An Important Document in the Argument for the Separation of Church and State
Transportation of the Mail on the Sabbath. In the Senate of the United States.
Kentucky, 1829.
BROADSIDE. Transportation of the Mail on the Sabbath. In the Senate of the United States. Kentucky: 1829.
Full Description:
[UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION]. [BROADSIDE]. Transportation of the Mail on the Sabbath. In the Senate of the United States. [Kentucky]: January 19, 1829.
An important and interesting broadside supporting the separate of church in state, in so as it applies to the delivery of mail on Sunday, the Sabbath. Broadside, folio (16 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches; 428 x 266 mm). With a caption title, printed above three columns, separated by rules. All within a decorative woodcut border. Mounted at the top edge within a portfolio mat. Some minor toning and a few small spots of dampstaining. A One and one half-inch closed tear at right-hand margin, just touching the border. Overall very good.
This is a significant document in the history of the United States Constitution, in relation to the concept of the separation of church and state. Christian leaders demanded that the Government institution of the Postal Office not work on Sunday as their God had deemed this the Sabbath. The following document discusses that while many Christians observe the Sabbath on Sunday, others, including their Jewish neighbors observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Demanding that the government institution not work on Sunday for religious reasons goes directly against the Constitution. The report states "With these different religious views, the committee are of opinion that congress cannot interfere.—It is not the legitimate province of the legislature to determine what religion is true, or what false. Our government is a civil, and not a religious institution. Our constitution recognizes in every person, the right to choose his own religion, and to enjoy it freely, without molestation. Whatever may be the religious sentiments of citizens, and however variant, they are alike entitled to protection from the government, so long as they do not invade the rights of others." It goes on to powerfully state "Extensive religious combinations, to effect a political object, are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. This first effort of the kind, calls for the establishment of a principle, which, in the opinion of the committee, would lay the foundation for dangerous innovations upon the spirit of the Constitution, and upon the religious rights of the citizens. If admitted, it may be justly apprehended, that the future measures of government will be strongly marked, if not eventually controlled, by the same influence. All religious despotism commences by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it, and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence."
The five-person committee for this report consisted of Richard Johnson of Kentucky who later went on to serve as the country's 9th vice president under Martin Van Buren, as well as future President John Tyler of Virgina, Ellis of Mississippi, Silsbee of Massachusetts and Johnson of Louisiana.
"The opening of post offices on Sunday led to a national debate about the relationship of the federal government to the Sabbath day. The argument, which raged from 1810 to 1830, involved whether the national government would exist as a secular commercial republic committed to a separation of church and state or as a Christian commonwealth... The U.S. postmaster general, Gideon Granger, responded by persuading Congress in 1810 to pass legislation to open all 2,300 post offices seven days a week and transport mail every day. Congress immediately began to receive petitions from numerous religious denominations urging repeal of the law... Under strong public pressure, House and Senate committees formed to study the postal law. While the chair of the House committee waffled on the subject, the head of the Senate committee swayed Congress to keep the law. Gen. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, a devout Baptist, wrote in the committee’s 1829 report that congressional action to stop Sunday mail would be unconstitutional. Johnson reminded Americans that they had religious freedom and that government had no right to coerce the religious homage of anyone. The invention of the telegraph in 1844 ultimately spelled the end of Sunday mail. It was now possible to get market information without the mail system. By the 1850s, postmaster generals were eliminating the movement of most mail on Sunday." (Free Speech Center, Caryn E. Neumann).
HBS 69246.
$1,750.
Price: $1,750.00
Item #69246