By the end of the eighteenth century, two American publishers released new editions to an audience shaped by revolution and religious schisms both at home and in France. The publisher of the second American edition sought to address the twin hazards of centralized government and oppressing dissent and omitted altogether the section devoted to the deist “apostacy” that so motivated Prideaux. To the editor, John Adams was the real threat, a modern Muhammad. 7 Thus, the same denigrations of Muhammad were adapted to critique different Anglo-American situations over the course of a century.

XREF: Connects to the broader theme of how historical figures are weaponized rhetorically to attack contemporary opponents, a recurring pattern across eras.

Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ Th…, loc. 104