast. The "forks" would be contested for several years. Virginia militia and Native American allies under the command of Lt. Col. George Washington had helped to spark the war when an attempt was made to establish a British toehold at the forks in 1754. British troops and Colonial militias traversed Maryland throughout the French and Indian War moving men and materials to counter the French and their Indian allies. Though there were many instances of violent encounters between Indians and white settlers in the western areas of Maryland, the Colony, in general, was not a major theater of large-scale combat operations. In 1757 at Fort Frederick, on the upper reaches of the Potomac River, Maryland offcials successfully secured a treaty with the Cherokee, who in turn, helped to patrol the western reaches of the Colony, serving as a buffer against the French and their Indian allies. The various Acts of Trade and Navigation, frst enacted in 1651, prohibited Colonists from manufacturing goods for export. England wanted the Colonists to buy goods produced in England. This created a scarcity of hard currency with which to conduct internal transactions. If Colonists needed to purchase an essential commodity or a luxury item, they had to barter for it (tobacco being the primary good of trade) or sign a debt note. During the second half of the French and Indian War (1759-1763), Maryland planters accrued a long-term trade defcit with the mother country, borrowing more than they could ever pay back. This led to unhappy "money lenders" in England. As 1765 approached, many inhabitants of Maryland found themselves in diffcult fnancial straits. To help defray the costs of the French and Indian War, and to fnance a permanent troop presence in the Colonies, Parliament decided to impose a special tax on them. The British deemed this more than fair, as they had just expended considerable blood and treasure defending the Colonies. Great Britain had doubled its national debt during the Seven Years' War, and its own people were not going to tolerate additional taxes. Prime Minister George Grenville was the original architect of the plan for the Colonies to ante up. He was followed by the more infamous Charles Townshend. The Maryland Colonists saw this from a different point of view. They also had made sacrifces toward the victory over Louis XV and his allies. They had helped guard the border and borne the brunt of attacks against their citizenry by the Indian allies of the French. Lacking direct representation in British Parliament, they had no voice in the matter of their taxation. The Colonists considered this a violation of the 1689 Bill of Rights. The Colonials, who believed themselves to be tax-exempt based on the Maryland Charter, had no real representation in government and a huge fnancial debt from the war, plus the threat of taxes imposed by a distant Parliament. All these factors were setting up Maryland to become a political powder keg. As March 22, 1765 dawned in Frederick County, Md., few, Repudiation of the Stamp Act The repudiation of the infamous Stamp Act of 1765 by the Frederick County Court sparked the fame of liberty in Maryland a decade before the events "by the rude bridge that arched the food" at Lexington

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