4 Muslims in America Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/muslims- were-banned-americas-early-16th-century-180962059/ Neal, Dale. (2015). “Melungeons Explore Mysterious Mixed-Race Origins.” USA Today . Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/ nation/2015/06/24/melungeon-mountaineers-mixed-race/29252839/ Neill, Edward D. (1886). The Virginian Carolorum: The Colony under the Rule of Charles the First and Second, A.D. 1625–A.D. 1685 . Washing- ton, DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/ item/rc01002794/ The Pluralism Project. (n.d.). “Omar Ibn Said, African Muslim.” Har- vard University. Retrieved from http://pluralism.org/document/omar- ibn-said-african-muslim/ Winkler, Wayne. (2005). Walking toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of Appalachia . Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. Q2. DID THE U.S. FOUNDING FATHERS ENCOURAGE THE MIGRATION OF MUSLIMS TO AMERICAN SOIL? Answer: Yes. Primary documents reveal that George Washington, Ben- jamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson all encouraged the migration of Muslims to American soil. The Facts: In September 2015, Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson stated in a Meet the Press (2015) interview that he would not advocate electing a Muslim to serve as the president of the United States. Although the U.S. Constitution expressly forbids a religious test in Arti- cle IV, Section III, for would-be presidents, Carson said he would oppose any Muslim White House aspirant who was “not willing to reject sha- ria ,” or Islamic law (Quraishi-Landes, 2016). Sharia is the Arabic word for “path” or “Islamic law” (Considine, 2017: 187). Carson’s comment revived a conversation as old as the United States itself—how should U.S. citizens incorporate the Islamic faith into their nation? The Founding Fathers deliberated this question in 1788 during the rat- ifi cation of the U.S. Constitution in North Carolina. One speaker during the convention, William Lancaster, spoke about what would happen when, a few centuries down the road, a Muslim would be elected to the highest offi ce in the land, the presidency of the United States (Hammer & Safi , 2013). Lancaster told his peers that they needed to remember to “form a government for millions not yet in existence.” He stressed that in
Previous Page Next Page