Fake news, election fraud and the arrest of political opponents, When Democracy Fell is an exhaustively researched and extremely well documented account of the constitutional crisis faced by Maryland’s government and citizens during the early years of the Civil War. This book shatters the long-believed myth that the Maryland Legislature and the government of Baltimore were imprisoned to prevent Maryland from seceding from the Union and provides overwhelming evidence that the imprisonments were to silence their dissent, to prevent the Maryland Legislature from taking their protests directly to the American public, and to take control and ensure the outcome of the upcoming elections in Maryland.
When Democracy Fell unearths never before reported and long suppressed historical information pertaining to the significant events during the U.S. Civil War that shaped both Maryland and our Nation’s history. The author, Paul Callahan, a Talbot County native, knew he had to write this book when he came across historical newspaper accounts in the papers of Europe that detailed how General Tench Tilghman of Oxford Maryland was to lead an army of rebels in an attack against the Capital and to support the Legislature’s secession from the Union. Additional research uncovered a series of internationally disseminated articles, originated in Washington, that were assessed as “fake news” meant to inflame the passions of the North and to provide the public an acceptable reason to arrest the Maryland Legislature.
When Democracy Fell unearths the actual motivation behind the arrest and imprisonment of Talbot County Judge Richard Bennett Carmichael along with Talbot’s District Attorney J.C.W. Powell. This history took a completely unexpected twist in discovering the involvement of a powerful politician with a well-established family name in Talbot County.
From the Union’s attack plan against Baltimore City, through the elections of 1863 and everything in between, When Democracy Fell is the Nation’s first book which comprehensively covers the constitutional crisis experienced in Maryland during the Civil War.
A book lecture sponsored by the Talbot Historical Society will be held on Wednesday October 4, at 1 pm, please visit www.talbothistory.org for additional information. Vintage Books located directly across from the courthouse in Easton will host a book signing on October 7 from 11 am to 4 pm. For more information on this interesting new book and where to purchase, please visit www.whendemocracyfell.com.
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