Charter of Maryland (June 20, 1632) was originally issued by King Charles I, to George Calvert (1580-1632), First Lord Baltimore. He had served as Secretary of State for King James I, but he died before he could embark. The Charter was then reissued to his son, Cecilius Calvert (1605-1675), Second Lord Baltimore, who commissioned his brother, Leonard Calvert (1606-1647), to found the colony and serve as its administrator.
The Charter of the Colony of Maryland, June 20, 1632, named in honor of Charles I's wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, stated:
<Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these Presents come, Greeting.
ARTICLE 2. Whereas our well beloved and right trusty subject Coecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore, in our Kingdom of Ireland, Son and Heir of George Calvert, Knight, late Baron of steps of his Father, being animated with a laudable, and pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion, and also the Territories of our Empire, hath humbly besought Leave of Us that he may transport, by his own Industry, and Expense, a numerous Colony of the English Nation, to a certain Region, herein after described, in a Country hitherto uncultivated, in the Parts of America, and partly occupied by Savages, having no Knowledge of the Divine Being, and that all that Region, with some certain Privileges, and Jurisdiction, appertaining unto the wholesome Government, and State of his Colony and Region aforesaid, may by our Royal Highness be given, granted and confirmed unto him, and his Heirs.
ARTICLE 4...the Patronages and Advowsons of all Churches which (with the increasing Worship and Religion of Christ) within the said Region...hereafter shall happen to be built, together with License, and Faculty of erecting and founding Churches, Chapels, and Places of Worship, in convenient and suitable Places within the Premises, and of causing the same to be dedicated and consecrated according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of our Kingdom of England.
ARTICLE 5...Two Indian Arrows of these parts, to be delivered at the said Castle of Winsdor, every year...
ARTICLE 12. But because, that in so remote a Region, placed among so many barbarous Nations, the Incursions as well of the Barbarians themselves, as of other Enemies, Pirates and Ravagers, probably will be feared...We have Given...full and unrestrained Power...unto the aforesaid now Baron of Baltimore...to wage War, and to pursue, even beyond the Limits of their Province, the Enemies and Ravagers aforesaid, infesting those Parts by Land and by Sea, and (if God shall grant it) to vanquish and captivate them, and the Captives to put to Death, or, according to their Discretion...
ARTICLE 22: "And if...any Doubts...should arise concerning the true Sense and Meaning of any Word...in this our present Charter...no Interpretation thereof be made whereby God's Holy and true Christian Religion...may in any wise suffer by Change.> 1632MC001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1632MC001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Maryland Charter, June 20, 1632, issued by King Charles I to Cecilius Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore. Ebenezer Hazard, Historical Collection: Consisting of State Papers and other Authentic Documents: Intended as Materials for an History of the United States of America (Philadelphia: T. Dobson, 1792), Vol. I, pp. 327-328. William McDonald, editor, Select Charters and Other Documents (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1899), pp. 53-54. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968), Vol. III, pp. 1677 ff. Henry Steele Commager, ed., Documents of American History, 2 vols. (NY: F.S. Crofts and Company, 1934; Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1948, 6th edition, 1958; Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 9th edition, 1973), Vol. I, p. 21. William McDonald, ed., Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606- 1889 (NY: The Macmillan Company, 1909), p. 32. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), pp. 160-161. Richard L. Perry, ed., Sources of Our Liberties: Documentary Origins of Individual Liberties in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights (Chicago: American Bar Foundation, 1978; New York: 1952), p. 105. Pat Robertson, America's Dates With Destiny (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), pp. 31-32.