The Maryland Constitution of 1864 was the third of the four

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

s which have governed the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. A controversial product of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and in effect only until 1867, when the state's present constitution was adopted, the 1864 document was short-lived.

Drafting

The 1864 constitution was largely the product of strong Unionists, who had control of the state at the time. The document outlawed

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

disenfranchised Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...

Southern sympathizers, and reapportioned the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

based upon the number of white inhabitants. This provision further diminished the power of the small counties where the majority of the state's large former slave population lived. One of the framers' goals was to reduce the influence of Southern sympathizers, who had almost caused the state to secede in 1861.

Ratification

The convention which drafted the document convened on April 27, 1864 and completed their work by September 6. The constitution was then submitted to the people for ratification on October 13, 1864. It was approved by a vote of 30,174 to 29,799 (50.31% to 49.69%). This was a very controversial result, since the state, though part of the Union, still had many

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

ties and sympathies. The tally of those voting at their usual polling places was opposed to this Constitution by 29,536 to 27,541. However, the constitution secured ratification after the soldiers' votes were tallied. Soldiers from Maryland serving in the Union Army voted overwhelmingly in favor, 2,633 to 263.

Notable features

By design, the constitution disenfranchised those Marylanders who had left the state to fight for or live in the Confederacy or who had given it "any aid, comfort, countenace, or support." It also made it difficult for them to regain the full rights of citizenship and required office-holders to take a new

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

of allegiance to support the state and union and to repudiate the rebellion. Furthermore, the influence of the small

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

which had large slave populations, and tended to have supported secession and to have opposed Union efforts during the war, was reduced by basing representation solely on

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

population. The constitution did emancipate the slaves, but this did not mean equality. The franchise was restricted to "white" males. Additionally, 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 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 ...

. Maryland's 1864 constitution created for the first time the position of

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. The office was held by only one person,

Christopher C. Cox Christopher Christian Cox (August 28, 1816November 25, 1882) was known as an American surgeon, professor at Philadelphia College of Medicine and the first lieutenant governor of Maryland. Biography Born in Baltimore, Cox was a member of the Nat ...

, until a 1971 amendment to the 1867 constitution re-created the position.

References

*Whitman H. Ridgway. Maryland Humanities Council (2001).
(Maryland) Politics and Law
*Whitman H. Ridgway. Maryland Humanities Council (2001).
(Maryland in) the Nineteenth Century
. *Richard E. Berg-Andersson (Dec. 5, 2004).
Constitutions of the Several states
.

External links

{{Authority control 1864 in law Defunct state constitutions of the United States Maryland law History of slavery in Maryland Maryland in the American Civil War 1864 in American politics Legal history of Maryland 1864 in Maryland 1864 documents