It is not the best known state, nor the easiest to locate, but it is a historically important state. Head to Maryland. It is in this little-known state that the American national anthem was born.
At the time, we are in full
Anglo-American War also called “War of 1812” or “Second War of Independence”. The reasons: American expansionist desires towards Canada (under British crown) and trade disputes.
After Washington, the British tried to attack Baltimore, a city in Maryland, by sea and bombarded Fort McHenry, at the entrance to the port. A bombardment that lasted nearly 25 hours! The defense of the fort inspired a young lawyer Francis Scott Key to write a poem which would become the words of The Star-Spangled Bannersong which will become the national anthem in 1931.
Francis Scott Key had witnessed the bombardment from afar. He was particularly impressed to see that despite the intensity of the bombardments, the stars and stripes were still flying. Today, Fort Mc Henry can be visited – to do if you are near Baltimore!
Before the Civil War, nearly half of the state’s population was made up of free African Americans
Lionel Gendron
Economically, Maryland will prosper in particular thanks to agriculture and the cultivation of tobacco. Before the Civil War, almost half of the state’s population was African American… but free, not slaves. Maryland will logically remain on the side of the Union and therefore of the anti-slavery states during the Civil War.
Beware, Maryland was also a slave state. It is the state of birth of Harriet Tubman, one of the great American figures of the emancipation of slaves and women. She was born in 1820 on a plantation, was a slave, escaped and is
became a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, which allowed slaves to escape. She was also a nurse, a Union spy, and a feminist activist.
>> A letter from America, a series of exceptional episodes to be found every Tuesday. A sound postcard to help us better understand this America of today, both so familiar and sometimes totally disconcerting. An RTL Originals podcast.
