George Washington on the Jews, the "Tribe of Black Gentry"

The quotes below are from George Washington's maxims on finance, extracted from  The Maxims of Washington; Political, Social, Moral and Religious. Collected and Arranged by John Frederick Schroeder, D.D. and published by D. Appleton and Company in 1854: While he doesn't mention the Jews explicitly, George Washington warned about the "tribe of black gentry", by whom he certainly meant the jews.

"This tribe of black gentry work more effectually against us, than the enemy’s arms.They are a hundred times more dangerous to our liberties. and the great cause we are engaged in." - George Washington, 1779 [pp. 125-126]

"It is much to be lamented, that each State, long ere this, has not hunted them down, as pests to society, and the greatest enemies we have to the happiness of America. I would to God, that some one of the most atrocious in each State, was hung upon a gallows, five times as high as the one prepared for Haman. No punishment, in my opinion, is too great for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin." - George Washington, 1778 [p. 126]

The reference to Haman is a reference to the mythical character of the Book of Esther, the Persian who  would have killed all of the jews. While we do not esteem Esther to be a canonical book of Scripture, we can appreciate Washington's reference in connection with the "tribe of black gentry", since it clearly shows whom he was talking about!

See more, and find a PDF copy of the book, at the website of Clifton A. Emahiser