Page 19 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

to the settlers, giving them the vital skill of rais- ing the unfamiliar corn, beans and squash in a landscape covered by massive forest. These crops proved essential for establishing a reliable supply of food. Even culinary practices were apparently shared when Yaocomico women taught the En- glish servants how to prepare and cook maize.
Despite the good rapport, the settlers built a fort because of uncertainty over the friendli- ness of other Chesapeake Indians, prompted by memories of the 1622 violence in Virginia, and open hostility by many Virginia settlers to the new colony. Careful diplomacy with the Piscat- away peoples of Maryland and royal support for Lord Baltimore’s enterprise allowed the colony to be successfully established and undergo vigorous growth for the next decade.4 However, the period between 1645 and 1658, when England was torn by its civil war and then ruled by Parliament in- stead of a king caused much instability in Mary- land with Lord Baltimore losing control of Mary- land twice. It was only at the end of the 1650s that he regained firm control over the colony.
The restoration of Charles II to the English throne sparked a great resurgence in the British economy and Maryland benefited from this new spirit of optimism. The colony and its capital of St. Mary’s began growing rapidly. The 1660s saw construction of the first brick structure in the col- ony and St. Mary’s was formally incorporated as a city, one of the first in English America to have an official charter. By the later 1600s, a substantial community had emerged and St. Mary’s City was beginning to take on an urban character. But a 1689 rebellion, sparked by the so-called “Glori- ous Revolution” in England led to the overthrow of Lord Baltimore and the colony was taken over by a governor appointed by the king. At first, St. Mary’s seemed to have survived the turmoil, but the death of the first royal governor led to the appointment of Francis Nicholson as his succes- sor. A staunch anti-Catholic, Nicholson made the decision to move the government from St. Mary’s to the Protestant dominated settlement of Arundeltown in late 1694. This moved the government to a more central location but also
figure 3
H. Chandlee Forman digging at St. Mary’s City ca. 1937.
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