of the first laws to be enacted by the Maryland Legislature is titled "An Act Concerning Religion," and it imposes a fine of ten shillings sterling on anyone who openly criticizes any religious belief, be it "Heretick, Schismatick, Idolator, Puritan, Independent Presbyterian, Antenomian, Barrowist, Roundhead, Seperatist, Popish Priest, Jesuit, Jesuited Papist, Lutheran, Calvenist, Anabaptist, Brownist or any other name or term," a remarkable list, especially for its time. The act also tried to establish church and state as separate entities, though that concept proved too radical for the era.
A pamphlet published in 1666, A Character of the Province of Maryland, extolled the new province's virtues, hoping to attract settlers, especially those willing to indenture themselves to a master in the New World. The pamphlet begins by noting, "Maryland is a province situated upon the large extending bowels of America." Written by George Alsop, this modest publication exaggerated only slightly in its attempts to lure pioneer
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