00000617 |
Previous | 617 of 866 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
582 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
answer, not only the printed questions, but whatever it pleased the judges-
to ask. Voters who refused to give a direct answer to these questions
were turned away, and in some instances where they had taken the oath
of allegiance. In Kent County, a few days before the election, a Government
steamer with General Lockwood on board arrived at Chestertown and landed
part of a company of infantry, fully armed, who were quartered in the court
house until the day of election, when they were distributed in squads of ten
about the county, at the distance of a mile from the several polls. In Frederick County " citizens of all ranks and conditions of life, from the venerable
and honored ex-Judge Marshall, down to the humblest, most honest, industrious, quiet and unobtrusive mechanic or day-laborer, whose sentiments might
be known to the selected and hired challengers to be in opposition to a convention, were turned away from the polls, without being allowed to vote."1
In Baltimore city, out of a voting population of about forty thousand,
only nine thousand one hundred and eighty-nine ballots were allowed to be
polled, of which number only eighty-seven were cast in opposition to a call of
the constitutional convention.
The Constitutional Convention assembled at Annapolis, on the 27th of
April, 1864, and organized by the election of Henry H. Goldsborough of
Talbot County, the State Comptroller, as permanent president of the convention. After a session of over four months it adopted a new constitution and
form of government, and adjourned on the 6th of September.
The Declaration of Rights and Constitution adopted by the Convention
of 1864, made radical changes in the organic law of the State. Of these, the
most important were the articles abolishing slavery, and declaring " paramount
allegiance " to be due to the Constitution and Government of the United
States. In the Declaration of Rights three new articles were introduced, one
withdrawn and two modified; in other respects it was essentially the same as
that of 1851. The first article was the following acknowledgment from the
Declaration of Independence with an attempted improvement:
" Article I.—That we hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equally free;
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are
life, liberty, the enjoyment of the proceeds of their own labor and the pursuit of happiness.
The fifth article introduced a new feature which was a novelty in State
papers, as it denied the sovereignty of the State, which had been recognized
since the foundation of the government, and was indeed the corner-stone of
the whole Federal structure. It ran thus :
"Article V.—The Constitution of the United States and the laws made in pursuance
thereof, being the supreme law of the land, every citizen of this State owes paramount
allegiance to the Constitution and government of the United States, and is not bound
by any law or ordinance of this State in contravention or subversion thereof."
What idea it was intended to convey by the preposterous phrase "paramount allegiance," it were as idle now, as it would have been dangerous theiv
to inquire.
1 Frederick Citizen.
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000617 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 582 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. answer, not only the printed questions, but whatever it pleased the judges- to ask. Voters who refused to give a direct answer to these questions were turned away, and in some instances where they had taken the oath of allegiance. In Kent County, a few days before the election, a Government steamer with General Lockwood on board arrived at Chestertown and landed part of a company of infantry, fully armed, who were quartered in the court house until the day of election, when they were distributed in squads of ten about the county, at the distance of a mile from the several polls. In Frederick County " citizens of all ranks and conditions of life, from the venerable and honored ex-Judge Marshall, down to the humblest, most honest, industrious, quiet and unobtrusive mechanic or day-laborer, whose sentiments might be known to the selected and hired challengers to be in opposition to a convention, were turned away from the polls, without being allowed to vote."1 In Baltimore city, out of a voting population of about forty thousand, only nine thousand one hundred and eighty-nine ballots were allowed to be polled, of which number only eighty-seven were cast in opposition to a call of the constitutional convention. The Constitutional Convention assembled at Annapolis, on the 27th of April, 1864, and organized by the election of Henry H. Goldsborough of Talbot County, the State Comptroller, as permanent president of the convention. After a session of over four months it adopted a new constitution and form of government, and adjourned on the 6th of September. The Declaration of Rights and Constitution adopted by the Convention of 1864, made radical changes in the organic law of the State. Of these, the most important were the articles abolishing slavery, and declaring " paramount allegiance " to be due to the Constitution and Government of the United States. In the Declaration of Rights three new articles were introduced, one withdrawn and two modified; in other respects it was essentially the same as that of 1851. The first article was the following acknowledgment from the Declaration of Independence with an attempted improvement: " Article I.—That we hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equally free; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the proceeds of their own labor and the pursuit of happiness. The fifth article introduced a new feature which was a novelty in State papers, as it denied the sovereignty of the State, which had been recognized since the foundation of the government, and was indeed the corner-stone of the whole Federal structure. It ran thus : "Article V.—The Constitution of the United States and the laws made in pursuance thereof, being the supreme law of the land, every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and government of the United States, and is not bound by any law or ordinance of this State in contravention or subversion thereof." What idea it was intended to convey by the preposterous phrase "paramount allegiance," it were as idle now, as it would have been dangerous theiv to inquire. 1 Frederick Citizen. |
