CIVIL WARS.
1. Clayborne's Rebellion (1635).—The Virginia colony claimed that Lord Baltimore's grant covered territory belonging to them. Clayborne, a member of the Jamestown council, was especially obstinate in the matter. He had already established two trading posts in Maryland, which he prepared to defend by force of arms. A bloody skirmish ensued, in which his party was beaten. He, himself, had fled to Virginia, on the eve of battle, but being accused of treason, was sent to England for trial. He was, however, acquitted of this charge. Ten years afterward he came back, raised a rebellion, and drove Calvert, then governor of Maryland, out of the colony. The governor returned at last with a strong force, and Clayborne fled. This ended the contest.
2. The Protestants and the Catholics.—The Protestants, having obtained a majority in the Assembly, made a most ungrateful use of their power. They refused to acknowledge the hereditary rights of the proprietor, assailed his religion, excluded Catholics from the Assembly, and even declared them outside the protection of the law. Civil war ensued. For years the victory alternated. At one time two governments, one Protestant, the other Catholic, were sustained. In 1691, Lord Baltimore was entirely deprived of his rights as proprietor, and Maryland became a royal province. The Church of England was established, and the Catholics were again disfranchised in the very province they had planted. In 1715, the fourth Lord Baltimore recovered the government, and religious toleration was again restored. Maryland remained under this administration until the Revolution.
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