Hi, I'm Matt. And I'm Leah, and we're from the Grown Up Stuff Podcast. And just in time for tax season, on this week's episode, we're chatting with CPA Lisa Green Lewis about how small businesses can tackle their taxes using TurboTax Business. A Forbes study mentioned that a whopping 93% of small businesses overpay their taxes, and 17% of Gen Z-ers believed that you could write off any expense as a business expense. So it's really important to do your taxes right.
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Let's get into the story. In August 1790, America was a new nation with a new constitution and a new government. And the country had a war hero for its president, a man the country knew and loved. A one-page thank you letter written by George Washington on August 18th of that year would set the course of religious liberty and tolerance in America and pave the path for the passage of the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. The story of how that letter, Washington's letter to the Hebrew congregation in Rhode Island, came to be reflects not just his character and ideals but also his new nations. America's first president understood the importance of visiting the people of the new constitutional republic he was leading as well as the power of the first three words of the newly ratified constitution.
We, the people. He spent a good deal of time making ceremonial tours of the nation, visiting the people of the states he had been chosen to serve. The first nine states, the number required for the constitution's ratification, had been reached by June of 1788 and the constitution became effective in March 1789. On April 30th 1789, Washington took his oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City. Washington was the wonder of his era. He built an army from nothing, defeated the world's greatest empire, willingly walked away from power, presided over an unprecedented constitutional convention, and was unanimously elected by the electoral college to be the new republic's first president.
Rhode Island was the last of the holdout states, ratifying the constitution in May 1790. Washington understood the gravity of the moment, visiting the ocean state not only to acknowledge the state's ratification of the constitution but also to promote the passage of the Bill of Rights. When Washington arrived in Newport, he was greeted with an outpouring of affection. Among those welcoming him was Moses Satius. Satius was the warden of Newport's Toro Synagogue.
The congregation likely numbered in the hundreds at the time, and the number of Jewish people in the new nation was no more than 2,000 in a country of nearly 4 million. Calling Jewish Americans a minority, he called them the United States of America. Satius also understood the gravity of the president's visit and took it upon himself to write a letter to Washington on behalf of his congregation. Permit the children of the stock of Abraham to approach you with the most cordial affection and esteem for your person and merits, and to join with our fellow citizens in welcoming you to Newport.
He continued with an analogy comparing the Revolutionary War with the struggles of the ancient tribes of Israel and likened Washington to King David. Satius then began his short but powerful appeal on behalf of his congregation and all American Jews, referencing the history of Jewish persecution around the world and throughout history. Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free citizens, we now with a deep sense of gratitude to the almighty disposer of all events, behold a government erected by the majesty of the people.
A government which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance, but generously affording to all liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship, deeming every one of whatever nation, tongue, or language equal parts of the great governmental machine. Satius closed his letter with a prayer for the new president. For all these blessings of civil and religious liberty which we enjoy under an equal benign administration, we desire to send up our thanks to the Ancient of Days, the great preserver of men, beseeching him that the angel who conducted our forefathers through the wilderness into the promised land may graciously conduct you through all the difficulties and dangers of this mortal life.
And when, like Joshua, full of days and full of honor, you are gathered to your fathers, may you be admitted into the heavenly paradise to partake of the water of life and the tree of immortality. Washington was moved by these sentiments. On the same day he responded to the expressions of gratitude with his letter strongly affirming the principles of freedom of religion. Washington's reply to Satius's plea would be the clearest statement on the subject by a nation's leader in world history. Unlike so many nations, past and present, ruled by kings and despots who tolerated the Jewish faith, Washington, incorporating some of Satius's own language, proclaimed the following. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For, happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. Washington, revealing his reverence for scripture, addressed the Jewish people specifically.
May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. Washington's speedy and personal reply was itself significant. It demonstrated his view that the president in rights and under law is the equal of the citizens and was elected to serve them rather than have them serve him. Most importantly, the leader of America, himself an Anglican in an overwhelmingly Christian country, addressed the Jewish people in the Jewish people as equals. Washington concluded his letter with a prayer of his own. These may very well be the most beautiful words he would ever write.
May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness upon our paths and make us all in our several vocations useful here and in his own due time and way, everlastingly happy. Washington's letter no doubt affected public sentiment as did his tours of the nation in support of the Bill of Rights. For on December 15, 1791, three of the United States' most powerful states ratified the first ten amendments to the Constitution. And there, in the First Amendment, was the very first freedom protected from government interference, ahead of freedom of speech or the press, freedom of assembly or the right to petition the government.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. America was and still is a refuge for religious people around the world and a refuge for atheists and agnostics, too. We have George Washington and our founders and Moses Seychelles, too, to thank for it. And two letters written on the same summer day back in 1791. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Monty Montgomery. A special thanks to Joseph Goodwin and to Brian Hilton. And, of course, a special thanks to Vince Benedetto. He and I co-wrote this piece for Newsweek a year or so ago and just thought, wow, let's bring this to life. And Vince is a radio guy through and through. He's a radio guy, through and through. A terrific historian and also a station owner that carries our American stories.
A special thanks to Vince. And we were both blown away by the end of that Washington letter. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness upon our paths and make us all in our several vocations useful here and in his own due time. That's the Lord's and way everlastingly happy. Beautiful words for all of us to live by.
The story of tolerance, the real kind on our American stories. Ever wake up feeling lousy, knowing something is off with your body? You don't have time for guesswork. You need Viome. Forget all the generic health fads. Viome doesn't tell you what you want to hear. It tells you what's actually going on inside your body. By analyzing your gut microbiome, Viome delivers a custom health plan that's as unique as your DNA. It's science, not nonsense. Want energy?
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