The town of Baltimore was founded on August 8, 1729 by an act of the Provincial Assembly of Maryland County. Located under the Mason-Dixon line, as a result of the Missouri Compromise (1819-1820), Baltimore was originally known as a "tobacco port." It was reported, "During the War of 1812, as in the American Revolution, Baltimore was active in privateering...Baltimore men helped to hold the line when George Washington made his escape from the Battle of Long Island across New York's East River." One medical student whose family had lived in Baltimore for 9 generations told the press in 1979, "It's a city with an inferiority complex. You have to live with the image that Baltimore is the armpit of America."
In 1976, the Chinese community published a 40-page, red, white and blue brochure called 'History of Chinese-Americans in Baltimore' to commemorate the American Bicentennial. It referred to the United States as "Mei Kuo" (meaning "beautiful country" in Chinese). The brochure stated, "It appears that, within another generation, the Chinese will be completely absorbed into the American culture." Baltimore could be found at the head of navigation on the Patapsco River.
Eloise Jordan of the Lewiston (in Maine) Evening Journal told readers in 1974, "The aristocracy of this southern city may be traced, in part, to the Calvert family which bore the title of the proprietary Irish barony, and was responsible for the establishment of the colony of Maryland and the present city of Baltimore. George Calvert was educated at Trinity College, Oxford. He was knighted by King James I and became his Secretary of State in 1619. Serving in the House of Commons he was obliged to resign from Parliament after he embraced the Roman Catholic faith in 1625. The King then granted him an Irish estate with the title Baron Baltimore. Ever desirous of finding a colony in the new world as a haven for Catholics, he was granted, in 1632, by King Charles I a colony in America which eventually became the states Maryland and Delaware. Upon his death, the title descended to his son Cecilius, who received the charter of Maryland. Neither Calvert ever visited the colony but Cecilius' brother Leonard, in 1634, led 200 colonists to the territory and became the first Governor of the province of Maryland. Coming on the 'Ark' and the 'Dove', these early settlers became 'lords' of their vast manors."
Baltimore went from town to city on December 31, 1796. When Baltimore was founded in 1729, the town site was 60 acres. That eventually grew to 14.71 square miles by 1816, then to 32.19 by 1886 and by 1966 Baltimore was measured at 79 square land miles and stood as the 6th largest city of America and one of the world's great international trading centers. It was understood, "Baltimore has had many forms of charter government since 1729."
Baltimore was also called the "National Anthem City". Eloise Jordan mentioned, "Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), American lawyer and poet, under a flag of truce, boarded the British man-of-war 'Surprise' in order to facilitate the release of a friend held prisoner. Himself detained for 40 hours, Key watched with great concern, and when at daybreak, he saw that the Stars and Stripes still floated over the ramparts of the fort, was inspired to write 'The Star Spangled Banner'. He selected the tune 'Anacreon in Heaven', which John Stafford Smith had composed in England in 1770-1775, as the music to accompany his poem. 'The Star Spangled Banner' selected as the national anthem of the United States by an Act of Congress. The charm of this handsome city on Chesapeake Bay, can not be denied."
The Methodist Church in the United States celebrated its bicentennial in 1966. The Protestant denomination was the second largest in the country. As understood, "Methodism began as a movement in 1729 at Oxford College in England, then a hot-bed of religious ferment and the source of many of the denominations that grew from the Protestant Church of England. Founded by John and Charles Wesley because of their severely methodical approach, other students mocked them by calling them Methodists. John Wesley liked the name and used it in his writings. Wesley's movement was not be separated from the Church of England, but was rather to be a group within the church."
Paul Evans wrote 'City Life: A Perspective From Baltimore 1968-1978' in 1981 recounted, "The birthdate of the community first known as Baltimore Town is recorded as August 8, 1729. Three years later, in 1732, an act of the legislature decreed establishment of another nearby settlement, named 'Jonas Town', later re-named 'Jones Town'. In 1745 by the consent of the assembly, the townships merged with one designation, Baltimore Town. Against a background of a colony struggling to secure economic stability, religious freedom, and represntative government – in the face of an absentee propietor determined to exploit his royal charter to the fullest – the fledgling settlement began existence...The black presence in early Baltimore political life was drastically limited by custom and statute. Only since the end of World War II, respectable, but limited gains, have been made in acquiring the pluralistic electoral participation any healthy municipal democracy demands...The tapestry of all peoples' past – black as well as white – in America and Baltimore must be woven from artifacts and observations – observations from the past in contemporary eyes. No one observer or scholar will put together all the pieces, jointly we may find the truth. What follows here is offered as observations and recollections with the hope they will prove revealing."
