Washington's Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport

Summary

In August 1790, during a tour of New England, President George Washington was welcomed at Newport, Rhode Island, by Moses Seixas, warden of the Hebrew Congregation there. Seixas's address, dated 17 August, speaks for "the children of the stock of Abraham." It remembers days of difficulty and danger, and it gives thanks for a government "which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance," and which affords to all liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. The letter asks that the God who conducted Israel's forefathers would also conduct the president. Washington's reply, dated 18 August 1790, is the document for which this page is named. The library hosts both letters, clearly labeled, so that students can see what Washington takes up and what he changes. He thanks the congregation for a welcome from all classes of citizens, and he says that the Citizens of the United States have given mankind an example of an enlarged and liberal policy, a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. "It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights." Happily, he writes, the Government of the United States, "which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens." He closes with a blessing: may the children of the Stock of Abraham sit in safety under their own vine and fig-tree, and may there be none to make them afraid. The difference between the two letters matters. Seixas already praises a government that does not sanction bigotry. Washington accepts that language, then adds a sharper claim: "toleration" is too small a word when rights are inherent and equal, not a favor granted by a majority. The letters belong to the year before the Bill of Rights was ratified, and they should be read with Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, not as a later myth about a single synagogue visit. They do not appear in the library's Washington collection of the Farewell Address and selected letters, so this stand-alone page fills a genuine gap. A Christian reading can give thanks for liberty of conscience without pretending that every American practice then, or now, already matched the standard Washington named.

Plot or Argument

• Seixas's welcome

  On 17 August 1790 the warden of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport thanks God for a government that gives bigotry no sanction and affords liberty of conscience to all.

• Washington recasts toleration

  The president’s reply of 18 August accepts that language and adds that equal rights of conscience are inherent, not a privilege indulged by one class of citizens.

• A blessing under the vine and fig-tree

  Washington closes by praying that the children of the Stock of Abraham may live in safety, and that all may be useful here and happy hereafter.

Characters

• Moses Seixas, warden of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport

  Writes the 17 August address of welcome and thanksgiving.

• George Washington, President of the United States

  Replies on 18 August 1790, recasting toleration as equal natural rights.

• The Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island

  The body in whose name Seixas writes; its synagogue is now commonly called Touro Synagogue.

Lessons

• More than toleration

  Washington says it is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if one class indulged another. He treats liberty of conscience as an inherent natural right under a government that does not sanction bigotry.

  • What is the difference, in this letter, between toleration and equal rights?
  • Why might a religious minority care about that difference?

• A conversation, not a monologue

  The famous phrases about bigotry and persecution already appear in Seixas’s address. Washington takes them up, then adds the argument about inherent rights and good citizenship.

  • Which sentences does Washington echo, and which does he add?
  • How does hosting both letters change the way the reply is read?

• Rights and duties together

  The government requires that those under its protection demean themselves as good citizens and give it effectual support. Liberty of conscience is joined to civic duty, not set against it.

  • What does Washington say the government requires of those it protects?
  • Is that requirement a limit on religious liberty, a condition of peace, or both?

Context

In 1790 Washington toured New England as president. Newport’s Jewish congregation, one of the oldest in the United States, used the visit to describe what they hoped the new federal government would mean for a people long used to uncertain toleration rather than equal citizenship.

Composition

Seixas’s address is dated 17 August 1790; Washington’s reply is dated 18 August. The library text follows a public-domain transcription that retains original spelling and is also linked to the letterbooks in the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress.

Reception

The reply was printed in newspapers at the time and has since become a principal American statement on religious liberty. It should be read as an early presidential letter, not as a later constitutional amendment, though it stands close in time to the Bill of Rights.

Comparisons

• Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation (1789)

  The 1789 proclamation gives thanks for civil and religious liberty; the Newport letter, a year later, explains that liberty as equal right rather than mere toleration.

• Farewell Address and Selected Letters

  The letter is not included in the library’s Washington collection; the Farewell Address later calls religion and morality supports of political prosperity.

• The Founding Documents

  The First Amendment, ratified in 1791, would soon forbid a federal establishment of religion and protect the free exercise of religion.

• The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

  Jefferson’s 1786 Virginia statute already treated religious liberty as a natural right, not a favor granted by the civil power.

• Memorial and Remonstrance and Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention

  Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance (1785) argues that religion must be free from state coercion because conscience is prior to civil society.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The phrases Seixas already uses about bigotry and persecution.
• Washington’s contrast between toleration and inherent natural rights.
• The closing vine-and-fig-tree blessing and its biblical background.
• The requirement that those under the government’s protection live as good citizens.

Key terms and names

Toleration

Permission granted by those in power to a minority; Washington says this word is no longer enough.

Liberty of conscience

Freedom to worship and to hold religious convictions without civil penalty.

Immunities of citizenship

The legal protections and standing of a citizen, here promised alike to all.

Warden

An officer of the congregation; Moses Seixas signs in that capacity.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension When were the two letters dated, and who wrote each?
2. Comprehension What two things does Washington say all possess alike?
3. Interpretation Why does Washington object to the word "toleration"?
4. Interpretation How does his closing blessing use Scripture, and what does he ask for the congregation and for others?
5. Interpretation Why does Washington reject mere toleration, and what does he put in its place?
6. Big Question If religious liberty is an inherent right, what do majorities still owe minorities, and what do all citizens still owe the government?

Faith Connections

• Micah 4:4 (Scripture)

  The promise that each shall sit under his vine and fig-tree, with none to make him afraid, is the language Washington uses in the blessing.

• 1 Kings 4:25 (Scripture)

  The same image describes peace in Israel under Solomon; the letter applies it to a religious community in the new republic.

• The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (Great Conversation)

  Jefferson’s statute and this letter both refuse to treat religious liberty as a mere concession of the civil power.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because the United States has adopted a policy of equal liberty of conscience, religious freedom should no longer be described as toleration granted by one class of citizens to another.

Rhetorical device: correction of a term. Washington names "toleration" in order to set it aside, then substitutes inherent natural rights and equal citizenship.

Debate: Resolved: that "toleration" is an inadequate word for religious liberty in a republic.

Memory Work

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.

gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance

Writing Prompts

Essay: Show how Washington’s reply both borrows from Seixas and goes beyond him. Use short, exact quotations from both letters.

Comparison with The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: Compare Washington’s 1790 letter with Jefferson’s Virginia Statute: how does each explain why civil power may not control conscience?

Creative Prompts

• Essay

  Explain how Washington’s reply both repeats and changes the language of Seixas’s address. Quote both letters.

• Classroom

  Mark every use of "toleration," "rights," "bigotry," and "citizenship" in both letters, and discuss why Washington treats toleration as an inadequate word.

• Dialogue

  Write a short dialogue in which two Newport citizens, one Jewish and one Christian, read Washington’s reply aloud in August 1790 and debate what it promises and what it cannot yet guarantee.

Further Reading

• The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson

  The 1786 Virginia statute, already in the library, treats religious liberty as a natural right.

• Memorial and Remonstrance and Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention, James Madison

  Madison’s 1785 memorial argues that conscience is prior to civil society.

• Farewell Address and Selected Letters, George Washington

  The library’s larger Washington collection, which does not include this letter.