Southern Maryland is the home of the first person of African descent to be elected to and serve in a legislature in America. His name was Mathias de Sousa and he was one of the original colonists to arrive on the Ark in 1634. Southern Maryland is also the place where Josiah Henson was enslaved, and the place of brutality he wrote about in his later autobiography, which became the basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin". A descendant of Josiah Henson, Mathew Henson, was also from Southern Maryland and he was one of the first people to reach the North Pole along with Admiral Peary in 1909. There are so many more stories than these, both of triumph and of pain, of subjugation and of perseverance. Come walk the paths of these remarkable people and help us all to remember them.

Slavery in Maryland

Maryland 1853 Runaway Slave Reward Broadside

Maryland did not begin as an "official" slave state, although the founders were possible slave traders. It began, as with the story of Mathias de Sousa, as a place that any person that arrived as an indentured servant, could become a free person after they had served the time of their indentureship. Tragically, this did not last. The first slaves arrived in Maryland in 1642 and by 1694 persons of African descent, and their descendants, could be enslaved throughout the colony.

Notable Individuals

Mathias de Sousa

Mathias de Sousa Mathias de Sousa was the first Black elected Representative in America. A free man, Sousa was of African and Portuguese descent. Life It is believed that Sousa's father was born in Portugal. Within colonial Maryland society, Sousa was defined a ...

was one of the nine indentured servants brought to Maryland by Jesuit missionaries, and was on the ''Ark'' when Lord Baltimore's expedition arrived in the St. Mary's River in 1634. He was one of the first individuals of African descent to settle in the Maryland colony. His indenture was finished by 1638, and he became a "freemen" (a term for any man who was not a servant). Mathias became a mariner and fur trader. In 1641, he commanded a trading voyage to the Susquehannock Indians and in 1642 was master of a small cargo vessel. Mathias was elected to and served in the 1642 legislative assembly of freemen. This makes Mathias de Sousa the first man of African descent to participate in an Assembly or Legislature in America.

Josiah Henson

Josiah Henson Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883) was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery, in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's scho ...

was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery on June 15, 1789 in Charles County, Maryland, he was sold three times before the age of eighteen. He escaped to Upper Canada in 1830 and founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves in Kent County, Canada. Henson's autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, inspired Harriett Beecher Stowe to write "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

Matthew Henson

Matthew Henson Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866March 9, 1955) was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together.

was an American explorer best known as the co-discoverer of the North Pole with Admiral Robert Edwin Peary in 1909. A year after the Civil War ended, Matthew Henson was born on August 8, 1866 to freeborn African American sharecroppers in Charles County, Maryland, and he was believed to be great-grandnephew of Josiah Henson. This famed African American explored the Arctic with Admiral Peary for two decades. On April 6, 1909, Peary, Henson and the rest of their team made history, becoming the first people to reach the North Pole. Matthew Henson died in New York City in 1955.

Notable Locations

Historic Sotterley

An historic plantation circa 1703, Sotterley has built itself into a premier location for exploring the complicated past of the region. This unique historic setting has transformed its mission into one of inclusion and exploration. Sotterley Mission Statement: "To preserve our historic structures and natural environment and use the powerful stories of our land, lives, and labor to bring American history to life while serving as an educational and cultural resource." Sotterley Vision Statement: "To foster a better understanding of our world today by providing a living link to America's complex history and legacy of slavery." Through the Descendants Project and the UNESCO Slave Route Project, Historic Sotterley will continue to be powerful place to visit in Southern Maryland.

Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm

The Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm, a site rich in natural and cultural resources, is a living laboratory to explore, understand, and experience Southern Maryland agricultural practices and lifestyles throughout its history—from Native American settlement, small scale colonial farming, 1800's era agriculture and 20th century tobacco farming to contemporary community supported agricultural and sustainable farming efforts. The rehabilitation of the George E. Rice House and outbuildings provides an important aspect of interpreting the African American history of the site; they illustrate early to mid-20th century small-scale farming, as well as the role of African Americans as landowners and tenant farmers. Their preservation is vital to understanding African American heritage and culture in the region, and conveys the story of the Rice family and their connection to the land, and the ways in which African Americans shaped the physical and social landscape of Southern Maryland at the time. African American Schoolhouse Museum (21439327850)

African American Schoolhouse Museum (21439327850)

African Americans in Maryland are residents of the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

who are of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

ancestry. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, African Americans were 30% of the state's population.

Early history

In the 1630's, the colonial settlement of

St. Mary's City St. Mary's City (also known as Historic St. Mary's City) is a former colonial town that was Maryland's first European settlement and capital. It is now a large, state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the original colonial se ...

was founded. Soon, the first African slaves were

imported An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

into the Province of Maryland by 1642 to develop the economy in a similar way to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, with

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

being the commodity crop, which was labor-intensive.Chapelle, Suzanne Ellery Greene, p.24, ''Maryland: A History of Its People''
Retrieved August 10, 2010 In 1755, about 40% of Maryland's population was

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s and most of them enslaved. The populations were concentrated in the Tidewater counties around

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

where tobacco was grown.John Mack Faragher, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America'' (New York: Facts on File, 1990), p. 257 Changes in the main commodity crops to others less labor-intensive alternatives after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

led numerous slaveholders to free their slaves before or at the time of their death. As a result, the percentage of black people that were free grew from less than 1% to 10% in the Upper South. By the time of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

a bit more than 49% of African Americans in Maryland were free. The boys, denied education, were torn from their parents and sold South, to their lives as farm animals in the growing new territories of Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. Marylanders and Virginians viewed themselves as breeders, centers of slave production, for export to other states. Beginning in 1816, a new way to deal with the growing numbers of freed slaves began in Maryland with the

Maryland State Colonization Society The Maryland State Colonization Society was the Maryland branch of the American Colonization Society, an organization founded in 1816 with the purpose of returning free African Americans to what many Southerners considered greater freedom in Af ...

. Its purpose was to form a colony of freed slaves back into Africa by forming

Republic of Maryland The Republic of Maryland (also known variously as the Independent State of Maryland, Maryland-in-Africa, and Maryland in Liberia) was a country in West Africa that existed from 1834 to 1857, when it was merged into what is now Liberia. The area ...

in what is today,

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. This experiment had limited success as part of the abolitionist movement. However, the rapid expansion of the

cotton industry Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

after the invention of the

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

greatly increased demand for slave labor, and the Southern states continued as slave societies. Maryland was one of the key states in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

with cities such as

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

focal points for transported the fugitives further north. Slavery in Maryland officially ended with the writing of the new

Maryland Constitution of 1864 The Maryland Constitution of 1864 was the third of the four constitutions which have governed the U.S. state of Maryland. A controversial product of the Civil War and in effect only until 1867, when the state's present constitution was adopted, ...

; however, emancipation did not mean equality as the franchise was restricted to "white" males. Notably, the Maryland legislature refused to ratify both the 14th Amendment, which conferred citizenship rights on former slaves, and the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to African Americans.

Civil War to civil rights

The Civil War impacted the African-Americans in

in several ways with a few large battles and many smaller skirmishes fought in Maryland, but also with the status of the enslaved being bought further into question. Although emancipation would not begin until near the end of the war in Maryland, the possibility for escaped slaves increased during the war and the numbers of

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

swelled with many seeking refuge in D.C. The beginning of the war saw African-Americans pressed into service for manual labor in Union Army camps and building defenses throughout the state, both free men and escape slaves; but others chose to travel to states where they were allowed to enlist. The

Slave codes The slave codes were laws relating to slavery and enslaved people, specifically regarding the Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery in the Americas. Most slave codes were concerned with the rights and duties of free people in regards to ensla ...

were replaced by the Black codes in restricting the rights of African-Americans until the

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

took effect to limit civil rights protections and continue the codified segregation that lasted until the mid-1900s. Negro children were required to attend schools by 1872, but these schools were to be governed by existing county and district boards, which were already struggling to provide adequate education to white children. Maryland was required to pay black and white teachers equally by 1941, based on a case argued by Thurgood Marshall. In 1955, schools in Maryland were forced to start the process of integration with

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

in 1954 and this process not completed until 1967, with mixed success. Lynchings such as those of Joseph Vermillion, Michael Green, Matthew Williams, William Burns and Stephen Williams were not unheard of and were used for intimidation affect, with the last recorded lynching occurring in 1933 in

Princess Anne, Maryland Princess Anne is a town in Somerset County, Maryland, Somerset County, Maryland, United States, that also serves as its county seat. Its population was 3,290 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury metropolita ...

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

criminalizing marriage and sex between white and black people were enacted in colonial era Maryland, and not repealed until just before the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruled on Loving v. Virginia in 1967, further reinforcing segregation in the state. The 13th Amendment ended slavery and the 14th Amendment extended full rights of citizenship to African Americans. The continuation of support for Jim Crow and segregation laws led to protests in which many African-Americans were violently injured out in the open at lunchroom counters, buses, polling places and local public areas. These protests did not eradicate racism, but they forced racism to become used in more coded or metaphorical language instead of being used out in the open.

Civil Rights era

Following the example of student sit-ins as those in Greensboro, NC, by the spring of 1960, students from Morgan State College began their own sit-in in Baltimore department stores restaurants. While such protests continued in Maryland, by 1961, the

Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions ''Morgan v. Virginia' ...

began rolling through the state as they headed further into the deep South, from Washington D.C. The 1960s continues with rallies, marches, protests and riots with the largest of and most violent happening in 1968 upon hearing of the death of Martin Luther King jr. in 1968. Notable among the unrest is Cambridge riot of 1963,

Cambridge riot of 1967 Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and

Baltimore riot of 1968 The Baltimore riot of 1968 was a period of civil unrest that lasted from April 6 to April 14, 1968, in Baltimore. The uprising included crowds filling the streets, burning and looting local businesses, and confronting the police and national gua ...

Notable African Americans of Maryland

Freddy Adu Fredua Koranteng Adu (born June 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder. The last club he played for was Ettan Fotboll club Österlen FF. From before the time of his signing with D.C. United at ...

Benjamin Banneker Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731October 19, 1806) was an African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. He was a landowner who also worked as a surveyor and farmer. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a fr ...

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote '' Shuffle Along'', one of the first B ...

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. ...

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

* Lewis Charlton, former slave * Harry A. Cole * Harry S. Cummings *

Robert Curbeam Robert Lee Curbeam Jr. (born March 5, 1962) is a former NASA astronaut and captain in the United States Navy. He currently holds the record for the most spacewalks during a single spaceflight, accomplished during the STS-116 mission, when Curbeam ...

* Decatur Dorsey, former slave *

Father Divine Father Divine (September 10, 1965), also known as Reverend M. J. Divine, was an African-American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death in 1965. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "t ...

* Frederick Douglass, former slave * Charles S. Dutton * Crystal Bird Fauset * Charity Folks, former slave * William C. Goodridge, former slave *

Frances Harper Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1845, she was one of the first African-American women to ...

* Josiah Henson, former slave and inspiration for Uncle Tom *

Bryant Johnson Bryant Andrew Johnson (born March 7, 1981) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals 17th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft and also played for the San Fran ...

Delano Johnson Delano Johnson (born January 13, 1988) is a Canadian football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Bowie State University. He has been a member of the Houston Texans, Toronto Argonauts, Portland Thunder/Steel ...

Joshua Johnson (painter) Joshua Johnson () was an American painter from the Baltimore area of African and European ancestry. Johnson is known for his naïve paintings of prominent Maryland residents. Life It was not until 1939 that the identity of the painter of elit ...

LaKisha Jones LaKisha Ann Jones (born January 13, 1980) is an American singer. She placed fourth on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Personal life Jones was born at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, to a teacher at the Flint Foundation Academy. ...

Mother Mary Lange Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP (born Elizabeth Clarisse Lange; c. 1789 – February 3, 1882) was a Black Catholic religious sister who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first African-American religious congregation. She was also, via the ...

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

Clarence Mitchell Jr. Clarence Maurice Mitchell Jr. (March 8, 1911 – March 18, 1984) was an American Civil rights movement, civil rights activism, activist and was the chief lobbyist for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP for nearly ...

* Parren J. Mitchell * John H. Murphy Sr., former slave *

Pauli Murray Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, gender equality advocate, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 she became one of the first women ...

* Isaac Myers * James W.C. Pennington, former slave *

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Gloria Richardson Gloria Richardson Dandridge (born Gloria St. Clair Hayes; May 6, 1922 – July 15, 2021) was an American civil rights activist best known as the leader of the Cambridge movement, a civil rights action in the early 1960s in Cambridge, Maryland, ...

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...

Vivien Thomas Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985) was an American laboratory supervisor who developed a procedure used to treat blue baby syndrome (now known as cyanotic heart disease) in the 1940s. He was the assistant to surgeon ...

* Charles Albert Tindley *

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

, former slave *

Charles Uncles Charles Randolph Uncles, SSJ (November 8, 1859 — July 20, 1933) was an African-American Catholic priest. In 1891, he became the first such priest ordained on US soil. Two years later, he co-founded the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Hear ...

* Verda Welcome *

Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr. Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr. (May 11, 1899 – April 25, 1990) was an American diplomat, and the first African American diplomat to become an ambassador by rising through the ranks of the Foreign Service rather than by political appointment such ...

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Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

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References

External links

Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture
* African Americans in Maryland, Individual Biographical File

* Guide to African American Sources, Maryland Historical Societ

Discover African-American History in Maryland

African Presence in Maryland
*https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/diversity/_documents/400_Years_of_AfricanAmerican_History_in_Maryland_FINAL.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjQ_-ik4qz6AhXWif0HHSzDDxkQFnoECBMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0vWGioy8NCkgEIu_5quRA3 {{Maryland African-American history of Maryland,