Final answer:
The first settlers in Maryland landed in Chesapeake Bay in 1634, led by Leonard Calvert. Maryland had religious freedom and treated Indians as persons. Africans arrived as slaves but could be set free if they were baptized.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first settlers in Maryland landed in Chesapeake Bay in 1634. Leonard Calvert, the younger brother of Cecilius Calvert, was appointed the governor of the new colony and set sail with three hundred colonists on two ships, the Ark and the Dove. They arrived at St. Mary's, Maryland on March 27, 1634. The first group of colonists was composed of both Catholics, including Jesuit priests, and Protestants.
Maryland was a proprietary English colony, where the Calverts were granted actual ownership of all the land. The colony was named Maryland after Henrietta Marie, wife of Charles I.
Maryland had one of the most progressive governments in terms of religious freedom and its treatment of Indians. It guaranteed religious freedom to all Christians and treated Indians as persons, including paying for their land. In 1642, the first Africans arrived in Maryland, who came as slaves but could be set free if they were baptized.