Maryland Democrats had regained control of the state legislature from the Unconditional Unionists in late 1866 and had immediately set out to reform the detested Constitution of 1864. In April 1867, a referendum on a constitutional convention was passed easily and 118 delegates chosen, every one of them a Democrat. The convention met for the first time in early May 1867 and worked through the summer. The convention completed its work on August 17, 1867 and prepared the document for a swift confirmation by popular vote. On this day, the resulting vote was almost seventy percent in favor and the Constitution of 1867 came into effect on October 5, 1867, in time for the November elections. It remains in the twenty-first century Maryland's governing document. (By John Osborne)
Herbert C. Smith and John T. Willis, Maryland Politics and Government: Democratic Dominance (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2012), 144-146.