ABSTRACT
On January 5, 1826 after a long and arduous struggle, the Jew Bill, or more formally “An Act to extend to the sect of people professing the Jewish religion, the same rights and privileges enjoyed by Christians,” was passed by the Maryland General Assembly. The ultimate victory was the annulment of the test oath in Maryland's Constitution that required state officers to be Christians. This prerequisite to holding a governmental position also prevented Jews from becoming lawyers and commissioned officers in the state militia. Most historians treat the attempt to pass the Jew Bill as an isolated struggle led by Thomas Kennedy and a persistent and enlightened minority against the bigoted and prejudiced majority. In reality, however, the bill was only a part of a greater conflict involving Baltimore and other trading and industrial areas and the politically powerful, yet sparsely populated, agricultural counties. In 1818 not only was the Jew Bill defeated, but also a bill to reapportion representation in the House of Delegates and a bill to popularly elect the governor of the state. 1 Niles Weekly Register stated that the existence of many “rotten boroughs” was one reason why the Jew Bill was continuously defeated: “If the free citizens of the state were represented in the legislature, this fragment of the barbarous ages would be strikened from our Constitution.” 2 When the Jew Bill was finally passed, Niles related the news to the other major “progressive” issues:
The affairs of our state begin to have an improving appearance. A spirit is abroad to favor the making of roads and canals; and the bill which passed the Senate … for the political liberation of persons held in servitude for conscience has also passed the house. 3
