Some people think that Haytham is somehow different from other Templars, as if he is morally better. I saw some people even claim Haytham would hate the modern Templars behind Abstergo. But I think all that is incorrect, and that Haythan beliefs is the same as that of the average Templar. There are Templars worse than Haythan, I am not saying he is the worst one, just that he is not a good person or "what a Templar should be".
Haytham apologists usually bring up two things, one is that Haytham opposed Braddock and saved the people from the Iroquois confederation. And the other thing is his speech to Connor. First I will talk about the speech. Haytham says that the Templars are in favor of order and peace and yada yada, nothing out of the ordinary for a Templar. Connor says that the Assassins want freedom and Haytham says that freedom is a invitation to chaos, and some think this is some gotcha moment. However, when Haytham talk about chaos, he is talking about another thing. The Assassins are obviously not in favor of "anarchical" chaos were people can do whanever, including crimes, because the Assassins have show time and time again to support several types of goverments, from Republics to Constitunional Monarchies, to even Absolute Monarchies (Ezio supporting the Ottomans). Even Connor in this very game is supporting the state that will be created by the founding fathers. So almost no Assassin support the type of chaos that Haytham apologist think the Assassins support.
What Haytham means by chaos is part of the templar belief about chaos, that is, they believe that humanity ability to think is what leads to conflict. In the very first game the Templar Jubair is burning books related to religion because he blames them for the Crusades. So the Templars belief is this: humanity has the freedom to think, this leads to humanity creating different ideas that can't fit together, this leads to conflict. This is why Templars want to supress free will by any means necessary, not because they simply oppose crime as the Assassins oppose that as well, but because they don't believe humanity should think about anything, for them humanity should be like sheep, just living simple lives and going with the flock. The Borgia Templars wanted to enforce this by force and conquest, but other Templars like the modern day Templars want to enforce this by deception and consumerism: "Soon, capitalists and workers will be locked in a closed loop that is safe and prosperous for humanity. No more war, only desks, cars and TV sets. We will protect them and keep them safe, forever." Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.
So modern Templars want to put humanity in a life where they only consume and work and nothing more, thus, supressing their freedom while they think they are free. This is what order means for the Templars and for Haytham as well, this is why they are the villains of the series, because they want to take away humanity ability to be human, to express different ideas and to think for themselves.
As for Haytham supporting the Iroquois, he is no different than the average Templar. First, he directly says he is helping them to conduct research on their land, so he is just using them. But even without that, the fact is that a lot of Templars have show similar views as well. There are Templars who were racist (like Charlie Lee, the one chosen by Haytham...) and who actually had slaves, but the more relevant Templars oppose things like slavery, because they want to enslave mankind in a way where humanity accepts the enslavement, and physical enslavement is horrific and no one wants to be under that. Torres in Black Flag opposed slavery for this reason. Only the Assassins with few exceptions have show to support opressed people without wanting nothing in return (like Connor, who even after discovering the truth about Washington, still helped him because he genuily believed in his fight for independence, altrough this ended up to the detriment of himself and his people).
As for Haytham speech that Connor is supporting the wealthy elite (Washington) that think they are doing good for the colonies, that is again, nothing out of the ordinary. The Templars main rivals for power were the non-Templar wealthy elites, like kings and aristocrats, this is why Torres in Black Flagh shows contempt for the "Old Empires" and wantes to replace them with the Observatory. In Unity, de Molay and Germain both wanted to destroy the old order and create a new world controlled by Templar's techonology instead of Monarchies. Haytham had a similar world view, that a independent United States should be controlled by the Templars instead of rich people who just want to exploit the masses. In this last case he is right that the founding fathers were not the idealized people that Connor believed them to be, is just that this view of Haytham is the same view shared by several Templars as well, that tyrants and oligarchies exploit the people so the Templars should rule with absolute power instead.
In conclusion, Haytham is the standard Templar, he believes that a strong hand should guide humanity because he don't believe humanity should have freedom of expression, of ideas, of religion, or artistic freedom.
