This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Give Bigotry No Sanction."
Facing History and
Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves is a Boston-based educational and professional
development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse
backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order
to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying
the historical development and lessons of the Holocaust and other examples of
genocide, students make the essential connections between history and the moral
choices they confront in their own lives.
Visit Facing History for a lesson on George Washington.
Editor’s note: Different transcriptions of these letters provide differing punctuation, differing capitalization and, in some cases, slightly different wording. We have replaced some outdated usages for clarity while trying to preserve the original tone of the letters.
Letter to the President of the United States of America
Letter from George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport

