2.2B- Maryland vs. The Pilgrims

One of the running themes of A History of Maryland is just how different (and kind of weird) our little state/province/colony could be.  And I thought a good way of illustrating that point would be to compare Maryland with the Pilgrims.  Because Everyone knows the story of the Pilgrims.  It has become the foundation story of America. In this supplementary episode, we will de-mythologize the Pilgrim story a bit.  Then we'll see how Maryland stacks up to the pilgrims in regards several key angles of the American foundation story.  Things like: Seeking freedom from oppression, the roots of American democracy, and religious freedom. We'll talk about Maryland's founding charter of 1632, which establishes Maryland as a quasi-feudal palatinate.  With Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore, as it's absolute autocrat and Lord Proprietor.  We'll also talk a bit about Maryland's uniquely precarious position as an English colony run by Catholics, and the unique form of religious toleration it created.  And compare this to other examples in Virginia and New England. We'll also delve more deeply into one of our broadly defined religious factions:  The Puritans.  Who will eventually have a large impact on Maryland and the Calvert regime's grip on power.