A charter for the colonisation of Maryland, granted to Lord Baltimore by Charles I in 1629. It was similar in its provisions to the Charter of Virginia.
Masaniello, Revolt of.
A revolt of the Neapolitans, under a fisherman named Tommaso Aniello, against the Spanish Viceroy in July, 1647. The revolt was completely successful, and the Viceroy was compelled to come to terms with Masaniello, whose head, however, seems to have been turned by his success, as he was guilty of the most extraordinary excesses, and was murdered by his former followers in the course of the month in which the rising took place.
Mason and Dixon’s Line.
The line delimiting Delaware and Maryland, drawn by Mason and Dixon in 1764-67. It is often erroneously referred to as the line between the freesoil and the slave States, but as a matter of fact both the States in question were slave-holding States.
Mason and Slidell.
See Trent Incident.
Massachusetts, Charter of.
A charter issued by Charles I in 1629, providing for the government of the colony by a governor, deputy, and eighteen assistants, to be elected annually by the freemen of the plantation. They were entrusted with both legislative and executive functions, but it was provided that no laws should be made which were not in harmony with the law of England. The charter was revoked in 1684, after a dispute on the subject of the navigation laws.