Maryland in the American Civil War a majority of the legislature, wished to remain in the Union, but did not want to be involved in a war against their southern neighbors, and sought to prevent a military response by Lincoln to the South's secession. After John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, many citizens began forming local militias, determined to prevent a future slave uprising. The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in Maryland. Anxious about the risk of secessionists capturing Washington, D.C., given that the capital was bordered by Virginia, and preparing for war with the South, the federal government requested armed volunteers
Arts and culture of Maryland of two venues: the "Mansion" and the "Music Center." English is the most widely spoken language; however, Spanish is spoken in small regions within the Washington, DC - Baltimore corridor. 87.4% of the population speaks only English at home, while 4.7% speak Spanish. The remaining 7.9% are composed of 15 other reported languages, with French being the most common and Arabic being the least common. Southern Maryland, the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland have Southern accents and are influenced by southern culture. There are several music festivals in Maryland. A jazz festival is held in Silver Spring on the second