Their Magistrates and Officials

While other civilizations express a government’s authority through fear, colonial Maryland employed a different approach. Rockefeller’s Their Magistrates and Officials, Executive Government in Colonial Maryland, 1715 – 1775, demonstrates the significant role that material culture had in displaying the executive government’s power by utilizing symbolism through government buildings, entertainment and celebrations.

Government buildings in colonial Maryland were not merely used for administrative duties, but were elaborately constructed to establish the government’s superior status. The State House was a public structure where the Upper and Lower house met to discuss colonial issues, where the building was specifically built on a central hill in the capital city of Annapolis, with the intention that colonists would take note of the government’s wealth and power. Colonial Maryland’s Upper House is an apt example of utilizing formidable and extravagant buildings to symbolize power and superior standing in society. The Upper House’s demands under Governor John Hart’s authority for a more prestigious building than the State House for only the Upper House to use, resulted in the construction of a “very good house,” adjacent to the State House which demonstrates the materialistic nature of colonial Maryland’s government in the 1700s. Following Hart’s governance, Governor Charles Calvert specifically ensured that the Council Chamber would feature special furniture so that when visitors arrive, they would be well aware of their social standing in comparison to the councilmen.

Entertainment and celebrations during colonial Maryland were more than a part of society’s culture, but another manner in which governors could establish their superior social standing and colonist’s subservience to Lord Baltimore. During the 1700s, it wasn’t odd to find the common gentleman participating in horse racing, and therefore, governors also largely participated in the sport, but in a manner...