Card printed in blue and red. 2 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. Maryland state seal surrounded by flags and the legend: "Southern Rights / Death Before Dishonor / The Great Seal of Maryland / United We Stand! Spirit of '76."

A slave state straddling the North and South both geographically and culturally, Maryland was a battleground state from the earliest days of the war, exemplified by the Baltimore Riots of 1861. A reference was made to badges in the 22 April 1861 issue of the Baltimore Sun during the riots: "Secession badges and flags of the Southern Confederacy have grown with the last 48 hours into universal demand, and their sale brings money to the pockets of scores of boys who cry them vociferously through the streets from morning till night and away into the night. The flags and badges are printed on satin or pasteboard."

An interesting item of ephemera, representing the complex loyalties among some Marylanders.  

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Ephemera, Pamphlets, Publications, Booklets] [Broadsides, Ephemera, Printing, Posters, Handbills, Documents]