Before the Civil War Maryland was considered part of the South because owning slaves was legal even though there were fewer slave owners here than there were in other southern states. Baltimore was considered the "Belle of the South" through most of the 1800's.

It is technically a "Border State" because just as many people here supported the Abolition as rejected it. Many Marylanders joined both the Union and Confederate armies. This happened within families. It Happened in mine.

I have lived in Maryland my entire life and I too have been accused of having a southern accent. This, however maybe bbecause my grandfather grew up in Virginia. So it may be because I heard it that I speak that way.

My view of Contemporary Maryland is that it is Mid-Atlantic. There are cultural differences between the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, and there are differences between the south and the Mid-Atlantic.

Although you are right about the climate in Maryland as being like Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, classifying Mary as southern because of geography is very different than doing so because of out culture.

The tide turned in Maryland after the Union Army won the war. We wanted to go with the winner, which is why some call us Northerners. I think we are not as liberal as  the Northeast and we are not as conservative as most of the South.

My story is Maryland is Mid-Atlantic, and I am sticking to it!

its defined by the Mason Dixon line (check spelling)

Depends on what you mean by the South.  In the Civil War, it is true that Maryland was a Border State, but they were on the side of the North.  Them being a Border State meant that their Slaves were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, which only freed slaves in the states that were rebelling.

in the civil war, maryland was part of the north.  in the border states, slaves were not freed by the emancipation proclamation, because it would have undermined the war effort. (the e.p. was pushed by the union generals as a war tactic) 

products that are called southern, or people that sound southern doesn't mean a state is SOUTHern! South means what? a compass tells u to go north a certian direction, so anywhere u are has a south. but when u look @ a map, and divide it up, maryland is definitely not southern! it doesnt snow in the south. some locals here in la. will say it has snowed, but nothing sticks to the ground here, no slush, no ice, nothing cold but the wind for about 2-3months, winter is real short, its hot most the year the closer you are to the equator. ive lived in virgina maryland, its more like new york and the people there more than less want to relate to NY than anything south of.
southern music never comes out of maryland! but im sure living on a farm they may sound southern, as well as somewhere west like oregon! new orleans is the south, located at the botton of our nation touching the GULF of mexico!

Yes it does snow in the South. I have seen snow in Georgia. Maryland , IMO is the Upper South- or border state. Geographically it could be called Mid-Atlantic. Baltimore has elements of both Northern and Southern. But DC and Southern Maryland- are more Southern- Southern Maryland is almost as Southern as North Carolina or Southern Virginia.

My family is originally all from North Carolina, and I've spent a lot of time between southeastern NC and Arbutus. Baltimore does have some resemblence to the "rust belt", but it seems more to me that people here are southern and theres almost a fear of admitting it. The food, the music, the spare-time activities, the reaction to what little snow we get here, and in many cases the accents, all resemble the rest of the south. There are actually parts of central NC that I would dare to say feel less southern than here. It's like, none of us really want to be associated with New Jersey and New England as a whole, and are southern, but dont want to admit it.

And f.y.i. Maryland had people fighting on both sides in the War Between the States. In the state's official records, it is not called the "civil war", but the war between the states. The state congress in Annapolis was literally within days of making a vote to secede when Lincoln's administration imposed martial law, and for much of the war the state really had no structured state government to speak of. nearly 30,000 fought for the south, while around 50,000 farther north and west in the state fought for the north. But even the soldiers that were recruited by the north often joined under the promise that they would get to stay near their homes, and often were caught trading with Confederate soldiers and sympathizers. Upper south does describe it best. Northern and Western MD are kinda mixed culturally, like a melting pot. Whereas most of Southern MD and Eastern shore might as well be the Carolinas. in 1860 MD also voted with most of the deep south and Lincoln only recieved a little over 1000 votes in the whole state. Older folks around here say it has lost much of its culture altogether in the last 50 years though.