Jon, in your response to Paul Finkelman, you say "not sure I would
characterize *1780s* as a period of 'vicious persecution' of any denomination in
VA." Does your uncertainty have to do with your sense of the degree of
the persecution that does seem to have existed? More than one religious
historian has maintained that it was the treatment of Baptists and others by
both government authorities and general population that helped produce our
national position on religious tolerance and freedom. Similarly, Thomas
Jefferson's concept of separation of church and state seems to have been
influenced by his perception of ill treatment of such folk as the Baptists.
Thoughts?
In a message dated 11/9/2010 9:05:49 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
When described in detail, the oaths taken by 18th-c VA officeholders were
typically described as "the Oaths appointed to be taken by Act of
Parliament* followed by a statement about "repeat[ing] and subscrib[ing --
i.e., signing] the Test"**
{Language quoted from William Nelson's assumption of governorship in
October
1770 in Van Horne ed Nelson Correspondence 37-38n}
*Act I George I stat 2 cap XIII - oath of allegiance to George I and
succession of his Protestant heirs
** The Test was a repudiation of transubstantion required by the Test Act
of
1673
At the beginning of a general assembly session and when new burgesses
entered the Assembly from by-elections, the journals refer more succinctly
to the oaths....
George Washington signed a Test Act Oath about May 22, 1754 - the document
is extant, or at least preserved by published photographs......
And in 1777 VA adopted its own (secular) Test Act requiring "free male
inhabitants of this state above a certain age to give assurance of
allegiance to the same [i.e. to the commonwealth]." - Hening Statutes 9:
281-83.
PS to original query : not sure I would characterize *1780s* as a period of
" vicious persecution" of any denomination in VA
Jon Kukla
________________
www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/>
On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Henry Wiencek
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> According to the "Industrial and historical sketch of Fairfax County,
> Virginia," (1907), in colonial times all county officials were
> required to take the "Test Oath" denying belief in the
> Transubstantiation of the Eucharist, a clause no Roman Catholic could
> swear to.
>
> Henry Wiencek
>
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