Cecil Calvert: Proprietary Founding and Governance of Maryland

Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Baron Baltimore, inherited the North American colonial project from his father and became the first Proprietor of Maryland under a 1632 royal charter from Charles I. Although he never traveled to the colony, he effectively governed Maryland from England through dispatched relatives, including his brother Leonard Calvert. A devout Roman Catholic, Calvert sought to establish a sanctuary where Christians of different denominations could coexist peacefully, culminating in the passage of the landmark Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, an early pioneer of religious freedom in America.

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