Benjamin Franklin was already an elder statesman at the time of the American Revolution. And his years had certainly brought him wisdom, for he knew of the Jews' nature, and he had the courage to warn his fellows about them. Benjamin Franklin's warning to the Constitutional Convention in 1789 concerning the Jews has been called a marvel of prophecy. But, really, Franklin was only giving voice to an opinion, informed by his knowledge of the Jewish people. This prophecy was recorded by Charles Pinckney of Charleston, South Carolina, and the original notes of Mr. Pinckney are said to be held at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
"I fully agree with General Washington, that we must protect this young nation from an insidious influence and impenetration. The menace, gentlemen, is the Jews. In whatever country Jews have settled in any great numbers, they have lowered its moral tone; depreciated its commercial integrity; have segregated themselves and have not been assimilated; have sneered at and tried to undermine the Christian religion upon which that nation is founded by objecting to its restrictions; have built up a state within a state; and when opposed have tried to strangle that country to death financially, as in the case of Spain and Portugal.
"For over 1700 years the Jews have been bewailing their sad fate in that they have been exiled from their homeland, they call Palestine. But, Gentlemen, should the world today give it to them in fee simple, they would at once find some cogent reason for not returning. Why? Because they are vampires, and vampires do not live on vampires. They cannot live only among themselves. They must subsist on Christians and other people not of their race.
"If you do not exclude them from these United States, in this Constitution in less than 200 years they will have swarmed in such great numbers that they will dominate and devour the land, and change our form of government, for which we Americans have shed our blood, given our lives, our substance and jeopardized our liberty.
"If you do not exclude them, in less than 200 years our descendants will be working in the fields to furnish them sustenance, while they will be in the counting houses rubbing their hands. I warn you, Gentlemen, if you do not exclude the Jews for all time, your children will curse you in your graves. Jews, Gentlemen, are Asiatics; let them be born where they will, or how many generations they are away from Asia, they will never be otherwise. Their ideas do not conform to an American's, and will not even though they live among us ten generations. A leopard cannot change its spots.
"Jews are Asiatics, they are a menace to this country if permitted entrance and should be excluded by this Constitution."
And lest you think that Benjamin Franklin was alone in his opinions, read this:
"They [the Jews] work more effectively against us, than the enemy's armies. They are a hundred times more dangerous to our liberties and the great cause we are engaged in... It is much to be lamented that each state, long ago, has not hunted them down as pest to society and the greatest enemies we have to the happiness of America." —George Washington
The authenticity of the preceding Benjamin Franklin quote is in dispute. According to the Jews, the quote originated with William Dudley Pelley in 1932 and made its first appearance in print in Pelly's periodical Liberation, published in Ashville, North Carolina. Certainly, I am aware that the Jews are accomplished liars when it serves their interests to lie, with the "Nazi homicidal gas chambers" being the most infamous example of Jewish lying to date. The Jews also lie about the contents of their Talmud when challenged about it. But this is a fair notice that the Jews appear to have made what looks like a relatively credible denial — in the sense that, if I didn't already know about the Jewish penchant for lying, I'd be unable even to speculate about which of two sides were telling me the truth concerning the warning about the Jews attributed to Benjamin Franklin. As things are, I'm still inclined to believe that the "Franklin prophecy" is genuine, but at this time I am not certain.
The subsequent George Washington quote comes from Maxims of George Washington, by A. A. Appelton & Company, and no one has disputed its authenticity to my knowledge.
It would be wise to keep in mind two things. First, the ADL slants its statements with loaded language and omits relevant facts. If you are inclined to presume that slick, official-looking presentations of "facts" are probably truthful, then the ADL will have an easy time making a dupe of you. I've put this notice on this page only becaused I haven't been able to disprove the ADL denial, not because I believe the ADL denial. Second, even if the "Frankin Prophecy" were a forgery, the statements it contains would still be true, and the effect of such a forgery would be to give Franklin credit for more prescience than he had, not to exculpate the Jews for sneaking their way to political control over a country, and to economic control over wealth, that they did not create and would never have been capable of creating. In short, Jews would still be "vampires," whether Ben Franklin ever said so or not.