Why was it so important to make sure that Maryland did not fail?

Answer 1

Answer:

Among other reasons the Union needed Maryland were:

(1) To protect Washington. With the capital of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia, Washington was extremely vulnerable.

(2) To maintain control of Chesapeake Bay, and its outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer 2

Maryland did not secede because the Federal government arrested and imprisoned the governor and the state legislators, who were for secession. If they had been left at large they surely would have convened the legislature and passed an ordinance of secession, taking Maryland out of the Union. Lincoln also suspended the Constitutionally guaranteed right of Habeus Corpus, so these imprisoned state officials could not petition a Federal Court for their release. These men were not charged with any crime, nor were they ever tried in court for anything; they were just kept in prison, not charged and not convicted.

It was crucial for the Federal government (the north) to keep Maryland in the Union because of the location of Washington DC, between Maryland and Virginia. The city of Washington is actually entirely located on land that was part of Maryland, before being ceded to the Federal government to be the District of Columbia, the home of the national government. If Maryland went out of the Union the nation's capital would be cut off, surrounded by "foreign" territory, isolated amidst a hostile population. The government might have been relocated, but this would have been costly, time-consuming, and embarrassing, and hardly the sort of thing a government which was claiming that what was going on was a mere rebellion would want to have to do.

Of men from Maryland who fought in the war, about two-thirds fought for the Union and one third for the Confederacy.

Additionally, if Maryland had joined the Confederacy, the South would have the benefit of the port city of Baltimore, more food and supplies and more men to recruit for the Confederate army.

The entire war scene would have been altered and could have encouraged Kentucky and Missouri to secede.

Many of Lincoln's opponents believed that he had gravely over stepped his authority and used unconstitutional measures against the people of Maryland.

Answer 3

The Union Capital would have been surrounded.

Answer 4

Because if Maryland had seceded, Washington D.C. would have been surrounded by Confederate states