What is the meaning of "Maryland, My Maryland"? Why is it the state song?

[elipousson]

Respond to comment by Matthew K. on Confederate Memory essay:

The song, "Maryland, My Maryland," is mentioned by two of your sources, but it is never otherwise explicitly discussed. Your sources report that the the song was recited at the dedication to the Maryland Confederate Monument in 1903 and Thomas Heflin refers to it at a rally in favor of the disenfranchisement of African-Americans in Maryland in 1905. I think that it would further the purposes of your study to include a (brief) treatment of the song that highlights its intended (and notorious) Confederate connotations, especially since the sites/monuments were the setting for so many intangible public displays, parades, and ceremonies that featured the song's performance. I can't remember if any of the monuments themselves (or features at the Loudon Park Cemetery) are inscribed with excerpts of the verse.

The lyrics were composed in 1861 but the Maryland General Assembly didn't adopt "Maryland, My Maryland" as the state song until 1939. This should be explained in the context of how Confederate memory is changing in the 1930s and 1940s.