<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section possibly contains original research . Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . Statements consisting only of original research should be removed . (May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought political reforms . In a series of laws passed between 1892 and 1908, reformers worked for standard state - issued ballots (rather than those distributed and marked by the parties); obtained closed voting booths to prevent party workers from "assisting" voters; initiated primary elections to keep party bosses from selecting candidates; and had candidates listed without party symbols, which discouraged the illiterate from participating . These measures worked against ill - educated whites and blacks . Blacks resisted such efforts, with suffrage groups conducting voter education . Blacks defeated three efforts to disfranchise them, making alliances with immigrants to resist various Democratic campaigns . Disfranchising bills in 1905, 1907, and 1911 were rebuffed, in large part because of black opposition . Blacks comprised 20% of the electorate and immigrants comprised 15%, and the legislature had difficulty devising requirements against blacks that did not also disadvantage immigrants . </P> <P> The Progressive Era also brought reforms in working conditions for Maryland's labor force . In 1902 the state regulated conditions in mines; outlawed child laborers under the age of 12; mandated compulsory school attendance; and enacted the nation's first workers' compensation law . The workers' compensation law was overturned in the courts, but was redrafted and finally enacted in 1910 . </P> <P> The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 burned for more than 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings and spanning 70 city blocks . More than 1,231 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control . </P>

In what section of the country were most of the states with low populations of immigrants located