Marched up resolutely

What happened

In the summer of 1689 Maryland learned that William and Mary had taken the English throne, and rumors spread that the Catholic proprietor's deputy governors were arming the State House at St. Mary's and the fort at Mattapany against the news. John Coode, a planter and militia captain and an old enemy of the Calverts, had formed the Protestant Association in April "for the defense of the Protestant Religion." By his own account about 250 badly armed Protestants marched on the capital on 27 July and found the court house "full of armed men made a garrison." They sent in their declaration. When it was refused they "marched up resolutely," gained the doors and windows, and the men inside gave up, walking out with their private arms and leaving the public arms to the Associators. Then they marched eight miles to Mattapany, which yielded on 1 August. Coode and the Assembly petitioned the new king to end proprietary rule, and in 1691 he did. Rothbard puts Coode at the head of "several hundred armed men" and calls his aim "ridding Maryland of the tyrannical and feudal proprietary" (CiL, p. 122). He also counts the cost. The winners ended Maryland's old tradition of religious toleration, set up an Anglican establishment with church taxes from 1692, and moved the capital to Annapolis.