We will cover 5 centuries of Maryland state history in 5 sessions.  Topics covered will be:  Session #1:  Pre-settlement--native peoples, what was Maryland like before white people came, prehistoric Maryland (including dinosaurs).  Session #2:  Arrival of colonists--the first settlers and settlement in the "New World" and religious freedom.  Session #3:  Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Ft. McHenry.  Session #4:  Slavery, the Civil War in Maryland, and the transition away from slavery.  Session #5:  20th and 21st Century--Maryland today!  I'm a very visual instructor so I'll have lots of photos of key sites and historical locations in Maryland that I've visited (like Ft. McHenry, Antietam, and St. Mary's.  I'm very positive, I ask a lot of questions of students.  I ask them to come up with alternative approaches--what could the governor have done differently?  What do you think would have been a better way to deal with the Native Peoples?  We'll also play trivia (what is Maryland's State Cake?  The tallest waterfall in Maryland?  Where can you find dinosaur fossils that you can keep?)