Coode's Rebellion

July 27:  Coode’s Rebellion

How Protestants Seized Control Of the Catholic Colony Of Maryland

The colony of Maryland was named for Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Calvert Family was Catholic and held the charter for the colony given by Catholic King Charles II of England.

The Calvert Family welcomed all religions to the colony including the new Quaker religion who had been prosecuted by the Church of England much as Catholics had been under Elizabeth I.

However, by 1688 the majority of the people in the colony were Protestants who far outnumbered Catholics in “Our Lady’s Colony.”

Protestants in Maryland were not happy that their government did not celebrate when Catholic King Charles II was overthrown and replaced by Protestants William and Mary.

John Coode spread a story that Jesuits were training the native Indians to kill and drive out all Protestants in Maryland, and he formed the “Protestant Associators.”

On July 27, 1689, John Coode led 700 men to seize the colony’s state house, and officials surrendered without a fight.

By August 1, 1689, Coode and the Protestant Associators controlled the colony and its legislature.

Quickly, the  legislature passed laws banning the practice of Catholicism and public Masses, and forbid Catholics to vote or hold public office.

Over in England, William and Mary revoked the royal charter given to the Calvert Family.

Not until the American Revolution could Catholics openly practice their faith or have full rights of citizenship in the colony they had founded in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.