Margaret Brent

by Ashley


Before Leonard Calvert died he did the most unexpected thing at that time. He made a relative of his, Margaret Brent, his sole executor telling her to "Take all and pay all."

The soldiers didn't like that because they had not been paid. So Margaret sold the cows that belonged to the Calvert family and gladly paid the soldiers. Her leadership got so well that the soldiers actually liked her.

This was not Margaret's first executive job. She and Mary Brent had come to Maryland 1638. They brought nine colonists with them. They were given a great deal of land. To get more workers and more land they had to go all the way back to England to get more people.

One of America's first ladies to own land was Margaret. She had a big plantation. She managed it very well. Margaret Brent had a lot of charm. In fact one man liked her so much that he left her his plantation in his will.

Then in the year 1648 Margaret Brent appeared at a men's conference and asked for the right to vote. She is often called American's first suffragist. Even though she was very smart and well respected the men didn't think that women should vote.

Reference: Your Maryland by Vera A. Foster


Patricia A. Weeg
pweeg@shore.intercom.net
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