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Geography Maryland is located in the South, between Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware. Maryland's main geographic features are the Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River, Blue Ridge Mountains, Pennsylvania Hills, and Maryland's three million acres of forest land. The Chesapeake Bay is located along the northern border and the Potomac River is located along the border of Maryland and Virginia. Maryland's geography helped in the development of it's farm economy. The Chesapeake Bay that flows into the Atlantic Ocean offers fertile soil, warm climates, and a long growing season offer perfect conditions for farming.

History Maryland was colonized in 1632 by Lord Baltimore. The first people to come were the Native Americans, who established permanent settlements and produced crops such as corn, vegetables, and tobacco. Later, the Spanish and Italian explorers entered into India. Two explorers were the Italian Giovanni da Vierrazano and the Spaniard Lucas Vazquez de Ayollon .The Italians and Spaniards came for religious reasons. Maryland had a very diverse economy that included industry, maritime interest, agriculture, and service sector. Politically, it started out proprietary and then quickly turned into royal. Maryland had a higher rate of catholic settlements then the other colonies but also had a higher rate of religious persecution.
 * Lord Baltimore**

“Maryland.” //Gale Encyclopedia of U.S Economic History.//Detroit:Gale, 1999. //Gale Student Resources In Context.Web.22 Sept. 2010//
Economics Maryland colonists were mainly farmers. Most colonists had small farms, while some had large plantations and there were also a few fills, though there were no factories. At the farms, colonists produced tobacco, corn, wheat, rice, and indigo. Aside from farming, colonists were involved with shipbuilding and iron works. The colonists bartered with local natives for trade. In 1729 when Baltimore was established, it became the main outlet for farm produce. Maryland was involved with slavery, and especially in the 1960s when slave prices dropped, slaves were seen more commonly on the farms and plantations of the colonists.

Social The most common language spoken in Maryland was Dutch, and the major religion of Maryland was Catholic. In terms of social status and rights, women were not really considered a part of society. They were treated as slaves. In Maryland, women had the duty of serving a certain amount of time as servants before being able to move on in their life including marriage and making a family.

“Colonial Courtship and Marriage.” //“American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2010.[|http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com//]
Political In June of 1632, Charles I granted a proprietary charter for Maryland of about 12,000,000 acres to George Calvert, otherwise known as Lord Baltimore. Lord Baltimore owned all of the land granted in charter, and had absolute power over his land and its inhabitants. The settlers of Maryland had to swear allegiance to him, and not the King. Lord Baltimore wanted to have a settlement that generated profit while giving refuge to Roman Catholics who were persecuted in England. Maryland switched government from proprietary to royal when the colonists asked King William to have Maryland put under royal control.

Terms  -Maryland’s main crop was tobacco, and this was grown and harvested by African Slaves. As part of the triangle trade, a portion of the tobacco produced by the slaves in Maryland was given to England -Maryland gave a portion of its tobacco to England because it was an understanding as a result of the triangle trade. They followed a policy of Salutary Neglect by not interfering too much, and trade between England and Maryland continued to flourish. -England followed a Mercantilist policy with the colonies, such as Maryland. Maryland produced tobacco as their staple crop and gave England a portion of what was produced. -Catholicism came alive again during the Great Awakening drawing new people to follow them. -Tobacco was used as a Cash Crop for Maryland which was bought from Europeans.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 22pt;">French and Indian War
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In May of 1757, Mr. Wolstenholme and Mr. Ridout, envoys to governor Horatio Sharp, met with a Cherokee party at Fort Frederick about gaining their military alliance. After an exchange of gifts and words, Cherokee sachem Wahachey and his warriors agreed to ally the British and colonists in their fight against the French and their Indian allies. During the French and Indian war, many western maryland settlers were killed. Fort Cumberland and Fort Frederick were built to provide protection for Maryland settlers from the enemy. After oppressing the British, Maryland became united. Maryland supported the constitution, and was the seventh state of the new union.


 * Governor Horatio Sharp**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"> “Maryland.” //Gale Encyclopedia of U.S Economic History.//Detroit:Gale, 1999. //Gale Student Resources In Context.Web.22 Sept. 2010//