HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

1700 - 1799


1715. Restoration of proprietary rights to Charles Calvert, 5th Lord Baltimore.

1718. Catholics disenfranchised.

1727, Sept. Maryland Gazette began publication at Annapolis.

1729. Baltimore Town established.


[color photograph of Robert Long House]
Robert Long House, Fells Point,
Baltimore, Maryland, 1999.
Oldest residence in Baltimore.
Photo by Diane P. Frese.


1732. Establishment of boundary line with three lower counties of Pennsylvania, which later became Delaware.

1744, June 30. Native-American chiefs of the Six Nations relinquished by treaty all claims to land in colony.

1747. Tobacco inspection law enabled Maryland to control quality of exports.

1755. Gen. Edward Braddock led expedition through Maryland to the west.

1763-1767. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed boundary line with Pennsylvania.

1765, Nov. 23. Stamp Act resistance at Frederick.

1772, March 28. Cornerstone laid for State House in Annapolis.

1774, April 19. Last colonial General Assembly prorogued.

1774, June 22. First Provincial Convention met at Annapolis.

1774, Oct. 19. Burning of the Peggy Stewart in Annapolis harbor.

1775, March 22. "Bush Declaration" signed, Harford County.

1775, July 26. Association of Freemen formed.

1775, Aug. 29. Council of Safety organized.

1776, June 26. Departure of Robert Eden, Maryland's last colonial governor.

1776, July 4. Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia. Engrossed copy signed by Marylanders William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Thomas Stone, and Samuel Chase.

1776, July 6. Maryland Convention declared independence from Great Britain.

1776, Aug. 14-Nov. 11. Constitutional Convention of 1776 (meeting of Ninth Provincial Convention).

1776, Aug. 27. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Long Island and continued to engage the British at later battles, including White Plains, and Harlem Heights.

1776, Nov. 3. Declaration of Rights (Maryland's Bill of Rights) adopted by Ninth Provincial Convention. Church of England disestablished.

1776, Nov. 8. First State Constitution adopted by Ninth Provincial Convention.

1776, Dec. 20-1777, March 4. Continental Congress met at Baltimore.

1777, Feb. 5. First General Assembly elected under State Constitution of 1776 met at Annapolis.

1777, March 21. Inauguration of Thomas Johnson, first governor elected by General Assembly. Council of Safety disbands.

1777, Sept. 11. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania.


[color photograph of Baron DeKalb statue]
Statue of Baron Johann DeKalb, State House grounds, Annapolis, Maryland, June 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Baron DeKalb (1721-1780) led the Maryland Line at the Battle of Camden, August 16, 1780. In South Carolina, he died at Camden on August 19, 1780, from wounds received in that battle.


1780, Aug. 16. In South Carolina, Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Camden.

1781, Jan. 17. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.

1781, Feb. 2. Property of Loyalists and British subjects confiscated.

1781, March 1. Maryland ratified, and thereby made effective, the Articles of Confederation.

1781, March 15. In North Carolina, Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

1781, Sept. 8. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina.

1781, Nov. 5. John Hanson elected President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

1782. Washington College established at Chestertown.

1783, Nov. 26-1784, June 3. Continental Congress met at Annapolis.

1783, Dec. 23. George Washington resigned commission as commander in chief of Continental Army at State House in Annapolis.

1784. St. John's College established at Annapolis.

1784, Jan. 14. Treaty of Paris, ending Revolutionary War, ratified by Congress at Annapolis.

1785, March 28. Mt. Vernon Compact, an agreement on navigation and fishing in Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, signed by Maryland and Virginia commissioners.

1785, Aug. China trade begun with arrival of Canton cargo at Baltimore.

1785, Nov. 22. Mt. Vernon Compact ratified by Maryland.

1786, Sept. 11-14. Annapolis Convention held to discuss revisions to Articles of Confederation. Maryland sent no representatives.

1787, Sept. 17. U.S. Constitution signed by Marylanders Daniel Carroll, James McHenry, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, at Philadelphia.

1787, Nov. 29. Luther Martin's report, The Genuine Information, criticized proposed U.S. Constitution, including its omission of a bill of rights.

1788, April 28. Maryland, the seventh state, ratified U.S. Constitution.

1789, Dec. 19. Maryland ratified federal Bill of Rights, first ten amendments to U.S. Constitution.

1791, Dec. 19. Maryland ceded land for District of Columbia.

1796. Baltimore City incorporated.

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July 18, 2000   
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