A Muslim in a New York State of Mind—Part 1
Parts II and beyond are linked from this article.
The elder Clinton was surrounded by strong proponents of religious freedom, even travelling with his close friend, Founding Father and President George Washington, on a 1790 campaign to get support for ratification of the Bill of Rights, which, as we know, includes the much fought for and won guarantee of freedom of conscience in the First Amendment.
During this campaign, President Washington assured a Rhode Island Jewish congregation, in a now historic letter, that the American government “to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance” and that in this country “every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
The Give Bigotry No Sanction project describes the letter as “a landmark in the history of religious freedom in America, and part of a founding moment in U.S. history when the country was negotiating how a democracy accommodates differences among its people.”
More: A Muslim in a New York State of Mind—Part 1