George Washington attacks bigotry in letter to Jewish congregation
A letter penned by George Washington that’s been locked away for a decade will be the centerpiece of an exhibit dedicated to America’s early roots in religious freedom.
The 337-word document sent to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, R.I., in August 1790 was addressed to “the children of the stock of Abraham” and poetically quoted the Old Testament, vowing that the new government “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
The National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, where the letter will be displayed, calls the text a defining statement of religious liberty in the new United States.
(Source: foundingfatherfest, via dsalvatorecosta)