Story is, no doubt, referring to the requirement of the U.S. Constitution. States were free to continue to impose test oaths pursuant to their own constitutions. Thorpe provides all the relevant documents through the end of the nineteenth century.
In Virginia, another question would be was anyone denied office under the Test Oath. I recognize that this is a loaded question as one can be discouraged from seeking office, but my recollection was that no one in VA was ever denied office for this reason.
John Ragosta
Gilder Lehrman Junior Research Fellow, Monticello
"higher taxes...the best mode for restoring the credit of the paper currency..." Culpeper Citizens, May 1779
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul <[log in to unmask]> Finkelman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 11:09:57 AM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Religous tests in early Va --when Test Oath ended (?)
well that is just wrong, of course. A number of states have religous tests well into the 19th century; Maryland does not allow Jews to hold office until the 1820s.
*************************************************
Paul Finkelman, Ph.D.
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)
[log in to unmask]
www.paulfinkelman.com
*************************************************
________________________________________
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 9:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Religous tests in early Va --when Test Oath ended (?)
Joseph Story's "Commentaries" on the U.S. Constitution suggests that it
would officially have ended shortly after the U.S. Constitution went into
effect. At _http://www.constitution.org/js/js_343.htm_
(http://www.constitution.org/js/js_343.htm) , Ch. XL888, sections 1840-1842 discuss the law passed
by Congress in 1789 which prescribed oaths to be taken by federal and
state officers. The matter of transubstantiation and other doctrines is
specifically addressed in section 1842.
--Warren Napier, PhD
Affiliate Faculty
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
College for Professional Studies, Regis University, Denver
In a message dated 11/10/2010 6:54:45 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Do you know when this ended?
----
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)
[log in to unmask]
www.paulfinkelman.com
--- On Tue, 11/9/10, Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Religous tests in early Va
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 10:28 AM
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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