Not joining the rebellion was the desire of the Maryland legislature so how was that meaningless?
Maryland was occupied by Federal troops - Lincoln had suspended habeus corpus and was arresting any suspected southern sympathizers- holding them at Ft. McHenry - 2000 by the end of the war.>
Hyperbole and exaggeration aside, the Constitution gives the president the power to call out the militia to suppress rebellion. Lincoln was acting well within his authority.
So I say the vote was meaningless because if Maryland had voted to secede- they would have been powerless to do so.
If Maryland had joined the rebellion then I expect they would suffer the same fate as the other rebellious states - armed conflict would have come to them and all the death and destruction that followed would be their own fault. Good thing for them they remained with the Union.
Not joining the rebellion was not necessarily the will of the legislature.
They were afraid to vote.
Seriously - you should read “A southern star for Maryland”
written by my friend Larry Denton.
His view, after much research, was that Maryland would have seceded,
but for the federal occupation.
Just like all those Southern states voting for the 13th amendment.
You put a gun to their back and they will vote whatever way you tell them, but it isn't democracy or free will involved, it's tyranny.