Page 1 - A Brief History of Racism and Health in So MD

A Brief History of Racism and

Health in Southern Maryland

Note: The following brief history is a work in progress. It is drawn from research done in general
and from A History of Slavery in Southern Calvert County, Mulatto: The Black History of
Calvert County, In Relentless Pursuit of Education: African American Stories from a
Century of Segregation (St. Mary’s), and Early Schools of Calvert County, Maryland. It also
reflects information provided by members of the Big Conversation steering committee and the
many interviews undertaken in the planning for their events on racism.

A brief background on slavery

Mathias de Sousa, the first Black in Maryland, arrived in 1634 aboard the Ark in St. Mary’s City. As
an indentured servant, he was the only Black person to serve in the colonial Maryland legislature. The
institution of slavery in Maryland would last over 200 years, from its beginnings in 1642, when the first
African slaves were brought to St. Mary's City, Maryland, to the final elimination of slavery in 1864.
The first documented Africans were brought to Maryland in 1642, as 13 slaves arrived at St. Mary’s
City. In 1664, the Maryland Assembly ruled that all enslaved people should be held in slavery for life
and that children of enslaved mothers should also be held in slavery for life.

By 1776 nearly 100,000 slaves were brought to Maryland and Virginia. These slaves initially were
mostly male and did not have families. They were moved around frequently to clear and plant new areas
as tobacco planting exhausted the soil. Initially, the rate of disease, violence and depression increased
among the slave population. Death by self-destruction and disease grew at an alarming rate. The planters
imported female slaves not only to help on the plantations, but also to help replenish their work force.
By 1740 slaves had built up immunities to most of the diseases of this new world. In 1783 the importa-
tion of slaves officially ended in the state of Maryland. Many Blacks were asked to help in the American
Revolution, which helped some to reclaim their freedom as well. In 1782, tax assessor records show the
area of what would be Lusby today having a population of 590 white inhabitants and 642 slaves.
By 1800 there were approximately 800 free white, heads of household names in Calvert County’s census
with almost 4000 slaves (almost 1700 alone in Christ Church Parish in southern Calvert).

Total Slave Population in Maryland 1790–1860 Census

1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860

All States 694,207 887,612 1,130,781 1,529,012 1,987,428 2,482,798 3,200,600 3,950,546

Maryland 103,036 105,635 111,502 107,398 102,994 89,737 90,368 87,189

1