History
Southern Maryland is tied to major chapters of American history through four linked themes: Captain John Smith’s 1608 exploration and mapping of nearly 3,000 miles of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries with a small party in an open boat among thriving Native American communities; the War of 1812 events in the region, including the route of the invading British fleet in late summer 1814, that led Francis Scott Key to write the words of the national anthem; the roots of American religious freedom in the 1649 Act Concerning Religion and an early effort to promote religious toleration and separate church from government; and George Washington’s work along the Potomac River to link the Atlantic Seaboard with the western frontier, helping shape later industrialization, development, and the young nation.
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Maryland · United States
