COALITION TO PROTECT
GEORGIA'S BILL OF RIGHTS
The Real History of our Constitutional Provision
Church-state barrier has Baptist roots
George Hooks - For the Journal-Constitution
Monday, March 21, 2005
Much has been said and written about the proposed constitutional amendment before the Legislature on the issue of funding religious organizations. While this issue should be decided on its merits, it is important that the voters know that --- despite claims to the contrary --- the credit or blame for the provision in our Constitution that separated church and state should actually be given to the founders of the Georgia Baptists and not to James G. Blaine of Maine, an 1870s era anti-Southern national lawmaker, who many are pillorying today. Here's the true story: At the first constitutional convention in 1777, Georgia withdrew official support for the Anglican Church and asserted religious freedom. Then, in 1785, in response to the legislative efforts of the state to establish public financial support for churches, Silas Mercer, a Baptist minister, wrote a remonstrance that promptly stopped those attempts. In 1789, Georgia held its first statehood constitutional convention, which was attended by Mercer, and also by one of my ancestors. Mercer was a convention delegate and the man behind passage of a provision that stated: "No person within the state shall upon any pretense be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in a manner agreeable to his own conscience." In 1798, Georgia held another constitutional convention. This time, Silas Mercer's son, Jesse, was the Wilkes County delegate. Jesse Mercer was a preacher-politician for whom Mercer University is named. It was under the younger Mercer's leadership that freedom of conscience in matters of religion was enshrined in our state's constitution. Notably, it was largely due to the efforts of Jesse Mercer and Adiel Sherwood that the General Association of Georgia Baptist churches was formed at Powelton in 1822. The association eventually changed its name to its present title, the Georgia Baptist Convention. As for the Blaine amendment, it was named after James G. Blaine of Maine, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who later became a U.S. senator. Blaine proposed a national constitutional amendment on Dec. 14, 1875, in reaction to agitation for public parochial schools by the Catholic Church and others. The amendment passed the U.S. House, but failed in the Senate. Afterward, the Blaine amendment was incorporated into a number of state constitutions, especially in the west, but not Georgia. In Georgia, following Reconstruction, there was widespread dissatisfaction with the "carpet bag" constitution of 1868. Throughout 1876, calls for a new state constitution were widespread. Then, almost 200 delegates assembled at the state Capitol on July 11, 1877. The dominant personality there was Georgia political giant, Gen. Robert Toombs, a Confederate veteran, who went to his grave as an unreconstructed Rebel. On the morning of July 23, Toombs recognized Fulton County delegate Nathaniel J. Hammond, also a Confederate veteran, who was the state attorney general and one of the chief authorities on constitutional law. His large oil portrait hangs beside the main doors of our state Senate chamber today. Hammond inserted, without debate, a provision that states: "No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect or denomination."
This is not Blaine's language. Hammond's language does not mention the funding of education, which typical Blaine amendments do. As was true of all constitutional conventions, the state of Georgia did not just amend this provision; instead it rewrote the entire document. Frankly, any suggestions from James G. Blaine to this group of Confederate veterans from Georgia would be about as welcome as a Christmas card from Scrooge. This constitutional provision remained untouched for more than a century, surviving the 1945 and 1976 conventions intact. During the 1981 convention, the product of which was ratified in 1983, I, along with other delegates, made one minor change by prohibiting state assistance to "cults" as well as churches and sects. Otherwise, from 1777 through today, our constitution has had 10 rewrites, all by Georgians for Georgians. And Blaine hasn't entered the picture once. State Sen. George Hooks is a Democrat from Americus