72 April 9, 1976

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Bicentennial and Passover:

Common Ground in Recalling American, Jewish Ideals for Freedom

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Philadelphia in 1776. His ac- called Jew bill which
1 t of tribute to the molders of
rYt at eas
tivities after his rise to fa me aimed at the repeal o was in this count
f a leaving religion to be free expression and free liv- fear that the people of this
Bicentennial and Pas- in the battle for religi ous test act that prevent ed taught from the pulpit, or ing and
thinking in our state would for some time
sover are interlinked. Both equality in 1809, when he Jews from entering t he to be instilled by early edu-
remain unrepresented in
great land.
delivered his great orati on, legal profession and pub lic cation."
spell Freedom.
this house, if that clause of
Text of Henry's Great
Passover is a proper time the date and place of his office, the Honorable H.
the Constitution is supposed
Is this a Christian land?
Oration in Carolina
to recall the significant bat- death, are unknown. His M. Brackenridge spoke of Brackenridge had some-
to be in force. So far from
tles for justice on the Amer- name at birth was Jac ob Jacob Henry's speech as thing to say, also, on this
believing in the 39 articles, I
House
ican continent and the Bi- Gratz, and it is believed he being "a part of our educ a- score in his famous speech.
will venture to assert that a
of Delegates in 1809
centennial elevates such was the brother of the P hil- tion as Americans to lo ve To quote him again:
majority of the people never
I certainly, Mr. Speaker, have read them.
reminiscences to a glorious adelphia merchant Mich ael and cherish the sentimen is
"But,
we
are
told,
that
know
not
the
design of the
fusion of the age-Old Jewish , Gratz. Jacob changed his uttered by him."
If a man should hold
this is a Christian land, and Declaration of
ast name to Henry when he
made religious principles incom-
credos with the American
The Maryland batt le, that we are Christians. I re- by the people of Rights
this state in patible with the freerloIr
moved to the South.
ideals.
which began in 1797, wh
In his powerful book on t he Baltimore Jew Solom en joice to hear it, and I hope the year 1776, if it was not and safety of the state,
There are numerous in-
he battle for liberty for all Etting first petitioned t on we will prove ourselves wor- to consecrate certain great not hesitate to pronouek
stances of heroic efforts to
r
aiths, "Cornerstone of R eli- Maryland House of Co he thy of the name, by acting and fundamental rights and t hat he should be excluded
negate bigotry and they
m-
on
this,
and
on
every
other
principles
which
even
the
date back to Colonial times. gious Freedom in Ameri ca" mons against the restri
from the public councils of
c- occasion, with Christian Constitution cannot impair; t he same; and I trust if I
They included instances k Beacon Press), Joseph L. t ions on Jews seeking offi ce
But this is a Chris- for the 44th section of the
myself, no one would
when high-minded Chris- Blau reprints in full the fa- o ✓ entrance in the legal pr spirit.
tian land. And let me in- latter instrument declares b know
e more ready to aid and
tians fought for man's right mous oration by Henry a nd f ession, the part played in, o-
to worship or even not to makes this interesting re- b y Thomas Kenned it quire of the page of history, that the Declaration of a ssist than myself. But I
worship, as he pleased and I erence to Henry in a cha
ardent Jeffersonian and y, by what means it became Rights ought never to be vio- s hould really be at a loss to
er on "The Affirmation of p ersistent fighter," Col. a so? Was it through the in- lated, on any pretense what- s pecify any known reli-
preferred.
strumentality of peace and ever; if there is any appar- g ious principles which are
Thus far, the triumphs C ivil Rights for Religio Us G. D. Worthington, and W.
H. no good will to our fellow ent difference between the t hus
dangerous.
of Washington, Jefferson, Minorities":
M. Brackenridge, form a
"North Carolina, who se 0 they glorious chapter in th n- men? . . . No, sir, the soil two instruments, they
It is surely a question be-
Madison, and scores of
e
we
inhabit
yields
its
fruit
to
ought, if possible, to be rec- t ween a man and his Maker,
others, who have suc- C onstitution required its s truggle for religious fre e- the just and to the unjust;
onciled; but if there is a a nd requires more than hu-
ceeded in writing into our ? fficials to accept the di V- d om in this country.
the sun which gives us life, final repugnance between man attributes to pro-
Constitution the basic T ne authority of the Ne w
The "Jew bill" wa
principles of religious lib- - estament, but whose d ec- a dopted by the Marylan s sheds his glorious beams them, the Declaration of n ounce which of the numer-
aration of rights grant ed H ouse of Delegates on th d impartially on all. But the Rights must be considered o us sects prevailing in the
erty, remain the pride and
the cornerstone of our r eligious freedom, w as 1 ast day of the session, Fe e great majority of the dwell- paramount; for I believe it is \ w orld is more acceptable to
aced with the necessity in 2 6, 1825, and was con b. ens of this land are Chris- to the Constitution, as the t he Deity.
American heritage.
809 of deciding betwee n fi rmed, as required by law - tians; therefore it is a Chris- Constitution is to law; it
If a man fulfills the duties "
There are some lesser-
, tian land.
hese
two instruments.
controls and directs it abso- o f that religion, which his
known names whose contri-
in the following session o f
"For the same reason, it lutely and conclusively.
"Jacob Henry, a Jew, w as t he House, on Jan. 5, 182
ducation or his conscience
butions to the cause of jus-
6. might be a Catholic, Episco-
If, then, a belief in the h as pointed to him as the
tice and untrammeled free- e lected to the House of Co m- B lau, whose book also con
dom have helped build a , 111 ons by the voters of Ca r- t ains the complete text o - pal, or Presbyterian land. Protestant religion is re- t rue one, no person, I hold,
eret County. It was, of B rackenridge's historic ad f Our political compacts are quired by the Constitution, i n- this our land of liberty,
strong foundation for this
great Republic. Among c ourse, impossible f or d ress, comments that "tli - not entered into as brethren to qualify a man for a seat h as a right to arraign him at
enry to ff. h
ne j effersonian principle wa e of the Christian faith — but in this house, and such qual- t he bar of any inquisition;
them was Jacob Henry, who
s as men, as members of a civ-
was elected to the North authority of the New Test a- vi ndicated and sustained i n ilized society. In looking ification is dispensed with a nd the day, I trust, has
by the Declaration of
passed, when princi-
Carolina House of Com- ment. His right to his se at
aryland just six month
to our struggle for in- Rights, the provision of the .1 ong
les
merely
speculative
mons in 1808, served for a was, therefore, challenge d. b efore the death of Jeffer s - back
dependence, I find that we Constitution must be alto- w ere propagated
by force;
year and upon his. re-elec- Henry was granted the pri v- so n himself."
engaged
in
that
bloody
con-
gether inoperative; as the w hen the sincere and pious
tion in 1809 faced the chal- ilege of speaking in defen se
Brackenridge's speech o n flict, for the rights of. man,
lenge as to his right to hold of his right to retain t he th e Maryland "Jew bill, " and not for the purpose_ of language of the Bill of w ere made victims, and the
seat, and did so in a bri of de livered in 1819, has gon
office on religious grounds.
e enforcing or defending any Rights is, "that all men have li ght-minded bribed into
At that time the North speech which was long co n-
own in history with th e particular religious creed. If a natural and inalienable h ypocrites.
The purest homage man
Carolina constitution prohi- sidered one of the gems of
of gr eatest orations in defens e the accidental circumst- right to worship Almighty
God according to the dic- c ould render to the Al-
bited non-Protestants from American oratory.
of civil rights. Braekenridg e ance, of our being for the
"There
holding civil offices. Henry,
as had this to say on the ques - greater part Christians, tates of their own consci- m ighty was the sacrifice of
ences."
% been some que s- tion of tolerance:
is passions and the per-
q-
who was elected to the
could justify us in proscrib-
tion raised as t •
It is undoubtedly a natu- fo rmance of his duties. That
North Carolina State Legis-
"Sir, I abhor intoler ▪ ing other religions, the same
his auth
h.
ral right, and when it is t he ruler of the universe
lature from Carteret
an ce, whether it be politi
of
the speech; it ca 1 or religious; and yet, I - reason would justify any declared to be an inaliena-
• County, became the center
ould receive with equal
'76
•
one of the sects of Christian- ble one by the people-in b enignity the various offers
ls reported b
of a political issue. Many of
ca n scarcely regard reli - ity, in persecuting the rest.
their sovereign and origi- of man's adoration, if they
the state's leaders came to one of the historians o f
ous tolerance as a virtue •
sir, all persecution nal capacity, any attempt p roceeded from the heart.
his support and Roman North Carolina to have bee n wh at has weak and erring for But,
the sake of opinions, is
to alienate either by the G overnments only concern
Catholics, who were simi- written for him by Chie f m an, a right to give per- tyranny
— and the first Constitution or by law, th e actions and conduct of
larly affected by the law Justice Taylor, of the stat e
ssion to his fellow mor- speck of it that may ap-
must be vain and fruitless. m an, and not his speculative
barring non-Protestants supreme court. This attribu
to 1, to offer his adorations
It is difficult to conceive n otions.
from holding civil positions, tion was solely on the basi S to the Supreme Being, pear, should be • eradi-
cated,
as
the
commence-
of hearsay, and we are justi
how such a provision crept
were-on his side.
Who among us feels
a fter his own manner? Did ment of a deadly gangrene,
hi
into
the
Constitution,
unless
mself so exalted above
Henry won an over- fied in attaching the nam e
not feel myself somehow
it is from the difficulty the hi s fellows as to have a
whelming victory to retain of Jacob Henry to thi • re strained from pursuing whose ultimate tendency,
is,
to
convert
the
body
poli-
human mind feels in sud- ri ght to dictate to them
his seat after delivering an , speech until trustworth y th is subject, I would en-
tic, into a corrupt and pu-
denly emancipating itself a ny mode of belief? Will
address which has won such evidence of other authorshi I) de avor to demonstrate, trid
mass."
from fetters by which it has yo u bind the conscience in
wide acclaim that it has is furnished.
th at the idea of such per-
This
is the stuff of which long been enchained: and ch ains, and fasten convic-
been included in the famous
`The speech itself, thoug h mi ssion, or toleration, is the ideals of freedom and
how adverse it is to the feel - ti on upon the mind in spite
collection, "The American brief, is a ringing reitera - no t.better than impiety.
democracy were made in ings and manners of the of the conclusions of rea-
Orator."
tion of the view that religion But I content myself, with this
great land of liberty. people of the present day ev- so n and of those ties and
Henry's triumph, how- is a personal matter be - calling your attention to
ever, was only partial. tween the individual and his what has been the effect, We pause on the Passover ery gentleman may satisfy ha bitudes which are
Festival of Freedom to pay himself by glancing at the bl ended with every puls-
While he was permitted to Maker, and that no one has
religious belief of the per- do n of the heart? Are y
retain his seat in the legis- the right to challenge or
sons who fill the various of- pr epared to plunge at once
lature, the discriminatory question this personal rela-
fices in this state: there are fr om the sublime heigb
North Carolina clause re- tion. As long as one does not
Presbyterians, Lutherans, of moral legislation
mained on the state's sta- hold religious opinions dan-
Calvinists, Mennonists,
th e • dark and gloomy cav-
tutes. It was interpreted to gerous to the state, the state
Baptists, Trinitarians and er ns of superstitious igno-
mean that legislative of- has no power to exclude him
Unitarians.
ra nce? Will you drive from
fices were not necessarily from any privilege or obliga-
But, as far as my observa- yo ur shores and from the
civil, that Catholics and tion of citizenship. The
- tion extends, there are sh elter of your Constitu-
Jews could participate in statement was clear-cut and
fewer Protestants, in the do n, all who do not lay
making laws although incisive — and it is a plea-
strict sense of the word, th eir oblations on the same
they were prohibited from sure to report that it was de-
used by the Constitution,
al tar, observe the same
interpreting and executing cisive. Henry was over-
than of any other persua- rit ual, and subscribe to the
them. _
whelmingly granted the
sion; for I suppose that they sa me dogmas? If so,
After the Civil War, when right to his seat in the com-
meant by it, the Protestant wh ich, among the various
Southern states began to mons, and some years later
religion as established by
se cts into which we are
liberalize their constitu- the constitutional provisions
the law in England.
di vided, shall be the fa-
tions,- North Carolina were changed."
For other persuasions we vo red one?
granted full religious liberty
In 1818, in the heat of de-
see houses of worship in al-
I should insult the under-
to all its constituents in bate over a similar issue in
st
most
every
part
of
the
state,
anding
of this House to
1868.
MATZO-BAKING
IN
17TH
CENTURY
HOLLAND
the Maryland Assembly,
Woodcut from the new "Encyclopaedia
but very few of the Protes- su ppose it possible that they
Jacob Henry was born in while discussing the so-
T
fant•
Jurloion"

Copyright, ,1976, JTA, Inc.

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