The popular story of how Maryland was founded is pretty basic. George Calvert, an English Catholic, was searching for a new colony for English Catholics who faced much discrimination and hardship in their home country.The strengthening of Puritanism in England, along with the mainline Protestantism, prompted George Calvert to ask for a safe place for Catholics to worship. It has been reported that Calvert was promised a colony in Newfoundland in the New World where Calvert could settle amongst the French inhabitants.
Heroes and Villains
Depending upon your point of view, Lord Calvert was either a pious visionary, or a ruthless land grabber, or somewhere in between: a political actor who used nuance and finesse to achieve his aims. Clearly, some non-Catholics directed anti-Catholic hostility towards Calvert and the colony of Maryland. Resentment ran high by the colonies and territories bordering Maryland.
Who was George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore?
Born in Yorkshire, England, George Calvert studied at Oxford. Afterward,Calvert served in the English House of Commons. He strongly supported King James and was an advocate for the power and influence of the Crown. He was knighted by King James in 1617, and then in 1619 was granted the authority by the King as one the the King's most important Secretaries of State. Calvert worked tirelessly and loyally for the the rights and powers and authority of the Crown. This loyalty would soon be repaid.
What were Calvert's desires for the colony of Maryland?
While not born a Catholic, Calvert converted to Catholicism while a member of the King's court. Why he did this is not known. After the transition of power to Charles I, George Calvert left the King's court and aspired to colonize a portion of the New World. King James had bestowed on the the title Lord Baltimore in anticipatrion of a future governmental position. As a result of this, Calvert set out for Newfoundland, but after a brief time there, he determined the climate to be too cold and the French too unfriendly for a permanent settlement. Eventually, Calvert ended up in territory just north of the colony of Virginia. He called it Maryland as a tribute to the Queen, Henrietta Maria.
The two things that Lord Baltimore wanted to put in place were: one, he wanted to found and rule a state of his own creation. And two, he wanted object of the lord proprietor, as Baltimore was now called, was twofold. He wished to found a state and become its ruler, for he was truly a man of the world; he loved power and he loved wealth. Second, he wished to furnish a refuge for the to have a colony for Catholics, who were oppressed in the other colonies and territories in the New World, as well as England.
The Topography of the Chesapeake colony
Located north of the Potomac River, Maryland stretched west to the mountains and north encompassing what today is Maryland, and parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The Lord Baltimore "myth" probably has a lot of truth to it. However, Calvert also wanted to accrue power and money for its own sake, not necessarily for religious purposes.
Sources:
Maryland: Colonization-The Southern Colonies
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/book/chap4_2.html
Founding of Maryland
Inserted from http://www.chroniclesofamerica.com/southern-colonies/founding_of_maryland.htm>
Our Country, Vol. 1
Inserted from http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_Vol_1/sirgeorge_ej.html>
St. Mary's recreation Parks Museum Division
http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/recreate/museums/georgecalvertprinterver.asp
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 3
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03192a.htmColonial Chesapeake Society
edited by Carr, Morgan, and Russo
Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg Virginia
