Revolution or Fraud?

Revolution or Fraud?. Emancipation in Caroline Co.. Maryland slaves were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which excluded states that remained in the Union from its provisions. It was Maryland's new constitution, adopted by the narrow margin of 291 votes of almost 60,000 cast on November 2, 1864, that ended slavery in the state. The voluntary abolition of slavery here boosted the reelection campaign of President Abraham Lincoln. Though hailed as "The Mighty Revolution," emancipation and the new constitution resulted from suspicious circumstances. Albert Gullett, editor of the Denton Journal, declared the process to have been full of "outrages and frauds" that disfranchised at least 1,000 voters in Caroline County., Gullett asserted that more than half of the eligible voters in Caroline County did not attempt to vote for fear of arrest by Union soldiers; potential opponents of the constitution were closely interrogated and forced to prove their loyalty; opponents of emancipation were denied the right to vote; protesters were arrested; and half the votes against the constitution in Denton were deliberately destroyed. Eighty-nine men signed an affidavit supporting the latter assertion. When disfranchised citizens of Caroline filed legal actions, a Union general ordered their arrest. Gullett was ultimately forced from his newspaper and later committed suicide. In this strange manner occurred the emancipation of Maryland slaves, the revolutionary moral accomplishment of the Civil War. (Insert): John Emerson, chief election judge during the vote in Denton, was accused of destroying ballots and other irregularities. Above is the dwelling owned by Emerson in 1864, now the Museum of Rural Life located one block north of Second Street.