# 3580 - 2002 34c Greetings From America: Maryland
Maryland
34¢ Greetings From America
City: New York, NY
Quantity: 200,000,000
Printed by: American Packaging Corp for Sennett Security Products
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 10.75
Quantity: 200,000,000
Maryland Becomes Seventh U.S. State
Spanish explorers became the first Europeans to reach the Maryland region when they explored the Chesapeake Bay in the 1500s. These explorers found Algonquian tribes, including the Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent, Portobago, and Wicomico, as well as some Susquehannock Indians living in the area.
In 1608, Captain John Smith of Virginia sailed the Chesapeake Bay north into the Maryland region. His written description of the area brought more visitors. In 1631, William Clairborne opened a trading post on Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay – this was the first colonial settlement in Virginia.
King Charles I granted this area to George Calvert, the first Lord of Baltimore, in 1632. But, Calvert died before he could sign the charter, so his son, Cecilius, the second lord of Baltimore, took his place. The region was named Maryland after the wife of Charles I, Queen Henrietta Maria. Calvert sent colonists to Maryland on two ships, the Ark and the Dove. They arrived at St. Clements Island in the Potomac River in 1634. The colonists established St. Mary’s City near the southern portion of the Western Shore.
In the 1700s, Maryland and Pennsylvania disagreed on their boundary line. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were contracted to survey the line in 1763. The survey was completed in 1767, and the boundary became known as the Mason-Dixon line.
Very little fighting took place on Maryland’s soil during the American Revolution. However, Maryland supplied many troops, and its industries built ships and cannons for colonial forces. The Continental Congress moved the capital to Baltimore from December 1776 to March 1777, when Philadelphia was threatened by British troops. After the war, the Continental Congress met at the Maryland State House in Annapolis from 1783 to 1784. George Washington resigned his commission as the commander in chief of the Continental Army in the State House. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, was also signed there.
Maryland ratified the United States Constitution on April 28, 1788, making it the seventh state to join the Union. Maryland gave the nation the land to form the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, in 1791.
At the start of the Civil War, Maryland was placed in a difficult position. It was a slave state, yet as one of the 13 original colonies, it was devoted to the Union. When Virginia joined the Confederacy, the fate of Washington, D.C., was firmly in the hands of Maryland. If it joined the Confederacy, then the capital would lie deep in Southern territory. Maryland did join the Union, but many Marylanders joined Confederate forces.
Even before the Civil War, Maryland, especially the city of Baltimore, had advanced industrially. Its location on the Chesapeake Bay, which has several excellent harbors, further enhanced its economic growth. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal gave the state a westward shipping route. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal allowed goods to be shipped eastward. Peter Cooper built America’s first coal-burning steam locomotive, the Tom Thumb, in 1830.
Maryland is a center for space research and production. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is located in Greenbelt. The state is also focusing on an environmental cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. This large-scale project involves several other states as well.
Maryland
34¢ Greetings From America
City: New York, NY
Quantity: 200,000,000
Printed by: American Packaging Corp for Sennett Security Products
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 10.75
Quantity: 200,000,000
Maryland Becomes Seventh U.S. State
Spanish explorers became the first Europeans to reach the Maryland region when they explored the Chesapeake Bay in the 1500s. These explorers found Algonquian tribes, including the Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent, Portobago, and Wicomico, as well as some Susquehannock Indians living in the area.
In 1608, Captain John Smith of Virginia sailed the Chesapeake Bay north into the Maryland region. His written description of the area brought more visitors. In 1631, William Clairborne opened a trading post on Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay – this was the first colonial settlement in Virginia.
King Charles I granted this area to George Calvert, the first Lord of Baltimore, in 1632. But, Calvert died before he could sign the charter, so his son, Cecilius, the second lord of Baltimore, took his place. The region was named Maryland after the wife of Charles I, Queen Henrietta Maria. Calvert sent colonists to Maryland on two ships, the Ark and the Dove. They arrived at St. Clements Island in the Potomac River in 1634. The colonists established St. Mary’s City near the southern portion of the Western Shore.
In the 1700s, Maryland and Pennsylvania disagreed on their boundary line. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were contracted to survey the line in 1763. The survey was completed in 1767, and the boundary became known as the Mason-Dixon line.
Very little fighting took place on Maryland’s soil during the American Revolution. However, Maryland supplied many troops, and its industries built ships and cannons for colonial forces. The Continental Congress moved the capital to Baltimore from December 1776 to March 1777, when Philadelphia was threatened by British troops. After the war, the Continental Congress met at the Maryland State House in Annapolis from 1783 to 1784. George Washington resigned his commission as the commander in chief of the Continental Army in the State House. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, was also signed there.
Maryland ratified the United States Constitution on April 28, 1788, making it the seventh state to join the Union. Maryland gave the nation the land to form the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, in 1791.
At the start of the Civil War, Maryland was placed in a difficult position. It was a slave state, yet as one of the 13 original colonies, it was devoted to the Union. When Virginia joined the Confederacy, the fate of Washington, D.C., was firmly in the hands of Maryland. If it joined the Confederacy, then the capital would lie deep in Southern territory. Maryland did join the Union, but many Marylanders joined Confederate forces.
Even before the Civil War, Maryland, especially the city of Baltimore, had advanced industrially. Its location on the Chesapeake Bay, which has several excellent harbors, further enhanced its economic growth. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal gave the state a westward shipping route. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal allowed goods to be shipped eastward. Peter Cooper built America’s first coal-burning steam locomotive, the Tom Thumb, in 1830.
Maryland is a center for space research and production. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is located in Greenbelt. The state is also focusing on an environmental cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. This large-scale project involves several other states as well.