Did America's forefathers say muslims won't assimilate
Executive summary
There is no evidence in the provided reporting that “America’s forefathers” issued a blanket statement that Muslims “won’t assimilate.” On the contrary, multiple historians and primary-document summaries show key founders explicitly considered Muslims within the protections of religious freedom — Thomas Jefferson noted his Bill for Religious Freedom would “comprehend … Mahometan[s]” and George Washington corresponded in ways that treated Muslims as included in civic life [1] [2] [3].
1. The claim and why it circulates
Contemporary arguments that the Founders declared Muslims incapable of assimilation are largely modern political rhetoric, not quotations from 18th‑century documents found in the sources here; recent opinion pieces and polemical outlets assert incompatibility between “Muslim values” and republican government, but these are commentary, not archival evidence that the Founders themselves made such a categorical judgment [4] [5]. Those modern articles frequently frame assimilation as a present‑day policy concern rather than a historical claim about the founders [6] [4].
2. What founding‑era documents actually say
Primary‑document overviews collected by the Library of Congress and reported by newspapers and scholars show the Founders explicitly discussed including Jews, Christians and “Mahometans” under religious liberty provisions; Jefferson recorded that Virginia rejected narrowing his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom to Christians only, indicating an intent to protect non‑Christian believers [1] [3]. The Washington Papers include correspondence that treats non‑Christians as members of the polity entitled to “relief” and protection [1] [7].
3. How historians interpret those references
Scholars and archival summaries interpret Jefferson’s and Washington’s references as evidence the Founders contemplated Islam when framing religious freedom and that Muslims were present in North America from the 17th century (including enslaved West Africans who practiced Islam), which undercuts the idea that the founders regarded Muslims as foreign to the republic [3] [8]. Academic and major‑media accounts foreground Jefferson’s explicit satisfaction that his bill would “comprehend … Mahometan” and note that later public figures have used those facts to argue the founders intended broad religious inclusion [2] [9].
4. Dissenting readings from commentators
Some commentators challenge the narrative of unconditional toleration: critics point to state constitutions or oaths that referenced Christianity and to derogatory language (e.g., “Mahometan”) used by some founders and jurists as evidence tolerance had limits and that views of Islam ranged among elites [10]. These critiques argue that “tolerance” in the founding era was not identical to modern pluralism and that some legal and cultural exclusions existed [10].
5. Assimilation vs. legal inclusion — two different questions
The sources separate two issues: legal inclusion (did the Founders legally recognize Muslims?) and cultural assimilation (did they claim Muslims would or would not assimilate). The archival record supports that the Founders legally contemplated and at least rhetorically included Muslims under religious liberty protections [1] [7]. Available sources do not mention any definitive, dated statement from the founding generation declaring Muslims incapable of assimilation into American society.
6. Modern use of founding rhetoric to argue assimilation policy
Contemporary writers use selective readings of founding texts to support current positions on immigration and assimilation; some pieces claim the founders warned that Muslim-majority societies’ political norms conflict with republican values — an interpretive leap not directly supported by the documentary summaries provided here [4] [5]. Those modern arguments often rest on present political goals (e.g., emphasizing assimilation or raising security concerns) rather than newly discovered founding proclamations.
7. Bottom line and reporting limits
Bottom line: the documents and scholarly summaries cited here show Founders like Jefferson and Washington explicitly included Muslims within the ambit of religious liberty, and historians cite that as evidence they did not categorically exclude Islam from American civic life [1] [3] [2]. At the same time, critics point to period language, Christian‑centric practices, and later jurists to argue the founders’ “tolerance” had boundaries [10]. Available sources do not mention any founding‑era declaration that “Muslims won’t assimilate,” so claims that the founders made that assertion appear to be modern political framing rather than a quotation from the historical record [1] [10].