It was held at gunpoint to preserve the government in its precious capital."
Thanks for responding.
Like Missouri, its fellow Border State, in 1860 Maryland's slave population was about 13% (87,000), with 11% (14,000) of Maryland families owning slaves.
But Maryland was unique in the country, in that about half of all blacks were freed -- in other words, Maryland had as many free blacks as slaves.
Indeed, Maryland and Delaware were the only slave-states where the number of slaves was falling in 1860.
On April 29, 1861, a week before the Confederacy formally declared war on the United States (May 6, 1861), the Maryland legislature met and voted 53 - 29 against secession.
After the Confederacy declared war, then giving aid and comfort to our enemy was an act of treason, for which some Marylanders were arrested, and no other votes were held on secession.
During the Civil War Maryland supplied troops to both sides, but more Union than Confederate by a factor of two-to-one.
Indeed, when Confederates marched into Maryland in September 1862, one major reason was to encourage more Marylanders to join the Confederate army.
In that they failed.
Finally, we should note that in Maryland in 1861 slave-holders dominated the southern counties, while Unionists were strongest in northern and western Maryland.
Slaves as a percentage of each county's 1860 population: