Free Blacks in the state were 50% of the state's Black population.
This is an interesting quote from Wikipedia:
<span style="font-style: italic">"Of the 115,000 men who joined the militaries during the Civil War, 85,000, or 77%, joined the Union army. To help ensure Maryland's inclusion in the Union, President Lincoln suspended several civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus, an act deemed illegal by Maryland native Chief Justice Roger Taney. Lincoln ordered U.S. troops to place artillery on Federal Hill to threaten the city of Baltimore, and helped ensure the election of a new pro-union governor and legislature. Lincoln went so far as to jail certain pro-South members of the state legislature at Fort McHenry, including the Mayor of Baltimore, George William Brown. The grandson of Francis Scott Key was included in those jailed. The constitutionality of these actions is still debated.
Because Maryland remained in the Union, it was exempted from the anti-slavery provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation (The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states in rebellion). In 1864 the state held a constitutional convention that culminated in the passage of a new state constitution. Article 24 of that document outlawed the practice of slavery. In 1867 the state extended suffrage to non-white males."</span>
Another interesting point: because Maryland was a northern state, it did not have to free its slaves after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation - a fact most Americans don't know....Lincoln only freed slaves in the states of the Confederacy; an illegal proclamation since he had no authority over the Confederate states!
<span style="font-weight: bold">Now, let's NOT go political in this fun/interesting thread....PLEASE!</span>