The Free State. Is it Southern?

[mtgianni]

My definition is if the continental divide does not run through it it is not a "free State". I am also begining to worry about some of these.

 

[truckemup97]

Originally posted by RufusG:

I don't know what constitutes a "Southern State" to most, but Maryland probably doesn't fit into the image most have of what it is.

From What I've seen, you've got the Baltimore/DC area, then you've got the rest. Most of the population is in the Baltimore/DC area, so those are the politics/cultures you are going to see in the media. Pocomoke City and Cumberland are going to be totally different from what one might think Maryland is.

 

[Sgt Preston]

Sgt Preston here. I live in the Peebles Republick of Merryland. I've been here my whole life. I have also travelled a lot thru the south with my work. There is nothing free or merry in or about Maryland. Maryland is about as southern as California or New York or Chicago. The citizens here only elect the leftest leaning politicians. Sorry to be negative, but that's simply the way it is. Sgt Preston USMC LLA

 

[10-12]

The Maryland House of Delegates was within days of seceding from the Union when President Lincoln recognized how awkward it would be to have the Union capitol inside Dixie and invaded Maryland. Union troops gunned down unarmed civilians in Baltimore and James Ryder Randall wrote a song in protest. That song became Maryland's state song, next to Dixie, a favorite Confederate marching song. As M1 Gunner says, it is becoming more northern in outlook politically, Especially along I-95. Like some other states, overall, it is conservative, friendly, and pro Second Amendment but the free loaders in Baltimore ruin it. They will vote for anybody who will give them a free ride and don't mind giving up their rights for a freebie. That is where you find the mean spirited Liberals who are never happy unless they are making someone else unhappy. In the 1950s, I was stopped by a state trooper and when I opened the glove box to get my registration one of the two Colt revolvers I had in there fell out. I was 18 at the time. The Trooper never said a word and sent me on my way. Today I would have been shot.

Bill

 

[Greyhawk]

Originally posted by BarbC:
It's very easy to tell.

Order breakfast. If you get hash browns, it's a northern state. If you get grits, it's southern.

Thank God for Cracker Barrel where I can feel like I'm back home in Alabama while living up here in Michigan with all these Yankees. It's the only place I can get grits with my breakfast and a sweet tea!

 

[roarindan]

I live soooo far up in upstate NY i can be outta the country in 1/2 hr...soooo everybody is southern.

 

[Muley Gil]

When I lived with my grandmother in Maryland in the late '60s, things were VERY different. We were only 20 miles south of Baltimore, but the area was semi-rural. Got our first redlight in '66. The road in front of the house was paved with oyster shells and tar. Population was 900.

Our neighbor across the road had 20 acres where we kids camped, hunted, and went target shooting. We even built a small range. We could walk around with our rifles without any comments. Sometimes the local LEOs would shoot with us.

There were a number of abandoned farms that had numerous rabbits. An older man would take us hunting on these farms. Old Pete had a double barrel Fox and a beagle. We didn't get all that many bunnies, but we sure had fun!

Well, time changes all things. The heirs sold off the farms for tiny lots filled with crackerbox houses. Public housing was built and trash from Baltimore moved in. Police sirens became an everyday occurance, where in the past everyone would go out on their porchs to look when a siren was heard.

The population went from 900 to 7000 in ten years and now stands at over 25,000 and the laws, well, as has been stated by others, make the former Free State the People's Republic of Maryland.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Originally posted by scoutsdad:
Well, Well, Well Maryland Blue crabs are steamed, Louisiana Blue crabs are boiled. But softshell crabs are pan fried in both states.

Problem with those Maryland crabs is they use that "old Bay" seasoning-YUCK down here ya got to use Zatarians

 

[Rich S]

I always kind of thought of MD as "JerseyII"

 

[ladder13]

Originally posted by BarbC:
It's very easy to tell.

Order breakfast. If you get hash browns, it's a northern state. If you get grits, it's southern.

NY you get home fries.

 

[Dude]

As a border state, Maryland has qualities that are Northern and Southern. It's just a complex question.

The D.C. suburbs and Baltimore are definitely Northern. Southern Maryland around the Potomac (Port Tobacco, Pax River, & Point Lookout) seem a tad more Southern. They also raised tobacco and had slaves in those areas. The Eastern Shore--minus the yachtsmen--seems more Southern in character to me as well. If you go way out to the west in MD, the state has a bit more of the character of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Less banjos. More teeth.

However, it's too danged cold in the Mountains during the winter for me to ever think of it as Southern out in those parts. Ultimately, Maryland is a cool place to visit. I really like Baltimore, Annapolis, and the Eastern Shore.