Over the past few decades, rumors have been floated by neo-Nazi groups in the United States and elsewhere that the founders of the United States held anti-Semitic views. This page discusses the phenomenon.

George Washington

In recent years a number of anti-Semitic groups have been promoting a forged "quote" supposedly written by George Washington. This quote have been debunked as a forgery by historians [1].

In 1790 Washington sent a letter to the Jewish community in Rhode Island. He wrote that he envisioned a country "which gives bigotry no sanction ... persecution no assistance". For the first time in history, Jews lived in a country where they enjoyed full and equal human and political rights - as a birthright of citizenship [1].

Benjamin Franklin

A similar allegation regarding Benjamin Franklin has also been thoroughly discredited.[1]