George Calvert

Lord Baltimore

The images of the Great Seal of Maryland are from the Maryland State Archives.

To understand the very beginnings of the State of Maryland we must travel back in time to the days of Queen Elizabeth I of England. George Calvert was born in 1580 to a Catholic family in the days when the official church was the Church of England. It was not easy to prosper if one did not belong to the ruler's church. George's father decided that it would be better for his family if they changed religions. And so they did. George was given the best education and did well in life. Elizabeth I died and King James I was the ruler. He and George were good friends and George was even a member of his council.

Eventually George Calvert lost faith in the Church of England and decided to return to the Catholic Church. He had to resign from his offices but in spite of this he and James I remained friends. King James gave George the title of Lord Baltimore and 2,300 acres of land in Ireland.

George had a special title but now had lost a valuable source of income. He decided to look toward North America for opportunities. The new Lord Baltimore traveled to Newfoundland where he planned to start a colony that would make some money. He also wanted his colony to be a place where Catholics could worship freely. He invited people to move there but the climate was too cold and the growing season was too short. The group traveled south to Jamestown, Virginia but the land they wanted had already been granted.

During this period in history many European countries were spending much time and money in establishing colonies in the New World. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were times of overseas trade and settlement. The Portuguese explored the coasts of Africa and India. Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492. The French and the British fished off the coast of Newfoundland and the French established trading posts in North America.

Assignments: Let's see if we can have these answered by Friday, October 20.

Olya,
What was happening in Russian history in the early 1600's while Maryland was in its infancy?

Leslie, Jeremy, Amanda, Ashley R., Megan, Ashley W.,
Write a letter to people who live in England in the early 1600's and convince them that they should come settle in the land that George Calvert was given by the King.

Michael, David and Robert,
Why did people want to leave England in the early 1600's?


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