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Maryland won its independence from [[Britain]] in the [[American Revolution|American War for Independence]] in 1783.
Maryland won its independence from [[Britain]] in the [[American Revolution|American War for Independence]] in 1783.
[[File:Henry Winter Davis 1859 picture LOC.png|thumb|right|230px|Maryland Whig, [[Know nothing party|Know Nothing]], and Republican [[H. Winter Davis]] in 1859.]]
In the 1850s America's parties realigned: Whigs disappeared while Republicans and Democrats struggled over sectionalism and anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant nativism. In the South, including Maryland, sectionalism appealed to rural voters and nativism to urban. Nativism was weaker than in the North because the South attracted fewer immigrants. Nevertheless, the nativist American (Know-Nothing) Party captured the Baltimore government in 1854. The party used patronage and, especially, coercion; its armed forces scared off Democratic voters and forced drunks and immigrants to vote multiple times. The party elected a congressman and governor during its short reign. In 1860 the Democrat-controlled legislature took back the city police, the militia, patronage, and the electoral machinery, and prosecuted some Know-Nothings for electoral fraud. By 1861 the Know-Nothings had split over secession.<ref>Frank Towers, ''The Urban South and the Coming of the Civil War'' (2004) covers Baltimore.</ref>
In the 1850s America's parties realigned: Whigs disappeared while Republicans and Democrats struggled over sectionalism and anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant nativism. In the South, including Maryland, sectionalism appealed to rural voters and nativism to urban. Nativism was weaker than in the North because the South attracted fewer immigrants. Nevertheless, the nativist American (Know-Nothing) Party captured the Baltimore government in 1854. The party used patronage and, especially, coercion; its armed forces scared off Democratic voters and forced drunks and immigrants to vote multiple times. The party elected a congressman and governor during its short reign. In 1860 the Democrat-controlled legislature took back the city police, the militia, patronage, and the electoral machinery, and prosecuted some Know-Nothings for electoral fraud. By 1861 the Know-Nothings had split over secession.<ref>Frank Towers, ''The Urban South and the Coming of the Civil War'' (2004) covers Baltimore.</ref>