December 9 , 2025

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will be held Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 7:00pm at The Maryland Veterans Museum, 11000 Crain Highway North, Newburg, MD 20664.

Guest Speaker:  Tom Belote

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is happy to welcome back Round Table member Tom Belote, as he addresses us on “Colonial American Attempts to Curtail Slavery“.

During our Colonial period, there were several serious attempts to curtail slavery.  Before the Revolutionary War, the colonial legislatures of eight American colonies adopted, or attempted to adopt, measures which either taxed or punished importation of slaves.  However, all of these were annulled by the Royal Governors, the King, or Parliament.  Tom will present some of those attempts and outline what occurred, why, and their consequences.  The Declaration of Independence was actually the very spark of the global abolitionist movement.  There was no direct line of progress towards the end of slavery, but it had to start somewhere, and the American Experiment had much more to do with this than is known. The United States was the very first nation to pass legislation to end the slave trade.  Tom will point out that despite the failure of these early attempts to abolish slavery, several factors then coalesced to become a perfect storm that greatly expanded slavery in the south in the 1800’s that directly led to a bloody civil war.

Tom Belote serves as a volunteer docent at several historic sites including:  the Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Port Tobacco, the John Carlyle House in Alexandria, VA, and The National Museum of the U.S. Army.  Tom is also a Revolutionary War living history re-enactor with the 1st Maryland and 7th Virginia Regiments of the Continental Line. Tom and his wife have three grown children and four grandchildren.  He is a 30-year veteran of the US Army, retiring as a Colonel.

Attendance is free, but membership is encouraged. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org.