Would colonial Maryland have been tolerant to all religions?

Question

I have heard that Maryland was the birthplace of religious freedom in the US because it was founded by a charter about which Wikipedia says "On 20 June 1632, (King) Charles granted the original charter for Maryland, a proprietary colony of about twelve million acres (49,000 km²), to the 2nd Baron Baltimore.The charter offered no guidelines on religion, although it was assumed that Catholics would not be molested in the new colony." At that time in the 1600s, would this tolerance have extended for peoples of all religions (Jews, Hindus, Muslims for example)? Or would it have been restricted to those inside the sphere of Christianity?

Answer 1

While Maryland’s Charter may sound like it promotes religious tolerance, in actuality the Maryland colony struggled with religious persecution just like the other settlements. Originally founded by a Catholic, Maryland was quickly dominated by Protestant denominations such as Anglicans and Puritans. In 1649, the colony passed the “Maryland Toleration Act” to guarantee a level of freedom to certain Christian groups, but no legal protection was offered for Judaism, Hinduism, or other religious practices. The law very explicitly limited its freedoms to Trinitarian Christians, thereby purposefully excluding outside groups and leaving them open to persecution if they criticized the Trinity. Furthermore, the law was repealed after only 5 years, ending the small amount of religious tolerance it had created. By 1718, Catholics were no longer allowed to vote in Maryland. Needless to say, a colony that did not extend rights to Catholics would not take kindly to global religions.