Maryland was founded in 1632 when King Charles I gave the land to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. It was established to provide religious freedom for English Catholics fleeing persecution. The colonial assembly established self-government and rejected laws sent by Lord Baltimore. While the Church of England was the official religion, Maryland offered religious toleration for Catholics. Family, farming, and religion were central to colonial life in Maryland. Education became increasingly important, though many children died young due to disease.

1. Colonial Maryland Michael Mezzancello and Lauren Yoia

2. Background In 1624 Virginia became property of the King. King Charles I gave a piece of it to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. He soon died and the land was given to his son Cecilius in 1632. He called it Maryland

3. The Assembly Began All freemen, both landholders and artisans, came together to form their Assembly by which they framed a body of laws that would later be sent to be reviewed by the proprietor (Lord Baltimore)

4. Self Government Established At first was refused The Assembly rejected the code of laws sent over by Lord Baltimore Lord Baltimore gave his brother authority to approve of the laws made by the people.

5. Religion The Church of England was recognized by law as the State Church This church was supported by general taxation. Maryland was founded for the purpose of providing religious toleration of England's Roman Catholic minority. Parliament later reversed that policy and discouraged the practice of Catholicism in Maryland. Due to immigration patterns, Catholics have not been a majority in Maryland since early Colonial times.

6. Values Religious freedom The colony was a shelter for Roman Catholics fleeing religious prosecution from their King. Lord Baltimore gave the colony religious freedom to attract other settlers.

7. Entertainment The family in colonial Maryland was a person's main source of entertainment and learning. Mothers and fathers taught their children to read in order to read the Bible and, for boys, to attend school. In farming families, there was a unity during the annual harvest, when the entire family would stop their schooling and domestic chores to help bring in the year's crops.

8. Family Children became employed as apprentices as early as 7. Families were often large so that children could help the family economically when the parents reached old age. Many of the people were farmers or worked in a skilled trade. Candle makers, blacksmiths and tavern owners were among the professions available. The father was always the head of the home. Young girls helped their mothers with domestic chores instead of working with their father.

9. Social Structure Social life centered around the owners of the great plantations. The slave was a body-servant to his master or plantation owner, living a life of satisfaction in his hut with his family. Among this class we find mechanics and artisans, trained for the various duties about the plantation.

10. Education Education became increasingly important. Children were expected to know how to read and write, and boys were taught Latin in grammar school. Puritan families realized that education could help the family become economically stable, and often sent their sons to higher educational institutions.

11. Size of Families Colonial family life in Maryland was often based on hard work, and with limited medical care, families could suffer from numerous types of death. As many as 3in 10 children died before their first birthday. Parents also had high death rates, from both illness and disease and from childbirth itself. The result of a high mortality rate in colonial Maryland was that families were large, with six or more children being the average for families.

12. Sources http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_the_religions_in_colonial_Maryland http://colonialancestors.com/md/proprietary.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Maryland http://www.allabouthistory.org/colonial-life-in-america.htm http://colonialancestors.com/md/proprietary.htm