Maryland’s State House is home to a new plaque that marks the 200th anniversary of a bill that eliminated the requirement that anyone running for public office pledge loyalty to the state of Maryland — and declare their belief in the Christian faith.
Maryland State Del. Jared Solomon, co-chair of the Maryland Legislative Caucus, explained the history behind what was often referred to throughout Maryland history as the “Jew Bill.”
“I feel like we all cringe a little bit when we say that,” he said, noting that’s how it was referred to when introduced in 1818.
Once passed in 1826, the formal title was the “Act for the relief of the Jews in Maryland.”
Solomon said Delegate Thomas Kennedy from Washington County, the Maryland lawmaker who pushed for the bill, had “never met a Jew, but he believed deeply … religion itself was something between a person and their creator.”
Solomon said that, for him, the story is all the more compelling because Kennedy had no connection to the Jewish community in Maryland at that time.
“He was willing to stand up for people because he believed that, essentially, if one American citizen was deprived of their constitutional rights, it was his duty to try to fix that,” Solomon said.
Getting the bill passed took repeated efforts, from the first attempt in 1818 to its final passage in 1826. Kennedy obviously was finally able to garner enough support for passage, but not before he was often excoriated by opponents.
Maryland’s Jewish Caucus has about 50 members, according to Solomon. About 20 members are Jewish, he said, “and then we have another 30 or so who are associate members who are either allies of our communities or have large Jewish populations in their districts.”
The plaque, mounted in the State House, will be located in the Old House Chamber, where statues of Harriett Tubman and Frederick Douglass also stand. The House Chamber sits across from the Old Senate Chamber, where George Washington resigned his military commission. An earlier plaque dedicated to Kennedy’s efforts was placed in the State House in 1992.
Solomon said the 200th commemoration of the legislation comes at a time when there is so much negative news, such as the attack on a synagogue in Michigan.
“One of the things I love about this story is it’s so relevant to today, but it’s also really uplifting and just an incredibly important part of our history that a lot of people don’t know about,” Solomon said.
Kennedy’s bill didn’t eliminate a statement about an officeholder’s faith in the state’s Constitution. A statement affirming belief in a “future state of rewards and punishments” wouldn’t be removed until the current version of the Maryland Constitution was adopted in 1867.
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