A Message from President George Washington to the People of Louisiana

Citizens of Louisiana,

Though centuries stand between us, the cause of liberty is eternal—and so are the dangers that threaten it. I speak not as a ghost of the past, but as a fellow patriot, burdened by the reports of corruption, tyranny, and oppression now casting a shadow over your great state.

Your ancestors—Creole, Cajun, settler, and soldier alike—bore the hardships of empire, war, and conquest to eventually call themselves Americans. Their legacy is not one of quiet submission, but of strength, spirit, and sacrifice. And now, I fear, that legacy is under siege.

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The Crisis of Your Age

Government in Dishonor

What I behold from afar is disheartening. I see a governor's office bloated with power, unrestrained by the legislative branch. I see elected officials who were entrusted with the public good now bartering that trust in backroom deals, their loyalties sold to the highest bidder. I see a people—resilient and worthy—being ignored, silenced, and burdened beneath a system that no longer serves them.

Let me be plain: this is not what our Republic was forged to become. When the executive wields undue power, when lawmakers bow not to conscience but to pressure from the Governor’s inner circle, and when bills are written in secrecy to benefit select interests—this is no longer governance, it is quiet tyranny. Louisiana does not suffer for lack of laws, but for lack of leaders.

The very nature of republican government depends on accountability, transparency, and, most of all, virtue. When those who govern forget they are servants and imagine themselves as masters, tyranny is not a distant threat—it is already here.

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To the People

Your Sacred Duty

In 1796, I warned that the spirit of faction—the rise of political parties who cared more for power than principle—would bring ruin to the Republic if not vigilantly restrained. You now live in the era I feared.

You are told to vote “red” or “blue” as though loyalty to party were a higher virtue than loyalty to liberty. You are told to trust institutions that no longer earn your trust. You are told that your voice matters—then promptly ignored.

But hear this: the power under the Constitution belongs to you. Not to the lobbyist. Not to the bureaucrat. Not to the governor. To you.

Let no one deceive you into believing your duty is simply to vote and go home. You must watch. You must question. You must challenge. And when those in office betray your trust, you must remove them—not with violence or vengeance, but with the lawful might of your voice and your vote.

Apathy is the enemy of liberty. Corruption thrives in the silence of good citizens. Raise your voice. Gather your neighbors. Run for office. Support only those of integrity. Do not wait for rescue. Become the rescue.

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To Those in Power

You Are Stewards, Not Sovereigns

To those who hold public office in Louisiana today, I say this with clarity: you are stewards, not sovereigns.

If you exploit your position to enrich yourselves, you are unworthy of the seat you hold. If you cower before a corrupt governor for fear of political retaliation, you are not a leader but a servant of ambition. If you silence dissent or suppress transparency, you are not protecting the state—you are strangling it.

You were not elected to rule. You were elected to serve. Your allegiance is not to a party boss or an executive office. It is to the Constitution and the people who entrusted you with their hopes, their future, and their freedom.

When legislative votes are traded for favors, when the Governor’s office pushes policies with no public debate, and when contracts are handed out to cronies, the people suffer. These are not minor infractions—they are the seeds of despotism.

Turn. Repent. Lead with courage, not calculation. Let your name be remembered not as one who preserved power but one who restored honor.

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The Moral Foundation

Liberty and Virtue Are One

The American experiment was not born from politics, but from principle. Faith, virtue, duty—these are the pillars that uphold a free people. If the people of Louisiana are to rise again, it will not be through party slogans or political saviors. It will be through moral awakening.

No constitution, however well-written, can protect a people who lose their virtue. No law can uphold justice when the hearts of its enforcers are corrupt. The strength of the state flows not from its Capitol but from its pulpits, its dinner tables, and its conscience.

The church must speak again with boldness—not in favor of any party, but in defense of eternal truth. The family must hold firm against cultural decay and moral compromise. The citizen must take responsibility for the condition of their community and state.

Liberty cannot survive without morality. And morality does not survive without courage.

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A Call to Action

Rise Peacefully but Boldly

You are not helpless. You are not voiceless. The power to renew Louisiana lies not in the governor’s mansion or the marble halls of your legislature—it lies in your living rooms, your churches, your neighborhoods.

Speak truth. Stand firm. Support candidates of conviction, not convenience. Demand reform. Expose corruption. Pray. Organize. Act.

If you are a pastor—preach with fire. If you are a teacher—raise up the next generation with truth. If you are a father or mother—build a household of character. If you are a leader—lead with fear of God, not fear of man.

Let liberty rise again—not through slogans, but through sacrifice.

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A Final Word

In my lifetime, I saw empires fall and liberty rise. I saw the price of freedom paid in blood, in tears, and in sacrifice. Never forget that this nation was not born through comfort, but through courage.

I leave you with this:

“The time is now near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be freemen, or slaves.”

You do not fight with muskets or bayonets—but with truth, action, and moral resolve. Let the next generation say that when the spirit of liberty flickered low in Louisiana, you rekindled it.

Let this be the hour when the people awaken, when the corrupted are cast out, and when the cry for liberty echoes once more from the bayous to the capitol.

Louisiana, stand.

Yours in the eternal cause of freedom,
George Washington