Archaeology at Historic St. Mary’s City. (Information below from the HMSC website)
Archaeology became one element of an innovative three-part research program at St. Mary’s City that emphasized interdisciplinary investigations by historians, architects, and archaeologists. This program sought to explore the nature of past human experience at St. Mary’s to both expand knowledge and to provide a solid basis by which the museum could construct exhibits and quality interpretive programs. From the beginning, archaeology has been a cornerstone of research at Historic St. Mary’s City.
The St. John’s site is one of the most important historic sites in Maryland, if not the nation. The home that was built here in 1638 for Maryland’s first provincial secretary, John Lewger, was one of the largest enclosed spaces in the colony. It was where colonial legislators met to hammer out policies supporting the Lord Baltimore’s mandate of the free exercise of religion for Christians – 150 years before the U.S. Constitution guaranteed religious freedom for all.
It is also a place where an enslaved African man named Antonio was murdered while resisting his enslavement. His owner and murderer, Dutch merchant Simon Overzee, was tried for the crime but ultimately acquitted by a jury of his peers.
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