Abstract: 

For over a century, historical analysis of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras has largely focused on a strict North/South dichotomy, neglecting the multiple Border States that remained in the Union despite their slaveholding status. This article analyzes the lives of previously enslaved people, known as refugees, in the aftermath of Maryland’s emancipation of slavery in 1864. With newfound freedom and opportunity, thousands of refugees from Maryland’s rural counties made their way to urban centers like Baltimore. I argue that refugees were able to find support from the long-established Black community that had lived in Baltimore for over a century. However, the city of Baltimore itself was ill-equipped to support these refugees, placing a larger burden on the free Black community to support them. I analyze how refugees made their way in the city, with support from the established Black-community, while simultaneously combating segregation efforts that kept Black workers out of skilled jobs or educational opportunities. By looking at Baltimore during the Reconstruction era, we can analyze the origins of segregation efforts that would further evolve throughout the Jim Crow era and continue to affect the Black community in Baltimore to this day. Baltimore and Maryland can also be used as a basis for emancipation and Reconstruction studies of other Border States and/or urban centers in the South.