A WtJi Century scene, looking clown from Federal Hill, shows Balti- 

 more as'the busy commercial center of Maryland. 



u 



The tobacco economy of Maryland depended upon 

 slavery until about 1860. Of the some 90,000 inhabi- 

 tants in the southern Maryland area, 38,000 were 

 whites, 10,800 were free blacks and 40,600 were slaves. 

 Nearly half of Maryland's slave population at the time 

 was located in the southern part of the state. 



nion dividlecl 



After Maryland's second constitution was adopted in 

 1851, and until the outbreak of the Civil War, there was 

 considerable unrest in the state, particularly in Balti- 

 more. Marylanders were confronted with several issues: 

 maintaining the slave system; pre-eminence of state 

 over federal rights; and maintaining, if possible, the 

 Federal Union. Sympathy began to polarize and Mary- 

 landers suffered due to their border state status. 



In 1860, the Baltimore police force was placed under 

 the power of the state government. In 1861, Federal 

 troops from Massachusetts were attacked by Southern 

 sympathizers as they marched through the city on the 

 way to trains taking them to Washington. This rebellious 



29 



