George Washington and Religious Freedom

On the eve of George Washington becoming the nation’s First President, Alexander Hamilton and others fretted if he would even accept the position. Hamilton wrote to Washington in September 1788 stating, “it cannot be considered as a compliment to say that on your acceptance of the office of President the success of the new government in its commencement may materially depend.”[1] Hamilton’s belief that George Washington was essential to the new American Republic was vindicated by history. Washington’s relinquishment of military power and being the stabilizing force of the new nation established this fact.

His ability as a leader of men on and off the battlefield often overshadows his other roles in the creation of the United States, specifically, his role as a leading figure in the establishment of religious freedom. Although this civil liberty is most often associated with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, George Washington’s leadership and unequivocal stance on religious freedom was essential in establishing this pillar of American freedom.

Washington’s Religious Life

Fundamental to understanding Washington’s role in religious liberty is the role that faith played in his own life. Washington has often been placed in the camp of the deist founding fathers; however, the evidence does not suggest he was a deist, but a Christian and member of the Anglican Church.[2] Washington was born into a family with a long tradition of service in the Anglican Church. He was a vestryman in his local parish until the Revolutionary War and served in elected roles within the parish.[3] While his attendance sometimes waned, he was known to attend services more frequently during times of crisis. The crisis from the Stamp Act saw Washington’s regular attendance at church services.[4] His stance on religious freedom was not the result of a lack of religiousness on the part of Washington as it has sometimes been attributed. It was perhaps because of the importance of religion in his own life that he took such a stance.

General Washington During the Revolution

As commander of the Continental Army, General George Washington served as a role model of religious freedom. One of the first examples was his handling of the Quakers. The Quakers had once been a powerhouse in Pennsylvania politics but by the time of the Revolution their political power had diminished, primarily due to their wartime pacifism. Many of the Quakers had taken part in the earlier boycotts, protesting against British policies, but as pacifists they refused to support a war. This caused them to be seen with suspicion, often labeled as supporters of the British, and sometimes even imprisoned.[5]

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Washington had encountered Quakers in military matters before the Revolution. During his time as a Virginia officer in the French and Indian War, he had a group of Quakers that had been drafted into his forces but refused to fight on religious grounds. Instead of imprisoning the men, he kept them with the force until the expiration of their drafts despite their refusal to fight.[6]

His first encounter with Quakers during the Revolution was during the siege of Boston. Washington received a delegation of New England Quakers, who requested to send relief supplies to the needy citizens of the besieged city. Washington had a strict rule that no one would enter the city except for a wife separated from her husband. This, combined with a smallpox outbreak in the city, resulted in Washington denying the delegation entrance into Boston. He did allow them to arrange for the supplies to be handed over to Quakers inside Boston, under a flag of truce. Washington’s practicality and kindness to the Quaker delegation garnered their respect.[7]

During the war, Washington showed kindness to Quakers, albeit not without some frustration. When the British occupied Philadelphia, Washington expressed many of the same prejudices about the loyalty of the Quakers as others did.[8] Conversely, in 1777, he excused several Virginia-drafted Quakers from military service.[9] In all, Washington treated Quakers with respect and kindness during the course of the Revolution despite the public feeling often being against them.

Washington’s biggest challenge to religious toleration during the war was not the Quakers. It was the fierce anti-Catholic sentiment in the colonies. Catholics were a small minority in the thirteen rebelling colonies at the time of the Revolution, residing mostly in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Despite their small number, anti-Catholic rhetoric played a large role in Revolutionary politics. Fear of “popery” was a recurring theme leading up to the Revolution. This included conspiracy theories of a Catholic invasion from Quebec and a secret Catholic cabal waiting to reveal itself in the Anglican church.[10] Britain’s establishment of the Quebec Act of 1774 seemed to confirm these fears.[11] Already disliked by many Protestants, these allegations caused even greater prejudice towards Catholics.

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Yet Colonial Catholics joined the Revolutionary cause. Catholics had a history of discrimination in Britain. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 ended the last attempts at Catholic rule and afterwards brought about repeated discrimination. Colonial Catholics, led by Archbishop John Carroll, saw the possibility of a new nation as their best bet for religious equality.[12] The Carroll family became staunch supporters of the Revolution and of George Washington, something Washington would not forget. John Carroll’s cousin, Charles Carroll of Maryland, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and visitor to Valley Forge in its darkest of days.[13]

Washington took on the problem of Catholic discrimination early in his command. In 1775, while planning an invasion of Quebec, Washington was concerned that anti-Catholic behavior would prevent Quebec from joining the cause.[14] In a personal letter, he gave instructions to Benedict Arnold that Continental forces should refrain from any anti-Catholic behavior: “I also give it in charge to you to avoid all disrespect to or contempt of the religion of the country and its ceremonies.”[15] Washington’s official order was just as direct:

As the Contempt of the Religion of a Country by ridiculing any of its Ceremonies or affronting its Ministers or Votaries has ever been deeply resented—You are to be particularly careful to restrain every Officer & Soldier from such Imprudence & Folly & to punish every Instance of it—On the other Hand as far as lays in your Power you are to protect & support the free Exercise of the Religion of the Country & the undisturbed Enjoyment of the Rights of Conscience in religious Matters with your utmost Influence & Authority.[16]

The invasion was unsuccessful. Quebec did not throw off British rule. However, some Quebec Catholics did join the Revolutionary Army. Arnold was able to form two regiments of Canadian Catholics for service in the Revolution and appointed a Catholic chaplain.[17]

Washington’s curtailment of anti-Catholic behavior was not left to just the invasion force entering Quebec. During the Siege of Boston, Washington, put a stop to this anti-Catholic tradition of burning effigies of the Pope on “Pope Day” or “Pope’s Night,” which was celebrated on November 5 in recognition of the foiled Gunpowder Plot. Washington gave the following order:

He cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be officers and men in this army so void of common sense as not to see the impropriety of such a step at this juncture, at a time when we are soliciting, and have really obtained, the friendship and alliance of the people of Canada whom we ought to consider as brethren engaged in the same cause—the defense of Liberty in America. At this juncture and under such circumstances, to be insulting their religion is so monstrous as not to be suffered or excused.[18]

Washington’s control of anti-Catholic behavior allowed for more Catholics to join the cause, even adding a Catholic regiment from the Pennsylvania region in 1778.[19] This was despite continued anti-Catholic rhetoric of members of the Continental Congress.[20] Most of this rhetoric abated upon Catholic-majority France entering the conflict on the side of the Americans.

During his leadership of the Continental Army, Washington encouraged religious worship among all of his men. He instructed chaplains to serve all men regardless of denomination. It is telling that the first chaplain to be confirmed by the Continental Congress was a Catholic, Father Lotbinière.[21] Washington’s emphasis on the value of religion without preference would garner him the respect of many religious minorities.

Constitutional Period

Upon the end of the war, Washington relinquished control of the Army and retreated to the quiet life of Mount Vernon. The weakness of the Articles of Confederation and the need for new government would bring Washington out of retirement to oversee the Constitutional Convention. During this period, he only used the strength of his reputation when it was obvious that it was necessary. Two such issues concerned religious freedom, specifically in the area of disestablishment. The first issue he weighed in on was the question of religious tests for office and the second concerned mandatory taxes in support of religious institutions.

Many of the founders supported religious tests for office, as was evident in the state constitutions that were being created. Often these oaths were specifically worded to prevent Catholics, Quakers, Jews, and others from obtaining political offices. Individuals such as Baptist Isaac Backus took the case for disestablishment before the Continental Congress. In his own state of Massachusetts, religious tests and state-sponsored religion were supported by John Adams and Samuel Adams.[22] The fight against religious tests was eventually won with support from Washington.[23] This resulted in the prohibitions against religious tests for federal office holders being placed into the provisions of Article Six of the U.S. Constitution.

The fight against state-supported churches was slightly more complex for Washington. The powerful Virginia politician Patrick Henry was an Anglican like Washington. He knew that after the Revolution, Virginia would no longer support the English-affiliated church. Instead, he proposed a general assessment for religion in which taxes would be assessed to individuals but given to the denomination of their choice. Washington, who was raised in a Virginia with the state-supported church, was not in disagreement: “I must confess, that I am not amongst the number of those who are so much alarmed at the thoughts of making people pay towards the support of that which they profess, if of the denomination of Christians; or declare themselves Jews, Mahomitans or otherwise, and thereby obtain proper relief.”[24] However, in the end, Washington did not support Henry. Many were opposed to the establishment of church and state. People like Jefferson and Madison foresaw the potential danger of state-controlled churches and their conflict with Enlightenment principles. Recognizing the turmoil that the proposed bill caused, Washington decided not to lend support to the assessment bill. In the end, Madison’s disestablishment principle won the argument.[25] This formed the foundation for the First Amendment’s Disestablishment Clause, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”[26]

President Washington

In 1789, George Washington became the first President of the United States. He was the one man who was nearly universally trusted to accept the position. The United States Constitution had been the result of long debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Primary concerns of the Anti-Federalists were the power of the presidency and the lack of guarantees to individual and state rights. Washington’s ascendancy to the presidency had alleviated one of those concerns. The second concern would be alleviated through a Bill of Rights.

Upon becoming President, Washington made it known that the establishment of a Bill of Rights was a priority for Congress. James Madison quickly found out how difficult it could be to get the two-thirds majority required to pass the ten amendments. To make the Bill of Rights a reality required Washington’s help. Only after Madison produced a letter from Washington giving his approval for the amendments did the fight subside.[27]

The passage of the Bill of Rights, which included the nation’s First Amendment protections of religious freedom, was a monumental accomplishment—one that Washington is rarely recognized for but was instrumental in accomplishing. Just as important, however, was Washington’s recognition of and reassurance to religious minorities.

Very early in the presidency, religious minorities began to send delegations to meet with Washington and write letters; his responses were often distributed for publication. These acts helped to create the national virtue of religious freedom in the United States.

Catholic Archbishop John Carroll wrote an open letter to Washington after his inauguration. In this letter, he extolled the virtues of the President including his commitment to the freedom of religion. The letter stated, “By example, as well as by vigilance, you extend the influence of laws on the manners of our fellow-citizens. You encourage respect for religion; and inculcate by words and actions, that principle, on which the welfare of nations so much depends.”[28] To this, Washington responded in a published letter in which he recognized the loyalty of the nation’s Catholics. During the time of the Continental Congress, Washington had also attended a Catholic mass.[29] So as Carroll stated through his “words and actions,” Washington had demonstrated his tolerance and respect for the United States Catholics.

After the Revolution, the Quakers continued to be outsiders and dissenters based upon their religious morals. Not only had they not participated in the Revolution, but now they were increasingly vocal abolitionists. Washington, however, was not above meeting with the Quakers, writing a letter confirming their right to practice, and showing respect for their beliefs. Washington showed admiration for Quaker beliefs but also remained clear that he believed they had shirked their wartime obligations. Washington stated, “Your principles and conduct are well known to me, and it is doing the People called Quakers no more than justice to say, that (except their declining to share with others the burthen of the common defense) there is no denomination among us, who are more exemplary and useful citizens.”[30]

Letters to the United Baptists of Virginia and to the Jewish Congregation of Rhode Island have become two of Washington’s most widely read documents. Baptists at the time of the Revolution were an often-persecuted religious minority. They suffered legal restrictions and often violence for their beliefs. They looked to Washington to assuage their fears of persecution in the new republic. To this, Washington answered:

No one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution—For you, doubtless, remember that I have often expressed my sentiment, that every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.[31]

Respect for religious freedom among fellow Christians could prove difficult enough for many citizens, but granting this right to non-Christians was an even greater leap. Jews had been the victims of persecution for centuries. Some Jews had migrated to the colonies to find a place to finally practice their faith in peace. The religious openness of colonies such as Rhode Island had been attractive to Jewish migration. With the creation of the United States, patriotic Jews placed their faith in George Washington.[32] The Jewish congregation of Rhode Island, the largest in the country, wrote to Washington congratulating him on his presidency and creation of the Nation. Washington took the opportunity to publicly support the right of Jews to practice their faith and live free from fear. In his famous letter to the congregation, Washington wrote:

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. For happily 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, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. And may the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.[33]

It is with these examples of religious tolerance, respect, and freedom by Washington, that the First Amendment’s right to religious freedom was made real to the citizens of the Nation.

Conclusion

In 1783, Washington wrote to the members of the Reformed German Congregation of New York, “The establishment of Civil & Religious Liberty, was the motive which induced me to the Field, the object is attained, and it now remains to be my earnest wish and prayer that the Citizens of the United States would make a wise and virtuous use of the blessings placed before them.”[34] It is arguable that this was a position taken in hindsight; however, the steadfastness to which Washington clung to the principles of religious liberty cannot be argued.

The historian James Thomas Flexner is credited with calling Washington the “indispensable man” of the Revolution.[35] Washington was also the indispensable man of religious liberty. Washington’s leadership ensured religious freedom as we know it today. His guidance on the battlefield established the example of respect and toleration. He used his influence during the Constitutional Convention and Virginia Constitutional drafting to eliminate religious oaths and state-sponsored churches that could have easily been used to exclude many citizens. Finally, as President, he lent his political capital to usher in the Bill of Rights and to assure all people of the right to worship according to their own conscience.

Washington recognized a level of religious liberty that was new to the western world, a level of religious freedom that was not just toleration but acceptance. The government did not recognize one faith and merely tolerate others. In Washington’s vision, all faiths would be accepted and respected.

[1] Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, September 1788, in The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 1, 24 September 1788 – 31 March 1789, ed. Dorothy Twohig (University Press of Virginia, 1987), 23.

[2] Norman Cousins, “George Washington,” in “In God We Trust”: The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of the American Founding Fathers (Harper Brothers, 1958), 47-48.

[3] For an in-depth study of Washington’s religious life see, Mary V. Thompson, “In the Hands of a Good Providence”: Religion in the Life of George Washington (University of Virginia Press, 2008).

[4] John C. Fitzpatrick, “George Washington and Religion.” The Catholic Historical Review 15, no. 1 (1929): 23–42.

[5] Deanna Johnson, “Revolutionary PHL: Exiled from Philadelphia; Quakers during the Revolution,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 113, no. 4 (2024): 229–31.

[6] Paul F. Boller, “George Washington and the Quakers,” Bulletin of Friends Historical Association 49, no. 2 (1960): 70.

[7] Boller, “George Washington and the Quakers,” 71-72.

[8] Boller, “George Washington and the Quakers,” 72.

[9] Boller, “George Washington and the Quakers,” 73.

[10] Thomas S. Kidd, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution (Basic Books, 2010), 66-73.

[11] “Catholics and the American Revolution,” The American Catholic Historical Researches 2, no. 1 (1906): 3-5.

[12] Kidd, God of Liberty, 18-19.

[13] Thomas P. Phelan, “Catholic Patriotism in Revolutionary Days,” The Catholic Historical Review 7, no. 4 (1922): 434.

[14] Cousins, “George Washington,” 46-47.

[15] Washington to Colonel Benedict Arnold, September 14, 1775, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 1, 16 June 1775 – 15 September 1775, ed. Philander D. Chase (University Press of Virginia, 1985), 455–456.

[16] Instructions to Colonel Benedict Arnold, September 14, 1775, The Papers of George Washington, 1:457–460.

[17] Charles H. Metzger, “Chaplains in the American Revolution,” The Catholic Historical Review 31, no. 1 (1945): 35-36

[18] “Catholics and the American Revolution,” 35.

[19] “The Roman Catholic Regiment of the American Revolution,” The American Catholic Historical Researches 8, no. 1 (1912): 83–85.

[20] “Catholics and the American Revolution,” 14-19.

[21] Metzger, “Chaplains in the American Revolution,” 36-37.

[22] Kidd, God of Liberty, 171-173.

[23] Kidd, God of Liberty, 216.

[24] Washington to George Mason, October 3, 1785, Teaching American History, teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-george-mason/.

[25] Kidd, God of Liberty, 183.

[26] US Constitution, amendment 1.

[27] David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, Washington’s Circle: The Creation of the President (Random House, 2015), 63-64.

[28] John Carroll, John Gilmary Shea, and Catholic church in the U.S. Archdiocese of Baltimore. An address from the Roman Catholics of America, to George Washington, esq., president of the United States (J.P. Coghlan, 1790).

[29] Fitzpatrick, “George Washington and Religion,” 23–42.

[30] Boller, “George Washington and the Quakers”, 77-78.

[31] George Washington, “From George Washington to the United Baptist Churches of Virginia, May 1789,” The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 2, 1 April 1789 – 15 June 1789, edited by Dorothy Twohig (University Press of Virginia, 1987), 423–425.

[32] Meir Y. Soloveichik, “The Jewish Story Is the American Story,” Jewish Commentary 157, no. 1 (January 1, 2024): 17–18.

[33] Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, August 18, 1790,” The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 6, 1 July 1790 – 30 November 1790, edited by Mark A. Mastromarino (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1996), 284–286.

[34] Washington to Johann Daniel Gros, November 27, 1783,” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-12105.

[35] James Thomas Flexner, Washington: The Indispensable Man (Little, Brown, 1974).