‘ Give Bigotry No Sanction’

Why did religious pluralism flourish in the United States? Because George Washington and other Founders worked hard to nurture it. Facing History and Ourselves offers lessons that can guide students through key documents that illustrate the freedom our Founders envisioned.

By Adam Strom and Darlene Koenig HAND LETTERING by BERNARD MAISNER

On a muggy August morning in 1790, freedom of religion for non-Christians to bigotry gives no sanction, to perse- President George Washington sailed to was hardly a given. In fact, the free- cution no assistance.” Newport, R.I., with Secretary of State dom to worship for many nonmajor- The courteous thing for the presi- Thomas Jefferson and other dignitaries. ity Christians—including Quakers, dent to do was to respond in writing. Three months earlier, Rhode Island's Baptists and Catholics—was nearly as But what would he say? Then, as now, legislature had made it the last state to precarious. disputes over religion had the potential ratify the United States Constitution, In the early days of the United to dissolve into controversy. and Washington was eager to gain sup- States, religious minorities had sev- port for the amendments that would eral concerns: Would they be allowed Dueling Identities later become the Bill of Rights. to practice their religion? Would they In 2012, Americans belonging to minor- The group was greeted by Newport’s be allowed to build houses of wor- ity religions as well as those who believe politicians, businessmen and clergy ship? Would they have the same polit- in no religion still struggle to claim a and, together, they gathered at a red- ical rights as members of mainstream place in the public square. According to brick customs house where represen- Protestant sects? After all, it was within the Pew Forum on Religion and Public tatives of the community addressed the living memory that “heretics” had Life, more than 2.2 billion people— president. been banished and even burned at the more than a third of the world’s popu- Among them was Moses Seixas, stake. And, in 1790, many of the states lation—face religious restrictions. They who read two letters—one as the grand excluded Jews, Catholics, Quakers and live either in nations where the govern- master of the Masonic Order of Rhode others from civic participation on the ment restricts worship or where social Island and the other as the warden of basis of religious differences. Even in hostilities force them to defend their Newport’s Hebrew Congregation. Rhode Island, Jews could not vote or beliefs. Even in the United States, there It’s hard to overstate the significance hold public office. has been a long debate about the role of the moment. Much of Newport’s In this context, Seixas read his that religion should play in our national Jewish population had come to message to Washington on behalf of identity, and research suggests that we America to escape centuries of perse- Newport’s small Jewish population: know very little about each others' cution in Europe. And Seixas’s oppor- “Deprived as we heretofore have faiths, traditions and practices. tunity might have happened only in been of the invaluable rights of free Lack of knowledge can lead to mis- Rhode Island, which was founded by Citizens, we now (with a deep sense of understanding and distrust. Echoing Roger Williams in 1636 as a haven for gratitude to the Almighty disposer of all debates in Europe, head coverings religious dissenters. Outside the colony, events) behold a Government … which have come under suspicion in schools,

since 1976, Boston-based Facing History and Ourselves has combated racism, 32 Teaching Tolerance anti-semitism and prejudice and nurtured democracy through education programs worldwide. government buildings and motor- have achieved, at the least, a degree of vehicle licensing bureaus. The effort toleration. But educators can help stu- to build an Islamic center near New dents achieve a connection between York City’s Ground Zero memorial that event and those of the present day. caused a firestorm of debate. A poll Facing History and Ourselves and taken in July 2011 revealed that 22 per- the George Washington Institute cent of Americans would not vote for for Religious Freedom believe these a Mormon for president, regardless of important documents—and the lessons that candidate's policies or record. they offer about pluralism and democ- It’s in this environment that stu- racy—are a great place to begin. dents can benefit from learning about Deborah Conway, a teacher at the Washington’s response to Newport’s Facing History School in New York Hebrew Congregation. City, found the documents fascinat- ing—as did her students. Washington’s Words “[The letter] was written so long ago, Writing back just four days later, the and yet here was a president express- nation’s first president reassured the ing his views about religious toler- Jewish community of Newport that his George Washington’s exchange of letters with ance,” she says. Her students wrote the Jewish congregation at Newport, R.I., helped government “gives to bigotry no sanc- set the tone for religious pluralism in the United their own letters to Washington from tion, to persecution no assistance.” He States. The letters are important documents for all a modern-day perspective, communi- went further, explaining the differ- students to understand. cating examples of how Americans still ence between mere forbearance and struggle with these issues. The school’s true freedom: that the legitimate powers of govern- proximity to the planned Islamic cen- “It is now no more that toleration is ment reach actions only, and not opin- ter near the Ground Zero memorial, spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of ions, I contemplate with sovereign rev- she says, “definitely sparked” much of one class of people that another enjoyed erence that act of the whole American their discussion. the exercise of their inherent natural people which declared that their legis- The goal is for students to experi- rights.” Washington envisioned that in lature should ‘make no law respecting ence what German philosopher Jürgen the new nation, members of all religions an establishment of religion, or pro- Habermas calls a “mutual recognition would be able to practice their individual hibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus and mutual acceptance of divergent faiths by right—not through the permis- building a wall of separation between worldviews”—a “kind of tolerance sion or indulgence of the majority. church and state.” (See our online port- [that] allows religion and democracy to “All possess alike liberty of con- folio for the full text.) coexist in a pluralistic environment.” science and immunities of citizenship,” Washington’s letter is particu- Washington wrote, defining religious larly important given the contempo- freedom as a natural right preceding rary debate over the the Bill of Rights On the next two pages are artis- any constitution or laws. and its First Amendment. Just a year tic reproductions of the letters Washington's letter is a clear exam- later, the states ratified the amendment exchanged by Moses Seixas and ple of his intent to establish a nation understanding that it set a framework George Washington. They remain in which the government upholds for religious freedom. Washington also enduring testaments to the spirit principles of religious freedom. But it offered something equally important: a of religious freedom that shaped is not an isolated document. He had moral vision that balances respect for the United States. also written letters to the nation’s religious difference with the responsi- Quakers, Catholics and Baptists. And bilities of citizenship. Editor’s note: Different transcrip- his peers, including Thomas Jefferson tions of these letters provide differ- and James Madison, held similar views. A Story with Universal Lessons ing punctuation, differing capital- In a letter to the Danbury Baptist The story of George Washington and ization and, in some cases, slightly

gett Association in Connecticut 12 years Moses Seixas is that of a particular cul- different wording. We have later, Jefferson wrote: tural setting and the challenges faced replaced some outdated usages for y images. “Believing with you that religion is a by a unique religious community. And clarity while trying to preserve the matter which lies solely between man clearly, despite Washington’s intent, original tone of the letters. c om and his God, that he owes account to many religious minorities still dream none other for his faith or his worship, of worshipping in environments that

in the portfolio Primary document of Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association Link to the related lesson from Facing History and Ourselves tolerance.org/give-bigotry-no-sanction spring 2012 33

Go online to see the text version of the letters tolerance.org/give-bigotry-no-sanction