"A Maryland boat was sent to the bottom by the Virginian navy, and a long contest was the result..." Hostility between Maryland and Virginia began the moment Maryland was created in 1632. Virginia objected to the Catholic nature of the new colony, as well as the unusual border which gave Lord Baltimore's colony ownership of all the Potomac River. Disputed maritime borders lead to conflict over the prized oyster, and naval confrontation on the Chesapeake became common. Maryland eventually created an Oyster Navy, which was charged with bringing order to the Bay and enforcing harvesting laws against the oyster pirates. The "Oyster Wars"were frequently violent. Antipathy between the two states continues today, with reoccurring disputes over natural resource use and environmental regulation. In 2003, the neighbors went to the US Supreme Court over Virginia's plan to place a water intake pipe in the Potomac. And while anti-Catholic sentiment is no longer a source of conflict, competition and one-upmanship still frame trans-Potomac relations.
↧