Anti Slavery In Maryland

In 2011, a team from the University of Maryland discovered relics at a former plantation house, called the Wye House, in Talbot County, Maryland. A set of West-African charms were buried in the entrance of its greenhouse, once put there centuries ago. When we were given more information, we discovered that the green house was sectioned on “Slave quarters,” meaning that the area was where slaves lived. Overall, the team inferred that the charms were hidden by slaves.

Recent discoveries such as this reminds Marylanders of the past we once were a part of. We are reminded of the days where we oppressed and enslaved people who now have been blended into our culture. Though many are aware of slavery, we never hear much about Maryland’s part. So,

Millions of northerners became sympathetic towards slaves and joined the fight against southern slave masters. “Abolitionists groups made no little secret of assisting runaways. In fact, they trumpeted it in pamphlets, periodicals, and annual reports,” as said in Goodheart’s Article. They also held Anti-Slavery Awareness through bake sales and present exchanging at commercial venues (later establishing the practice of Christmas shopping).

In Ira Berlins book, A Guide to the history of Slavery in Maryland, we hear of about anti-slavery efforts in Maryland. “Anti-Slavery forces pressed their case in Maryland, bringing the question to floor of the state legislature several times in the 1780’s and 1790’s.” Multiple cases and slave runaways later the sensitivity to the slavery issue reached its boiling point, exploding into the Civil War.

Maryland considered themselves to be a “free state” during the civil war. They were part of the union but held tightly onto slavery as the war progressed. This was because Maryland was divided with pro and anti-slavery citizens. As a result, slavery in Maryland received a lot of pressure and was extremely

Aware of MD’s stature in slavery, Lincoln only limited to states that had seceded. Slavery wasn’t over in Maryland just yet. Miranda Spivack, a Washington post writer, wrote that, “Most of the 87,000 slaves [in Maryland] would wait. Once the proclamation was issued, they [slaves] puzzled over their own status.

Maryland continued to bicker about slavery until slaves were declared free in 1864. Owners evicted the newly-former slaves from their homes and tried to apprentice slave’s children into long-term contracts. Nonetheless, former slaves were finally free from bondage and servitude. They then lived together and learned to manage themselves as an independent community.

Though declared free, African Americans still faced many struggles. Segregation was the new struggle for them as they faced much hatred, belittlement, and discrimination from their white neighbors. An article by the Washington Post revealed the history of lynching on the Eastern shore. Matthew Williams, a 23-year-old black man, was pulled out a hospital bed in Salisbury, MD. After being accused of murdering his white employer, they threw him out the window, stabbed him with an ice pick, then dragged him three blocks. They then hung him and allowed his body to hang lifelessly for twenty