UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

George Washington and Religious Liberty

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.2307/1943414

Authors

Paul F. Boller

Reported year

1960

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:14:49.899892+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:14:49.899892+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Documentary abstract — original language

the fight against in George Washington played a role second to none. Both as commander in chief the Continental Army and as president, he used his immense prestige and influence to encourage mutual tolerance and good will among American Protestants, Catholics, and Jews and to create a climate opinion in which citizen shall, as he phrased it, sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.' In private letters and in public statements the first President voiced his utter detestation intolerance, prejudice, and every species religious persecution and often expressed the hope that bigotry and superstition would be overcome by truth and reason in the United States.2 The fact is that Washington was firmly committed to religious liberty and freedom conscience. Like Jefferson and Madison, he looked upon the new nation as a pluralistic society in which people with varied religious persuasions and national backgrounds learned to live peacefully and rationally together instead resorting to force and violence. What was unique about the United States, in addition to cheapness land, was the existence civil and religious liberty, which stand perhaps unrivalled by any civilized nation earth.3 In his general orders for April I8, 1783, announcing the cessation hostilities with Great Britain, he congratulated his soldiers, of whatever condition they may be, for having assisted in protecting the rights human nature and establishing an Asylum for the poor and oppressed all nations and religions . ..4 The bosom America, Washington declared a few months later, was open to receive

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W2335459339

DOI

10.2307/1943414

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Natural entities mentioned

Species

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.2307/1943414
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W2335459339

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.