Province of Maryland

The Province of Maryland was an English colony that later became a British one. It existed from 1632 to 1776, when it joined the other Thirteen Colonies to fight against Great Britain. It is now a state of the United States called Maryland. Unlike the other colonies in the future united states, most settlers of the Province of Maryland were Roman Catholics, who had fled the European wars of religion. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore was the first Catholic diocese on American soil, the Baltimore Basilica was the first cathedral. The Maryland Toleration Act, signed 1649, was the first act that tolerated other Christian religious groups.