The History of Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland, was established in 1729 and was declared an "independent city" by the Maryland Constitution. In the United States, an independent city is a city that is not within the territory of any county; the most populated of them is Baltimore. The city, separated from the Baltimore County in 1851, is the only city in Maryland not to be located in a county.

Baltimore takes its name from the Baltimore Irish Barony (seat of the Calvert family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland). The city was first created as a port for tobacco and grains. At the beginning of the American Revolution, it was a busy seaport and a shipbuilding center. The Baltimore sailboats that transported goods plied the seas to the Caribbean. The first US Navy vessel, the Constellation, was launched for the first time in Baltimore, and its namesake, the last sailing warship, has been docked in the harbor since 1955.

The Continental Congress met in Baltimore from December 1776 to March 1777 at a time when there was concern that the British would attack Philadelphia, then the national capital.

In 1789, Baltimore became the first Roman Catholic diocese in the United States and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was the first Roman Catholic cathedral in the country.

During the War of 1812, the British tried to capture Baltimore, but the defense of the American forces at Fort McHenry won it.

The eastern terminus of the country's first railway was located in Baltimore; the station has been preserved and now houses a railway museum.

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), though Maryland did not secede from the Union, many of its citizens had Southern sympathies.  Union troops occupied Baltimore throughout the war and the city recovered only gradually from this period.

On February 7, 1904, a fire razed most of the business district, but the recovery was quick.

At the beginning of World War I, Baltimore began to develop industrially with the construction of steel mills, oil refineries and related war industries.

Sources :

• http://www.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/5_History.pdf
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltimore
• https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3856.html