The Plundering Time (1644–1646), also known as "Claiborne and Ingle's Rebellion", was a period of civil unrest and lawlessness in the English colony of the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

Causes of rebellion

The causes of the rebellion included

William Claiborne William Claiborne also, spelled Cleyburne (c. 1600 – c. 1677) was an English pioneer, surveyor, and an early settler in the colonies/provinces of Virginia and Maryland and around the Chesapeake Bay. Claiborne became a wealthy merchant ...

's disputed claim with the Calverts over

Kent Island, Maryland Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sepa ...

, the bitter relations between the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

minority elite and the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

majority, and the political partisanship of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. The dark period marked a combination of the fall of the British King and religious intolerance, which led directly to the event.

Plundering Time

In 1638, the first provincial Maryland governor

Leonard Calvert The Hon. Leonard Calvert (1606 – June 9, 1647) was the first proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland. He was the second son of The 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), the first proprietor of Maryland. His elder brother Cecil (1605� ...

seized a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

Kent Island Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sep ...

established by Captain William Claiborne. In 1644, William Claiborne led an uprising of Protestants and retook Kent Island. Meanwhile,

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Captain Richard Ingle the co-commander of Claiborne seized control 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 ...

the capital of the Maryland colony. Catholic Governor Calvert escaped to the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. The Protestant pirates began plundering the property of anyone who did not swear allegiance to the

English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

, mainly Catholics.

End of rebellion

In 1647, the Rebellion was finally put down by Maryland Governor Lord Baltimore, who successfully led Maryland colonial forces against the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

and regained control of the colony effectively ending the rebellion initiated by Claiborne and Ingle. Succumbing to illness, Lord Baltimore died the following summer in 1648.{{citation needed, reason=his page says he lived until 1675, his brother died in 1647 which is closer, date=June 2019

Aftermath

The Maryland colonial assembly issued the

Maryland Toleration Act The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, the first law in North America requiring religious tolerance for Christians. It was passed on April 21, 1649, by the assembly of the Maryland colony, in St. Mary's City in S ...

of 1649 to mollify the two factions. A Parliamentary victory in England renewed old tensions leading to the Battle of the Severn, now present-day

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

in 1655.

References

*Timothy B. Riordan, ''The Plundering Time: Maryland in the English Civil War, 1642-1650.'' Maryland Historical Society, 2005. *Paul F. Liston, ''The plundering Time: The Hardships of Southern Maryland Catholics in Colonial Times.'' Abbeyfeale Press, 1993. 1644 in Maryland 1645 in Maryland 1646 in Maryland Province of Maryland St. Mary's County, Maryland North America in the English Civil War Looting