It would be a wonderful world if old problems simply disappeared with the start of a new year, but that’s not the real world that we inhabit. Nor was it the world in which Annapolitans of 250 years ago lived.
Faced with an uncooperative Maryland legislature in November 1770, Governor Robert Eden issued an executive order intended to achieve what he couldn’t accomplish through the normal workings of government. In December, he dissolved the General Assembly and called for January 1771 elections to select delegates for a new legislative session to begin in early February.
Annapolis voters went to the polls on January 4, and Anne Arundel County voting began on the 14th. If Governor Eden hoped to be rid of local delegates who were among the biggest thorns in his side, he must have been sorely disappointed with the election results.
The City of Annapolis reelected John Hall and William Paca, both leading members of the so-called Country Party that championed legislative authority in any political clash with the Court Party advocates of proprietary power as wielded by the governor. The Anne Arundel County victors included returning delegates Brice T. B. Worthington, Thomas Johnson, Jr., and Samuel Chase (all solid Country men) and newcomer John Hammond, who replaced outgoing Henry Griffith.
Looking ahead just a few years, we recognize the names of four future Maryland delegates to the Continental Congress (Paca, Chase, Hall, and Johnson), two future state governors (Johnson and Paca), and one future Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court (Chase) among these seven local leaders. Of course, Robert Eden couldn’t know what the future held for these men or himself, but in January 1771, he wasn’t encouraged to see that they’d be back in the next General Assembly. It was going to be another rough year.
Instead of facing reality in February, Eden decided to kick the political can down the road. Before the new General Assembly could meet even once, he prorogued it to October 1st, which gave him several extra months to pretend to himself that everything would be just fine.
Glenn E. Campbell
HA Senior Historian
