Office Eligibility Quotes

Lopez had come from Portugal and had been living in Rhode Island for 9 years and was active in shipping, whaling and candle making. He, and another Jew, Issac Elizer, petitioned the Rhode Island Superior Court for naturalization and citizenship rights. The court turned them down and they appealed to the Rhode Island Assembly—then not only the legislature but the highest court in the colony. The assembly came up with a compromise. The Jews were allowed to continue to live and work in Rhode Island but they could not hold public office or vote. They told the Superior Court to reconsider the case however as Lopez and Elizer were model citizens—but for religion just the kind the colony wanted. This case and many others were known to the founding fathers who were determined to put a stop to the practice of conditioning voting and office holding rights on adhering to the particular sect of the majority of the colony. Lopez and Elizer then appealed again to the Superior Court.

Hughes constantly allowed that it was improper for a sitting Supreme Court justice to be a candidate for the Presidency. But the Republican Party was badly split between the progressives and the conservatives. Each likely candidate had been on one side or the other, and was therefore unacceptable to the wing he had not supported. Hughes was one of the few Republicans who did not take sides in the 1912 schism as he was a member of the Supreme Court. His neutrality and his absence of any political statements in recent years made him a very attractive Presidential Nominee for Republicans. But his luster would wear off quickly if he let the Republicans know how he stood on any of the issues splitting the party. The only way that he could avoid saying anything was to maintain that he was not and should not be a candidate. Therefore he was nominated. However, to avoid losing one of the wings of his party, he had to essentially take a position on very few issues in the 1916 campaign. He just criticized President Woodrow Wilson and the Democrats. See {642634} for how the Wilson forces turned his avoidance of issues to their advantage.

There was freedom of religion for Protestants in early New Jersey. Note that Catholics and Jews were not allowed to hold office. This constitution was in force until 1844 when the prohibition was repealed by new constitution. Under the original constitution, men were convicted for blasphemy. See {621063} .