George Washington said, “If freedom of speech is taken away, we are in danger of becoming dumb and silent.”

Claim:

George Washington once said, “If freedom of speech is taken away, we are in danger of being led, dumb and silent, like sheep to the slaughter.”

Rating:

Context

The version of the quote that has circulated widely online has been shortened and simplified, but it accurately retains the meaning of Washington’s original words as they were delivered in a speech on March 15, 1783.

For years, people have been sharing a quote attributed to George Washington, the first president of the United States: “If freedom of speech is taken away from us, then, dumb and silent, we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.”

The quote has appeared on several quote meme sites, as well as in posts on Facebook (archived), LinkedIn (archived), and other social media platforms.

For example, on August 26, 2024, X CEO Linda Yaccarino published an X post (archived) containing this quote. This post had received approximately 70,700 likes and 16,000 reposts as of this writing.

If freedom of expression is taken away from us, we risk being led, mute and silent, like sheep, to the slaughter.
– George Washington

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) August 26, 2024

Some netizens have cast doubt on the authenticity of the quote. One commenter on a March 2023 Reddit post (archived) containing a meme of the quote said:My spider-sense tells me George never said that.” Similarly, in response to a job (archive) from 2020 that featured the same meme, another Reddit user said: “What is the source of this quote?”

These Reddit users had good reason to be skeptical. Washington was wrongly named as the author of many quotes, several of which Snopes has investigation previously.

In this case, however, the words could be attributed to Washington – for the most part. The quote was a simplified and abbreviated version of a longer quote Washington delivered as part of a speech he gave on March 15, 1783.

Sometimes referred Dubbed the “Newburgh Address” because Washington delivered it in Newburgh, New York, the speech was written to boost morale among Continental Army officers who had begun to threaten revolt, largely over lack of pay.

The full text of the speech has been made available online by several reliable sources, including Founders Online from the National Archives. project and the National Constitution Center. A digitized version of a copy of the speech written in Washington’s hand is also available in the online collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, where it can be viewed side by side with a transcription of the text.

The full quote, as it appears at the bottom of page 7 and the top of page 8 in this manuscript version, can be seen surrounded by a red frame below.

(Massachusetts Historical Society)

Transcribed in printed characters, the full quote reads as follows:

As to the advice given by the writer – to suspect the man who will recommend moderate measures and longer toleration – I reject it – as every man who respects that liberty and reveres that justice for which we are contending, undoubtedly must – for if men are to be restrained from expressing their feelings on a question which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite mankind to consider, reason is of no avail to us – freedom of speech may be taken from us – and, dumb and silent, we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.

The version of the quote that has circulated widely on the Internet omits or paraphrases most of Washington’s words, leaving only the final clause intact (except for minor edits modernizing Washington’s capitalization and punctuation). However, these edits did not materially change the meaning of the quote.

Since the popular abridged version faithfully preserved the meaning of the full quote, if not all of its exact wording, we have labeled this claim a “correct attribution.”

Sources