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George Washington on Religious Liberty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Vincent Phillip Muñoz
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Abstract

Despite the Supreme Court's repeated invocations of America's Founding Fathers for First Amendment religion jurisprudence, George Washington's political thought regarding religious freedom has received almost no scholarly attention. This is unfortunate, for Washington's words and actions speak to contemporary Establishment Clause and Free Exercise issues. Washington, moreover, offers an alternative to Jefferson's and Madison's approach to church-state matters. The scholarly exclusion of Washington thus has led to a narrow view of the Founders' thought on religious liberty. This article sets forth Washington's understanding of the right to religious liberty. It pays particular attention to Washington's disagreement with Madison on the propriety of government support of religion. It also draws attention to the limits Washington placed on an individual's right to religious free exercise by focusing on how Washington dealt with Quaker claims for religious exemptions from military service.

Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice must depend as well on situation and circumstance, as on the object to be obtained. It is at all times difficult to draw with precision the line between those rights which must be surrendered, and those which may be reserved.—G. Washington, Letter submitting the proposed constitution to the President of Congress 17 September 1787

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , Winter 2003 , pp. 11 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 2003

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References

The author would like to thank Mark Blitz, Paul Carrese, Charles Kesler, Sandy Kessler, Paul Rahe, Ralph Rossum, and the anonymous reviewers of The Review of Politics for their comments and criticisms of drafts of this article. The author would also like to acknowledge The Pew Civitas Program in Faith and Public affairs for its support.

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