The Maryland History and Culture Bibliography
Rice, James D. "The Criminal Trial Before and After the Lawyers: Authority, Law, and Culture in Maryland Jury Trials, 1681-1937." American Journal of Legal History 40 (October 1996): 455-75.
Categories: Politics and Law, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
"Practices in Maryland, 1681-1837." Journal of the Early Republic 19 (Spring 1999): 15-42.
Notes: A case study of Maryland as colony and state to determine why some states adopted the penitentiary earlier than others; whether the rise of the penitentiary was a revolutionary development; and whether the diverse paths to the penitentiary produced diverse forms. This study roots the development of the penitentiary in a regional and local context.
Categories: African American, Economic, Business, and Labor History, Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century
Riley, Elihu S., and Conway Whittle Sams. The Bench and Bar of Maryland: A History, 1634-1901. 2 vols. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1901.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Rose, Lou. "A Memorable Trial in Seventeenth-Century Maryland." Maryland Historical Magazine 83 (Winter 1988): 365-68.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century
Semmes, Raphael. Crime and Punishment in Early Maryland. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1938.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century
Snell, Tee Loftin. "Lords Brethen and Lords Calvert 1625-1647." In The Wild Shores: America's Beginnings, 117-35. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1974.
Stiverson, Gregory A. "'To Maintain Inviolate Our Liberties': Maryland and the Bill of Rights." In The Bill of Rights and the States: The Colonial and Revolutionary Origins of American Liberties. Edited by Patrick T. Conley and John P. Kaminski, 370-97. Madison, WI: Madison House Publishers, 1992.
Notes: The tension between the rights of citizens and the authority of the state existed from the founding of Maryland and served as a background for the debate over whether the new federal Constitution required the adoption of a bill of rights to protect the liberties of the people. During the colonial period the issue was whether Maryland settlers enjoyed the rights of Englishmen and what exactly those rights were. In addition, since the Calverts sought to create a colony where Catholics could practice their religion unimpaired, religious toleration was of paramount importance. The Puritan ascendancy during the English Civil War made life difficult for Maryland Catholics and over time religious toleration was the best that could be accomplished. The Maryland Declaration of Rights (1776), predicated on long experience defending liberties from arbitrary government, was a comprehensive written statement of the right of the people to govern themselves and to have their rights defined. Small wonder that Marylanders would feel strongly that adoption of a federal bill of rights was essential and that the Anti-Federalists were able to capitalize on this sentiment.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Surrency, Erwin C. "The Courts in the American Colonies." American Journal of Legal History 11 (1967): 253-276.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Surrency, Erwin C., ed. "Report on Court Procedures in the Colonies - 1700." American Journal of Legal History 9 (1965): 167-178, 234-246.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Tate, Thad W., and David L. Ammerman, eds. The Chesapeake in the Seventeenth Century Essays on Anglo-American Society & Politics. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Notes: A collection of papers presented at a scholarly conference in 1974 covering all aspects of Chesapeake life and politics in the 17th century. Many of these scholars - especially Lois Green Carr, Lorena S. Walsh, Darrett and Anita Rutman, David W. Jordan, and Russell R. Menard - would become the core of a new "Chesapeake School," whose hallmark was to breathe life and insight into mute statistical records. Their influence into our understanding of this period cannot be overstated.
Categories: General, Politics and Law, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century
Yackel, Peter G. "Benefit of Clergy in Colonial Maryland." Maryland Historical Magazine 69 (Winter 1974): 383-97.
Categories: Politics and Law, Religion, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Yackel, Peter Garrett. The Original Criminal Jurisdiction of the Superior Courts of Judicature of Colonial Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts. Ph.D. diss., Ohio State University, 1973.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Carr, Lois Green. "Sources of Political Stability and Upheaval in Seventeenth-Century Maryland." Maryland Historical Magazine 79 (Spring 1984): 44-70.
Notes: Challenging the prevailing notion that seventeenth century Maryland politics were inherently chaotic, Carr argues that community networks were being formed through which information was exchanged and community oversight imposed, and that County courts emerged as <em>de facto</em> local governments. Local men, who may have been planters or former indentured servants, were appointed as justices. During the hiatus following the Revolution of 1689 local government continued to operate. After discussing the various political crises before and after 1689, Carr concludes that the underlying cause of Maryland's political instability was a failure of leadership of the men at the top of Maryland society.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, St. Mary's County
Carr, Lois Green. "Maryland's Seventeenth Century." Maryland Humanities (Winter 2001): 6-12.
Notes: This is an especially cogent overview by the dean of the modern Chesapeake School of historians of the major issues concerning Maryland's founding and the travails encountered by those who settled there over the remainder of the century. It should also tantalize readers to consult her many other publications.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century
Everstine, Carl N. The General Assembly of Maryland 1634-1776. Charlottesville, VA: Mitchie Company, 1980.
Notes: The first of a three volume institutional study of the Maryland General Assembly based primarily on legislative sources. After establishing the legislative inheritance based upon the English experience, this study focuses on the emergence of the assembly in colonial Maryland as a political force, often in opposition to the Proprietor's efforts to maintain his power and privileges. Among the topics covered are the Glorious Revolution, Maryland as a Royal Colony, the restoration, and the various events leading up to the Revolution and independence. The book ends with a chapter on government by convention between 1774 and 1776 and the departure of Governor Eden.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Jordan, David W. Foundations of Representative Government in Maryland, 1632-1715. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Notes: This book makes a real contribution in two different areas: it traces the development of representative government, with special emphasis on the assembly, in a colony where the Proprietor did not want it; and it works from a detailed examination of the assemblymen to show the importance of the emergence of a native political elite on Maryland politics. This individualized analysis is no mean feat considering the lack of personal detail in surviving records. The narrative covers Lord Baltimore's initial effort to create a manor system, the emergence of county as the primary unit of government, the various efforts to challenge his leadership, which ultimately led to the revocation of the Charter and the establishment of a Royal government, and the restoration of the proprietorship.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century
Menard, Russell R., and Lois Green Carr. "The Lords Baltimore and the Colonization of Maryland." In Early Maryland in a Wider World, edited by David B. Quinn, 167-215. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982.
Notes: This is a richly detailed examination of the English roots of the Charter of 1632 and its implementation on the far shores of the Chesapeake Bay through about 1660. This study traces the voyage of the <em>Ark</em> and the <em>Dove</em>, the efforts of the proprietors to attract large investors through the recreation of the medieval manor system, the investors who joined in this venture, and the expectation that the fur trade would generate immediate revenue for the Proprietor. The goal of the Calvert vision was to create a refuge for Catholic Englishmen. The initial settlement on the St. Mary's River was successful, but the fragility of the experiment was soon apparent. The fur trade proved non-existent and the manorial system did not suit the topological conditions of the region. The county court and the provincial assembly emerged as important embryonic institutions. Much of this essay details how the settlers adapted to this new agricultural environment and the importance of indentured labor.
Categories: Politics and Law, Seventeenth Century
Brooks, Neale A., and Eric G. Rockel. A History of Baltimore County. Towson, MD: Friends of the Towson Library, 1979.
Notes: A history of Baltimore County inspired by the United States bicentennial, this comprehensive volume traces the evolution of the county which once represented the sole political jurisdiction in the region. Early settlement led to subdivision to establish other counties, and the growth of Baltimore City produced eventual separation of legal and governmental functions between county and city in the 1850s. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries growth and expansion of the city further eroded the county's space in the annexations of 1888 and 1918. The book concludes with consideration of the suburban boom of the post-World War II period and its impact on the county's politics. Extensive source notes make this a valuable resource for students of Baltimore County social history.
Categories: County and Local History, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Baltimore County
Carr, Lois Green. "Emigration and the Standard of Living: The Seventeenth Century Chesapeake." Journal of Economic History 52 (June 1992): 271-91.
Notes: Carr contends that the experience of moving from England to the Chesapeake region of America in the seventeenth century was not simply a change of homeland, but a drastic change in lifestyle. She evaluates such factors as marriage, birth rates, life expectancy, diet, housing, working conditions and social freedoms for the English who chose to emigrate to America in that first century. Carr argues that, with the exception of diet, the standard of living may have been higher had the colonists remained in England, but in terms of economic independence and some degree of political participation, their prospects in the New World were superior.
Categories: County and Local History, Economic, Business, and Labor History, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, Chesapeake Region
Carr, Lois Green, and Russell R. Menard. "Immigration and Opportunity: The Freedman in Early Colonial Maryland." In The Chesapeake in the Seventeenth Century: Essays in Anglo-American Society, edited by Thad W. Tate and David L. Ammerman, 206-242. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Carr, Lois Green, Russell R. Menard, and Louis Peddicord. Maryland. . . at the Beginning. Annapolis, MD: Hall of Records Commission, Dept. of General Services, 1984.
Carr, Lois Green, Phillip D. Morgan, and Jean B. Russo, eds. Colonial Chesapeake Society. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988.
Categories: County and Local History, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, Chesapeake Region
Carr, Lois Green, and Lorena S. Walsh. "Changing Life Styles in Colonial St. Mary's County." Working Papers from the Regional Economic History Research Center 1 (no. 3, 1978): 73-118.
Categories: County and Local History, Economic, Business, and Labor History, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, St. Mary's County
Carr, Lois Green, and Lorena S. Walsh. "Inventories and the Analysis of Wealth and Consumption Patterns in St. Mary's County, Maryland, 1658-1777." Historical Methods 13 (Spring 1980): 81-104.
Categories: County and Local History, Economic, Business, and Labor History, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, St. Mary's County
Carr, Lois Green, and Lorena S. Walsh. "The Standard of Living in the Colonial Chesapeake." William and Mary Quarterly 45 (January 1988): 135-59.
Notes: Carr and Walsh make detailed use of probate records from seventeenth and eighteenth century Maryland to argue that the period in Chesapeake area history represented a shift from an early emphasis upon material necessities to an improved standard of living marked by "gentility." The authors contend that this change reached across class lines and helped to fuel, rather than check, the productive economy of the colony. The article includes extensive tables and graphs of evidence regarding consumer items for several Maryland and Virginia counties.
Categories: County and Local History, Society, Social Change, Folklife, and Popular Culture, Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Anne Arundel County, St. Mary's County, Somerset County, Chesapeake Region, Southern Maryland, Eastern Shore