History of the Jews in America — Early Jewish Martyrs under Spanish Rule in the New World.

CHAPTER II. EARLY JEWISH MARTYRS UNDER SPANISH RULE IN THE NEW WORLD.

Children torn from their parents were the first Jewish immigrants――Jewish history in the New World begins, as Jewish history in Spain ends, with the Inquisition――Emperor Charles V. , Philip II.

and Philip III.

――Lutherans persecuted together with Jews and Mohamedans――Codification of the laws of the Inquisition, and its special edicts for the New World.

CHAPTER III. VICTIMS OF THE INQUISITION IN MEXICO AND IN PERU.

Impossibility of obtaining even approximately correct figures about the Inquisition――A few typical cases――The Carabajal family――Relaxation for several decades――The notable case of Francisco Maldonado de Silva.

CHAPTER IV. MARRANOS IN THE PORTUGUESE COLONIES.

Less persecution in Portugal itself and also in its colonies―― Marranos buy right to emigrate――They dare to profess Judaism in Brazil, and the Inquisition is introduced in Goa――Alleged help given to Holland in its struggle against Spain.

PART II. =THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD.

= CHAPTER V. THE SHORT-LIVED DOMINION OF THE DUTCH OVER BRAZIL.

The friendship between the Dutch and the Jews――Restrictions and privileges in Holland――Dutch-Jewish distributors of Indian spices――Preparations to introduce the Inquisition in Brazil―― Jews help the Dutch to conquer it――Southey’s description of Recife――Vieyra’s description.

CHAPTER VI. RECIFE: THE FIRST JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE NEW WORLD.

The “Kahal Kodesh” of Recife or Pernambuco in Brazil――Manasseh ben Israel’s expectation to make it his home――Large immigration from Amsterdam――Isaac Aboab da Fonseca and his colleagues―― First rabbis and Jewish authors of the New World――The siege and the surrender――The return, and the nucleus of other communities in various parts of America.

CHAPTER VII. THE JEWS IN SURINAM OR DUTCH GUIANA.

Jews in Brazil after the expulsion of the Dutch――The community of ♦Paramaribo, Surinam, was founded when Recife was still flourishing――First contact with the English, whom the Jews preferred――David ♦Nassi and the colony of Cayenne――Privileges granted by Lord Willoughby――“de Jooden Savane”――Trouble with slaves and bush negroes――Plantations with Hebrew names――German Jews――Legal status and banishments――Jewish theaters――Literature and history.

CHAPTER VIII. THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH WEST INDIES.

The community of Curaçao――Encouragement to settle is followed by restrictions――Plans of Jewish colonization――Trade communication with New Amsterdam――Stuyvesant’s slur――The first congregation―― Departures to North America and to Venezuela――Barbadoes―― Taxation and legal status――Decay after the hurricane of 1831―― Jamaica under Spain and under England――Hebrew taught in the Parish of St. Andrews in 1693――Harsh measures and excessive taxation――Naturalizations.

CHAPTER IX. NEW AMSTERDAM AND NEW YORK.

Poverty of the first Jewish immigrants to New Amsterdam―― Stuyvesant’s opposition overruled by the Dutch West India Company――Privileges and restrictions――Contributions to build the wall from which Wall street takes its name――The first cemetery――Exemption from military duty――Little change at the beginning of the English rule――The first synagogue after a liberal decree by the Duke of York――Marranos brought back in boats which carried grain to Portugal――Hebrew learning―― Question about the Jews as voters and as witnesses――Peter Kalm’s description of the Jews of New York about 1745――Hyman Levy, the employer of the original Astor.

CHAPTER X. NEW ENGLAND AND THE OTHER ENGLISH COLONIES.

The Old Testament spirit in New England――Roger Williams――The first Jew in Massachusetts――Judah Monis, instructor in Hebrew at Harvard――Newport――Jews from Holland bring there the first degrees of Masonry――The cemetery immortalized by Longfellow―― Jacob Rodrigues Rivera introduces the manufacture of sperm oil――Aaron Lopez, the greatest merchant in America――Immigration from Portugal――Rabbi Isaac Touro――Visiting rabbis――First Jews in Connecticut――Philadelphia――Congregation Mickweh Israel―― Easton’s wealthy Jews――Maryland――Dr. Jacob Lumbrozo――General Oglethorpe and the first Jews of Georgia――Joseph Ottolenghi―― The Carolinas――Charleston.

PART III. =THE REVOLUTION AND THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION.

= CHAPTER XI. THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

Spirit of the Old Testament in the Revolutionary War――Sermons in favor of the original Jewish form of Government――The New Nation as “God’s American Israel”――The Quebec Act――The intolerance of sects as the cause of separation of Church and State――A Memorial sent by German Jews to the Continental Congress――Fear expressed in North Carolina that the Pope might be elected President of the United States――None of the liberties won were lost by post-revolutionary reaction, as happened elsewhere.

CHAPTER XII. THE PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.

Captain Isaac Meyers of the French and Indian War of 1754――David S.

Franks and Isaac Franks――David Franks, the loyalist――Solomon and Lewis Bush――Major Benjamin Nones――Other Jewish Soldiers, of whom one was exempted from duty on Friday nights――The Pinto brothers――Commissary General Mordecai Sheftal of Georgia――Haym Salomon, the Polish Jew, and his financial assistance to the Revolution.

CHAPTER XIII. THE DECLINE OF NEWPORT; WASHINGTON AND THE JEWS.

England’s special enmity to Newport caused the dispersion of its Jewish congregation――The General Assembly of Rhode Island meets in the historic Newport Synagogue――Moses Seixas’ address to Washington on behalf of the Jews of Newport and the latter’s reply――Washington’s letters to the Hebrew Congregations of Savannah, Ga.

, and to the congregations of Philadelphia, New York, Richmond and Charleston.

CHAPTER XIV. OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THE FIRST PERIODS OF INDEPENDENCE.

Rabbi Gershom Mendez Seixas――Growth of the Jewish community of Philadelphia on account of the War――Protest against the religious test clause in the Constitution of Pennsylvania―― Benjamin Franklin contributes five pounds to Mickweh Israel―― Secession of the German-Polish element――New Societies――Jewish lawyers; Judge Moses Levy――Congressman H. M.

Phillips――The Bush family of Delaware――New Jersey and New Hampshire――North Carolina: the Mordecai family and other early settlers.

CHAPTER XV. THE QUESTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN VIRGINIA

AND IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Little change in the basic systems of State institutions――Patrick Henry, Madison and Jefferson on religious liberty in Virginia―― The similarity between the Virginia statute and the conclusions of Moses Mendelssohn pointed out by Count Mirabeau――The first congregation of Richmond――Article 32 of the Constitution of North Carolina against Catholics, Jews, etc. ――How Jacob Henry, a Jewish member of the Legislature, defended and retained his seat in 1809――Judge Gaston’s interpretation――The first congregation of Wilmington, N. C.

――Final emancipation in 1868. CHAPTER XVI. THE WAR OF 1812 AND THE REMOVAL

OF JEWISH DISABILITIES IN MARYLAND.

The Jewish community almost at a standstill between the Revolution and the War of 1812――Stoppage of immigration and losses through emigration and assimilation――No Jews in the newly admitted States――The small number of Jews who fought in the second war with England included Judah Touro, the philanthropist――The Jewish disabilities in Maryland――A Jew appointed by Jefferson as United States Marshal for that State――The “Jew Bill” as an issue in Maryland politics――Removal of the disabilities in 1826. CHAPTER XVII. MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH AND HIS TERRITORIALIST-ZIONISTIC PLANS.

Noah’s family; his youth and his early successes as journalist and as dramatist――His appointment as Consul in Tunis and his recall――His insistence that the United States is not a Christian nation――Editor and playwright, High-Sheriff and Surveyor of the Port of New York――His invitation to the Jews of the world to settle in the City of Refuge which he was to found on Grand Island――Impressive ceremonies in Buffalo which were the beginning and the end of “Ararat”――His “Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews”――Short career on the bench――Jewish activities.

PART IV. =THE SECOND OR GERMAN PERIOD OF IMMIGRATION.

= CHAPTER XVIII. THE FIRST COMMUNITIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

Impetus given to immigration to America by the reaction after the fall of Napoleon――The second period of Jewish immigration―― First legislation about immigration (1819)――The first Jew in Cincinnati――Its first congregation, Bene Israel――Appeals to outside communities for funds to build a synagogue――The first Talmud Torah――Rabbis Gutheim, Wise and Lilienthal――Cleveland―― St. Louis――Louisville――Mobile――Montgomery and its alleged Jewish founder, Abraham Mordecai――Savannah and Augusta――New Orleans――Judah Touro.

CHAPTER XIX. NEW SETTLEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE WEST AND ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

Increase in general immigration――Estimated increase in the number of Jews――The natural dispersion of small traders over the country――Chicago――First congregations and other communal institutions――Indiana――Iowa: Polish Jews settle in Keokuk and German Jews in Davenport――Minnesota――Wisconsin――Congregation “Bet El” of Detroit, Mich.

――The first “minyan” of gold seekers in San Francisco――“Mining congregations”――Solomon Heydenfeldt―― Portland, Oregon.

CHAPTER XX. THE JEWS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF TEXAS.

THE MEXICAN WAR.

The first settler in 1821――Adolphus Sterne, who fought against Mexico and later served in the Texan Congress――David S. Kaufman――Surgeon-General Levy in the army of Sam Houston――A Jew as the first meat “packer” in America――Major Leon Dyer and his brother Isadore――Mayor Seeligsohn of Galveston (1853)――One Jew laid out Waco; Castro County is named after another――Belated communal and religious activities――The War with Mexico, in which only a small number of Jews served――David Camden de Leon and his brother Edwin, U. S.

Consul-General in Egypt.

CHAPTER XXI. THE RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENT.

Political liberalism and religious radicalism of the German Jewish immigrant――The struggle with Orthodoxy hardly more than an animated controversy――No attempt made here by the Temple to swallow the Synagogue, as was the case in Germany――The first Reformers of Charleston, S. C.

――Isaac Leeser, the conservative leader, the first to make a serious effort to adjust Judaism to American surroundings――Dr. Max Lilienthal――Isaac M. Wise, the energetic organizer of Reform Judaism――Dr. David Einhorn――Dr. Samuel Adler――Bernhard Felsenthal――Samuel Hirsch.

CHAPTER XXII. CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM AND ITS STAND AGAINST REFORM.

“The poor Jews of Elm street and the rich Jews of Crosby street”――Rabbis Samuel M. Isaacs, Morris J. Raphall and Jacques J.

Lyons――Sabato Morais――Kalish and Hübsch, the moderate reformers――Benjamin Szold――Dr. Marcus Jastrow’s career in three countries――Alexander Kohut――Russian Orthodoxy asserts itself in New York, and the Bet ha-Midrash ha-Godol is founded in 1852――Rabbi Abraham Joseph Ash and his various activities―― Charity work which remains subordinate to religious work in the synagogue.

CHAPTER XXIII. INTERVENTION IN DAMASCUS.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SWISS DISCRIMINATION.

The Damascus Affair; the first occasion on which the Jews of the United States requested the government to intercede in behalf of persecuted Jews in another country――John Forsyth’s instructions to American representatives in Turkey, in which those requests were anticipated――A discrimination in a treaty with Switzerland to which President Fillmore objected, and which Clay and Webster disapproved――The case of a Jewish-American citizen in Neufchatel――Newspaper agitation, meetings and memorials against the Swiss treaty――President Buchanan’s emphatic declaration, and Minister Fay’s “Israelite Note” about the Jews of Alsace――Question is settled by the emancipation of the Swiss Jews.

PART V. =THE CIVIL WAR AND THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.

= CHAPTER XXIV. THE DISCUSSION ABOUT SLAVERY.

LINCOLN AND THE JEWS.

Pro-slavery tendencies of the aristocratic Spaniards and Portuguese――David Yulee (Levy)――Michael Heilprin and his reply to Rabbi Raphall’s _Bible View on Slavery_――Immigrants of the second period as opponents of slavery――Two Jewish delegates in the Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln, and one member of the Electoral College in 1860――Two other Jews officially participate in Lincoln’s renomination and re-election in 1864―― Abraham Jonas――Encouragement from the Scripture in original Hebrew.

CHAPTER XXV. PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN THE CIVIL WAR.

JUDAH P.

BENJAMIN.

Probable number of Jews in the United States at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War――Seddon’s estimate of “from ten to twelve thousand Jews in the Southern Army”――Judah P. Benjamin, the greatest Jew in American public life――His early life and his marriage――Whig politician, planter and slave owner――Elected to the United States Senate and re-elected as a Democrat――Quits Washington when Louisiana seceded and enters the cabinet of the Confederacy――Attorney-General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State――His foreign policy――His capacity for work――When all is lost he goes to England and becomes one of its great lawyers――His last days are spent in France.

CHAPTER XXVI.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICES OF JEWS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STRUGGLE.

More “brothers in arms” and a larger proportion of officers in the Confederate Army than in that of the North, because most Southern Jews were natives of the country――Some distinguished officers――A gallant private who later became a rabbi――Paucity of Southern records――Generals Knefler, Solomon, Blumenberg, Joachimsen and other officers of high rank in the Union Army――New York ranks first, Ohio second and Illinois third in the number of Jews who went to the front――Two Pennsylvania regiments which started with Jewish colonels――Commodore Uriah P.

Levy, the ranking officer of the United States navy at the time of the outbreak of the war, is prevented by age from taking part in it.

CHAPTER XXVII. THE FORMATIVE PERIOD AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

Ebb and flow of immigration between 1850 and 1880――Decrease and practical stoppage of Jewish immigration from Germany――The breathing spell between two periods of immigration, and the preparation for the vast influx which was to follow――The period of great charitable institutions――Organization and consolidation――The Hebrew Union College and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations――The Independent Order B’nai B’rith――Other large fraternal organizations and their usefulness――Important local institutions in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. CHAPTER XXVIII. NEW SYNAGOGUES AND TEMPLES.

IMMIGRATION FROM RUSSIA PRIOR TO 1880.

Continued increase in the wealth and importance of the German-Jewish congregations――New and spacious synagogues and temples erected in various parts of the country in the “sixties” and the “seventies”――Problems of Russian-Jewish immigration prior to 1880――Economic condition of the Jewish masses in Russia worse in the “golden era” than under Nicholas I. ―― Emigration from Russia after the famine of 1867–68 and after the pogrom of Odessa in 1871――Presumption of the existence of a Hebrew reading public in New York in 1868――The first Hebrew and Yiddish periodicals.

PART VI. =THE THIRD OR RUSSIAN PERIOD OF IMMIGRATION.

= CHAPTER XXIX. THE INFLUX AFTER THE ANTI-JEWISH RIOTS IN RUSSIA IN 1881.

The country itself is well prepared for the reception of a larger number of Jewish immigrants――Absence of organized or political Antisemitism――Increase in general immigration in 1880 and 1881――Arrival of the “Am Olam”――Imposing protest meetings against the riots in Russia――Welcome and assistance――Emma Lazarus――Heilprin and the attempts to found agricultural colonies――Herman Rosenthal――Failures in many States――Some success in Connecticut and more in New Jersey――Woodbine―― Distribution――Industrial workers and the new radicalism.

CHAPTER XXX. COMMUNAL AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AMONG THE NEW COMERS.

Congregational and social activities among the new comers―― Ephemeral organizations――The striving after professional education――Synagogues as the most stable of the new establishments――“Landsleut” congregations――The first efforts to consolidate the Orthodox community of New York――The Federation of Synagogues――Chief Rabbi Jacob Joseph――Other “chief rabbis” in Chicago and Boston――Prominent Orthodox rabbis in many cities――Dr. Philip Klein――The short period in which the cantor was the most important functionary in the Orthodox synagogue―― Synagogues change hands, but are rarely abandoned.

CHAPTER XXXI. NEW COMMUNAL AND INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES.

The Jewish Alliance of 1891 as the first attempt to form a general organization in which the immigrants of the latest period should be officially recognized――Some of the prominent participators――The new Exodus of 1891――The Baron de Hirsch Fund――Various activities――Decrease in the numbers and proportion of the helpless and the needy――The American Jewish Historical Society――The Jewish Publication Society of America―― The Jewish Chautauqua――Participation in the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893――The Council of Jewish Women.

CHAPTER XXXII. THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND NEW LITERARY ACTIVITIES.

Difficulty of securing data for the history of the Labor Movement among Jewish immigrants――John R. Commons’ characterization of a Jewish labor union――A constantly changing army of followers under the same leaders――The movement under the control of the radical press――The leaders as journalists and literary men―― They popularize the press and teach the rudiments of politics―― The voter――The “Heften”――Neo-Hebrew periodicals――The Yiddish stylists――The plight of the Hebraists.

CHAPTER XXXIII. RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA.

THE PASSPORT QUESTION.

The normal rate of Jewish immigration is but slightly affected by the panic of 1893――Oppressiveness of the Sunday Laws are felt by the new immigrants――The Extradition Treaty with Russia―― Beginning of the struggle about the Passport Question――The first Resolution against Russia’s discrimination, introduced in Congress by Mr. Cox in 1879――Diplomacy and diplomatic correspondence――More resolutions――Rayner, Fitzgerald, Perkins―― Henry M. Goldfogle――John Hay’s letter to the House――More letters, speeches and discussions――The Sulzer Resolution and the last step to abrogate the Treaty of 1832. CHAPTER XXXIV. LEGISLATION ABOUT IMMIGRATION.

SUNDAY LAWS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT.

Jewish interest in immigration――The first legislation on the subject――The Nativists or “Know Nothings”――A Congressional investigation in 1838――President Taylor’s invitation to foreigners to come and settle here――A law to encourage immigration passed on Lincoln’s recommendation in 1864――The General Immigration Law of 1882――The “Ford Committee”――Permanent Immigration Committees in Congress――Continued agitation and legislation on the subject――A bill containing the requirement of an educational test is vetoed by President Grover Cleveland in 1897――The last Immigration Law of 1907――The Immigration Commission of 1907 and its report in 1910――Sunday Laws and their significance for the Orthodox Jew――Laws of various States and Territories――Their effect on movements for municipal reform――Status of the problems.

CHAPTER XXXV. END OF THE CENTURY.

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR.

ZIONISM.

Jews in the Spanish-American war――Commissioned and non-commissioned officers, privates and “Rough Riders”――Jews in the Navy: Simon Cook, Joseph Strauss and Edward David Taussig―― The career of Rear-Admiral Adolph Marix――His part in the Inquiry about the “Maine” and in the war――The significance of the Dreyfus Affair――Its influence on the spread of Zionism――The American press almost as pro-Dreyfus as the Jewish――The Zionist movement in America――The rank and file consists of immigrants from Slavic countries, under the leadership of Americans.

PART VII. =THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

PRESENT CONDITIONS.

= CHAPTER XXXVI. SYNAGOGUES AND INSTITUTIONS.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

ROUMANIA AND THE ROUMANIAN NOTE.

Synagogues and other Jewish Institutions――General improvement and moderation――The Jewish Encyclopedia――Its editors and contributors――The Roumanian situation and the American Government’s interest in it since 1867――Benjamin F. Peixotto, United States Consul-General in Bucharest――Diplomatic correspondence between Kasson and Evarts――New negotiations with Roumania in 1902――The Roumanian Note to the signatories of the Berlin Treaty――The question still in abeyance.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

HELP FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE RUSSIAN MASSACRES IN 1903 AND 1905. OTHER PROOFS OF SYMPATHY.

The Kishinev massacre――Official solicitude and general sympathy―― Protest meetings and collections――The “Kishinev Petition” and its fate――Less publicity given to the later pogroms, whose victims were helped by “landsleut” from this country――The influence of pogroms on immigration――The frightful massacres in Russia in the fall of 1905, and the assistance rendered by this country――A Resolution of sympathy adopted in Congress――The 250th Anniversary of the Settlement of the Jews in the United States――Relief for Moroccan Jews proposed by the United States――Oscar S. Straus in the Cabinet.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE AMERICAN-JEWISH COMMITTEE.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND FEDERATIONS.

Formation of the American Jewish Committee――Its first fifteen members and its membership in 1911――The experimental Kehillah organizations――The re-organized Jewish Theological Seminary―― Faculty of the Hebrew Union College――The Dropsie College of Hebrew and Cognate Learning――The Rabbi Joseph Jacob School―― Other Orthodox “Yeshibot”――Talmud Torahs and “Chedarim”――Hebrew Institutes――They become more Jewish because other agencies now do the work of Americanizing the immigrant――Technical Schools―― Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations――Federations of various kinds.

CHAPTER XXXIX. THE JEWS IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA.

The legend about the Jewish origin of Chevalier de Levis――Aaron Hart, the English Commissary, and Abraham Gradis, the French banker――Early settlers in Montreal――Its first Congregation―― Troubles of Ezekiel Hart, the first Jew to be elected to the Legislature――Final Emancipation in 1832――Jews fight on the Loyalist side against ♦Papineau’s rebellion――Prominent Jews in various fields of activity――Congregation “Shaar ha-Shomaim”―― Toronto――First synagogue in Victoria, B. C.

, in 1862――Hamilton and Winnipeg――Other communities――Agricultural Colonies――Jewish Newspapers.

CHAPTER XL. JEWS IN SOUTH AMERICA, MEXICO AND CUBA.

The first “minyan” in Buenos Ayres, Argentine, in 1861――Estimate of the Jewish population in Argentine――Occupations and economic condition of the various groups――Kosher meat and temporary synagogues as indications of the religious conditions―― Communities in twenty-six other cities――The Agricultural Colonies――Brazil――The rumor that General Floriano Peixotto, the second president of the new Republic, was of Jewish origin――Communities in several cities――The Colony Philippson―― Jews in Montevido, Uruguay――Other South American Republics―― Isidor Borowski, who fought under Bolivar――Panama――Moroccan Jews are liked by Peru Indians――About ten thousand Jews in Mexico――Slowly increasing number in Cuba, where Jews help to spread the American influence.

CHAPTER XLI. MEN OF EMINENCE IN THE ARTS, SCIENCES AND THE PROFESSIONS.

Jews who attained eminence in the world of art and of science―― Moses J. Ezekiel――Ephraim Keyser――Isidor Konti――Victor D.

Brenner――Butensky and Davidson――Painters: Henry Mosler, Constant Mayer, H. N.

Hyneman and George D. M.

Peixotto――Max Rosenthal and his son, Albert――Max Weyl, Toby E. Rosenthal, Louis Loeb and Katherine M. Cohen――Some cartoonists and caricaturists――Musicians, composers and musical directors――The Damrosch family, Gabrilowitsch, Hoffman and Ellman――Operatic and theatrical managers and impressarios――Playwrights and actors――Scientists: A. A.

Michelson, Morris Bloomfield, Jacob H.

Hollander, Charles Waldstein and his family――Charles Gross―― Edwin R. A.

Seligman, Adolph Cohn, Jaques Loeb, Simon Flexner and Abraham Jacobi――Fabian Franklin――Engineers: Sutro, Gottlieb and Jacobs――Some eminent physicians and lawyers――Merchants and financiers.

CHAPTER XLII. LITERATURE: HEBREW AND ENGLISH.

PERIODICALS.

Curiosities of early American Jewish literature which belong to the domain of bibliography――Rabbinical works: Responses, commentaries and Homiletics――Hebrew works of a modern character――Ehrlich’s Mikra Ki-Peshuto and Eisenstein’s Ozar Israel――Neo-Hebrew Poets and literati――Jewish writers in the vernacular――“Ghetto Stories”――Writers on non-Jewish subjects―― Scientific works――Writers on Jewish subjects and contributors to the “Jewish Encyclopedia”――A. S.

Freidus――Non-Jewish writers about Jews――Daly――Frederic, Davitt and Hapgood――Journalists, editors and publishers――The Ochs brothers; the Rosewaters―― Pulitzer and de Young of Jewish descent――The Jewish denominational press in English――The “Sanatorium.

” CHAPTER XLIII. YIDDISH LITERATURE, DRAMA AND THE PRESS.

Yiddish poets of the United States equal, if they do not excell, the poets of the same tongue in other countries――Morris Rosenfeld――“Yehoash” and Sharkansky――Bovshoer and other radicals――Zunser――Old fashioned novelists――The sketch writers who are under the influence of the Russian realistic writers―― Abner Tannenbaum――Alexander Harkavy――“Krantz,” Hermalin, Zevin and others――Abraham Goldfaden and the playwrights who followed him――Jacob Gordin and the realists――Yiddish actors and actresses――The Yiddish Press――The high position attained by the dailies――Weekly and monthly publications.

CHAPTER XLIV. PRESENT CONDITIONS.

THE NUMBER AND THE DISPERSION OF JEWS

IN AMERICA.

CONCLUSION.

Dispersion of the Jews over the country and its colonial possessions――The number of Jews in the United States about three millions――The number of communities in various States―― The number of Jews in the large cities――The number of the congregations is far in excess of the recorded figures――The process of disintegration and the counteracting forces――The building of synagogues――Charity work is not overshadowing other communal activities as in the former period, and more attention is paid to affairs of Judaism――The conciliatory spirit and the tendency to federate――Self-criticism and dissatisfaction which are an incentive to improvement――Our great opportunity here―― Our hope in the higher civilization in which the injustices of the older order of things may never reappear.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FRONTISPIECE (EZEKIEL’S STATUE OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY)

COL.

ISAAC FRANKS

JUDAH TOURO

RABBI ISAAC LEESER

DR.

ISAAC M.

WISE

RABBI SABATO MORAIS

DR.

MARCUS JASTROW

MICHAEL HEILPRIN

LEWIS N.

DEMBITZ

JUDAH P.

BENJAMIN

HON.

SIMON WOLF

COMMODORE URIAH P.

LEVY

JULIUS BIEN

KASRIEL H.

SARASOHN

EMMA LAZARUS

HERMAN ROSENTHAL

CHIEF RABBI JACOB JOSEPH

MISS SADIE AMERICAN

PROF.

GOTTHARD DEUTSCH

HON.

JACOB H.

SCHIFF

HON.

OSCAR S.

STRAUS

JUDGE MAYER SULZBERGER

HON.

BENJAMIN SELLING

PROF.

SOLOMON SCHECHTER

MARTHA WOLFENSTEIN

MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH

INTRODUCTION.

THE JEWS AS EARLY INTERNATIONAL TRADERS.

The ten centuries which passed between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the discovery of the New World are commonly known as the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages.

They were, on the whole, very dark indeed for most of the inhabitants of Europe, as well as for the Jews who were scattered among them.

It was a time of the fermentation of religious and national ideas, a formative period for the mind and the body politic of the races from which the great nations of the present civilized world were evolved.

It was a period of violent hatreds, of cruel persecutions, of that terrible earnestness which prompts and justifies the extermination of enemies and even of opponents; there was almost constant war between nations, between classes, between creeds and sects.

The ordinary man had no rights even in theory, the truths “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were not self-evident then; they were not even thought of until a much later era.

The treatment accorded to the Jews in our own times in the countries where the general conditions are nearest to those prevailing in the dark ages, gives a clear idea of what the Jew had to undergo when the average degree of culture was so much lower than it is in the least developed of the Christian countries at present.

The records of the times are so filled with pillage, expulsions and massacres, that they impress us as having been common occurrences, though they happened further apart to those who lived through the peaceful intervals which distance of time makes to appear short to us.

There were, of course, some bright spots, the most shining of which was the Iberian peninsula during the earlier part of the Moorish domination.

Sometimes a kind-hearted king would afford his Jews protection and even grant them valuable privileges; a clear-headed prince often found it to his own interest to utilize them for the advancement of the commerce of his dominion, and in a rare period of peace and prosperity there also happened a general relaxation of the severity which characterized the time.

But if we view the entire thousand years as a single historical period, we find the condition of the Jews slowly deteriorating; with the result that while the modern nations were welded together and came out of the medieval furnace strengthened and developed, the Jews were pushed back, segregated and degraded, ready for the numerous expulsions and various sufferings which continued for more than two centuries in Western Europe and are not yet over in other parts of the Old World.

The favorable position of the Jews at the beginning of the Middle Ages is less familiar to the reading public, even to the Jewish reader, than the troublesome times which came later.

As a matter of fact the Jews were, except for the lack of national unity and of the possession of an independent home, better situated materially four centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple than before the last dissolution of the Kingdom of Judah.

The instinct for commerce which is latent in the “Semitic” race was awakened in the Diaspora and, after an interruption of more than a thousand years, we find, at the end of the classical times, international trade again almost exclusively in the hands of members of that race.

The Sumero-Accadians or original Babylonians who were the earliest known international traders on land, and the Phoenicians, who first dared to trade over seas, were of Semitic origin.

As foreign commerce is the highest form of activity in regard to the utilization of human productivity, so it is also the forerunner of mental activity and of the spread of an ennobling and instructive culture.

The beginnings of both Egyptian and Greek civilization, according to the latest discoveries, point unmistakably to Mesopotamian or Phoenician origin, with a strong probability that the latter received it from the former in times which we usually describe as pre-historic, but about which we now possess considerable exact information.

Culture followed the great route of the caravans to Syria and Egypt on one side, to Iran, India and as far as China in an opposite direction.

And if we accept the wholly incorrect and un-scientific division of the white race into Aryans and Semites, then this original and most fertile of the cultures of humanity was undoubtedly Semitic.

A more modern and more nearly correct division would place these ancient inhabitants of the plateau of Asia as a part of the great Mediterranean or brunette race, which includes, besides all the so-called Semites, a number of European nations which are classed as Aryans.

Greece succeeded Phœnicia and was in turn succeeded by Rome in the hegemony of international trade as well as in that of general culture.

Both commerce and culture declined when the ancient civilization was all but destroyed by the invasion of the blond barbarians of the northern forests, who were themselves destined to attain in a far-away future the highest form of civilization of which mankind has hitherto proven itself capable.

(See _Zollschan_ “Das Rassenproblem,” Vienna, 1910, pp. 206 ff.

) It so happened that at the time of the downfall of the Roman Empire, or, as it is usually called, the beginning of the Middle Ages, another people of Semitic origin, the Jews, were for the most part engaged in international trade.

There are records of Jewish merchants of that period shipping or exporting wine, oil, honey, fish, cattle, woolens, etc. , from Spain to Rome and other Latin provinces, from Media to Brittannia, from the Persian Gulf and Ethiopia to Macedonia and Italy;

there was no important seaport or commercial center in which the Jews did not occupy a commanding position.

Their prominence as importers and exporters rather increased than diminished by the downfall of the great Empire.

The new nations of the Germanic kingdoms which were founded on the ruins of Rome, knew nothing of international trade, and the position of the Jews as merchants was accepted by them as a matter of course.

Hence the first traces of Jewish settlements in modern European countries are almost exclusively to be found in the earliest records of commerce and of trading privileges.

They are then known as traders with distant countries, as sea-going men, as owners of vessels and as slave-traders.

The commercial note or written obligation to pay, which is accepted in lieu of payment and is itself negotiable as a substitute for money, is a Jewish invention of those times.

They developed industries and improved the material conditions of every place in which they were found in large numbers.

As late as 1084, when their position had been already much weakened and the coming Crusades were casting their shadows, Bishop Rudiger of Speyer began his edict of privileges granted to the Jews with the statement: “As I wish to turn the village of Speyer into a city ...

I call the Jews to settle there.

” (See ibid.

p. 351. )[1] THE SPANISH JEWS AS LAND OWNERS.

Canon Law on one side and the rise of cities on the other shattered the position of the Jews until they were reduced to sore straits at the end of the Middle Ages.

The church labored persistently and relentlessly through the centuries in which Europe was thoroughly Christianized, to separate the Jews as far as possible from their Gentile neighbors.

The ties which united the two parts of the population by a thousand threads of mutual interest, friendship, co-operation and beneficial intercourse, were slowly loosened and, where possible, all but severed.

At the various Church Councils, from Nicea to the last Lateran, there was laid down the theory of the necessity to force the Jews out of the national life of the countries in which they dwelt, and to segregate them as a distinct, inferior and outlawed class.

The principles enunciated by the higher clergy were disseminated by the priests and the demagogues among the masses.

Special laws and restrictions were often followed by attacks, sacking of the Jewish quarters and degradations of various kinds.

In the twelfth and the following three centuries the ill-treatment was often followed by expulsions and cancellation of debts, while heavy fines on individual Jews or on entire communities were accepted on both sides as a lesser evil or as easy terms for escaping greater hardships.

The climax of this method of dealing with the Jews, the greatest blow administered to the unhappy Children of Israel by Christian princes, was the expulsion from Spain in 1492, and its concomitant, the expulsion from Portugal five years afterwards.

But the Church alone could never have accomplished the ruin of the Jews if the changing economic conditions and the rise of a large and powerful class of Christian merchants did not help to undermine the position of the erstwhile solitary trading class.

The burgher classes were the chief opponents and persecutors of their Jewish competitors: they seconded, and in many cases instigated, the efforts of the clergy to exclude the Jews from many occupations.

So when the city overpowered the land owner and began to exert a preponderant influence on the government, the cause of the Jew was lost, or at least postponed until a more humane and liberal time, when the ordinary claims of the brotherhood of man were to overcome the narrow-minded mercantile and ecclesiastical policies of a ruder age.

The great historian Ranke pointed out that the struggle between the cities and the nobility in Castille was decided in favor of the former by the marriage of Queen Isabella to Ferdinand of Aragon.

It was also this marriage which sealed the doom of the Spanish Jews, as well as that of their former friends and protectors, the Moors, who had by that time sunk so low, that it was impossible for them to keep their last stronghold in Europe much longer.

Though the outlook in Spain was very dark, it was much worse in all other known countries, which accounts for the fact that there was hardly any emigration from the Christian parts of Spain in the time immediately preceding the expulsion.

The Spanish Jew was then, and has to some extent remained even unto this day, the aristocrat among the Jews of the world.

His intense love for that country is still smouldering in the hearts of his descendants, and not without reason.

In other European countries the Jew could, during the middle ages, only enjoy the sympathy and sometimes be accorded the protection of the nobility.

In Spain and Portugal he actually belonged to that class.

For, as Selig (Dr. Paulus) Cassel has justly remarked (in his splendid article _Juden_ in Ersch and Gruber’s Encyclopædia) sufficient attention has not been paid by Jewish historians to the important fact that Spain and Portugal were the only considerable countries during the Middle Ages in which the Jews were permitted to own land.

The statement, for which there is an apparent Jewish authority, that they owned about a third of Spain at the time of their exile, is doubtless an exaggeration, but there can be no question of their being extensive holders of land-properties.

This largely explains why the Jew in Spain has not sunk in public estimation as much as he did in other countries, why his fate was different, and, in the end, worse than that of his more humiliated and degraded brother elsewhere.

When the German or French Jew was forced out of commerce he could only become a money-lender at the usurious rates prevailing in those times.

This vocation drew on him the contempt and hatred of all classes, as was always the case and as is the case in many places even to-day.

But while the usurer was despised he was very useful, often even indispensable, especially in those times when there was a great scarcity of the precious metals and of convertible capital.

This may explain why the exiled Jews were in other countries usually called back to the places from which they were exiled.

The prejudice of the age may render their work disreputable, but it was none the less necessary; they were missed as soon as they left, and on many occasions negotiations for their return were begun as soon as the popular fury cooled down, or when the object of spoliation was attained.

Not so in Spain.

The Jewish merchant who could no longer hold his own against his stronger non-Jewish competitor, could do what is often done by others who voluntarily retire from such pursuits, i. e. , invest his capital in landed estates.

We can imagine that the transition did not at all seem to be forced, that those who caused it, and even its victims, might have considered it as the natural course of events.

After the great massacres of 1391, a century before the expulsion, many Jews emigrated to Moorish North Africa, where there still remained some degree of tolerance and friendliness for them, mingled perhaps with some hope of re-conquering the lost parts of the Iberian peninsula.

But later there was less thought of migration, least of all of emigrating to the parts of Spain which still remained in the possession of the Moors.

The race which was, seven centuries before, assisted by the Jews to become masters of Iberia, and which together with them rose to a height of culture and mental achievement which is not yet properly appreciated in modern history, has now become degenerate and almost savage in its fanaticism.

The Jew of Spain was still proud, despite his sufferings.

He could not see his fate as clearly as we can now from the perspective of five hundred years.

He was rooted in the country in which he lived for many centuries.

He was, like most men of wealth and position, inclined to be optimistic, and he could not miss his only possible protection against expropriation or exile――the possession of full rights of citizenship――because the Jews nowhere had it in those times and had not had it since the days of ancient Rome.

The catastrophe of the great expulsion, which came more unexpectedly than we can now perceive, was possibly facilitated by the position which the Jews held as land owners.

It certainly contributed to make the decree of exile irrevocable.

The holder of real property is more easily and more thoroughly despoiled, because he cannot hide his most valuable possessions or escape with them.

He is not missed when he is gone; his absence is hardly felt after the title to his lands has been transferred to the Crown or to favorites of the government.

When the robbery is once committed only compunction or an awakened sense of justice could induce the restitution which re-admission or recall would imply.

And as abstract moral forces had very little influence in those cruel days, it is no wonder that the expulsion was final――the only one of that nature in Christian Europe.

This peculiar position of the Jews in Spain and Portugal was also the cause of the immense number of conversions which gave these anti-Jewish nations a very large mixture of Jewish blood in their veins.

The temptation to cling to the land and to the high social position which could not be enjoyed elsewhere was too strong for all but the strongest.

Thus we find Marranos or secret Jews in all the higher walks of life in the times of the discovery of America.

The more steadfast of their brethren who were equally prominent in the preceding period assisted in various ways earlier voyages of discovery, and even contributed indirectly to the success of the one great voyage, which did not begin until they were exiled from Spain forever.

But we must constantly bear in mind, when speaking of the Middle Ages and of the two centuries succeeding it, the sixteenth and the seventeenth, that the Jews did not possess the right of citizenship and were not, even when they were treated very well, considered as an integral part of the population.

This was the chief weakness of their position and the ultimate cause of all the persecutions, massacres and expulsions.

Still they had many opportunities and made the most of them to advance their own interests and those of the countries in which they dwelt.

We find them in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in close touch with the current of national life in the countries which were most absorbed in enterprises of navigation and discovery.

Many of them were still great merchants, numerous others were scholars, mathematicians and astronomers or astrologers; some had influence in political life as advisers or fiscal officials at the royal courts.

They accomplished much, as Jews and as Marranos, even when the danger of persecution must have been ever-present, or later, when in constant terror of the Inquisition.

Many of them could therefore participate in the work which led to the discovery of a New World, where their descendants were destined to find a home safer and more free than was ever dreamt of in medieval Jewish philosophy.

PART I. THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE PERIOD.

CHAPTER I. THE PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD.

The Jew of Barcelona who has navigated the whole known world―― Judah Cresques, “the Map Jew,” as director of the Academy of Navigation which was founded by Prince Henry the Navigator――One Jewish astronomer advises the King of Portugal to reject the plans of Columbus――Zacuto as one of the first influential men in Spain to encourage the discoverer of the New World―― Abravanel, Senior and the Marranos Santangel and Sanchez who assisted Columbus――The voyage of discovery begun a day after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain――Luis de Torres and other Jews who went with Columbus――America discovered on “Hosannah Rabbah”――The Indians as the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel――Money taken from the Jews to defray the expenditure of the second voyage of Columbus――Vasco da Gama and the Jew Gaspar――Scrolls of the Thorah from Portugal sold in Cochin――Alphonse d’Albuquerque’s interpreter who returned to Judaism.

In the days when Church and State were one and indissoluble, and when all large national enterprises, such as wars or the search for new dominions by means of discovery, were undertaken avowedly in the name and for the glory of the Catholic religion, it could not have been expected that governments will make an effort to protect international trade as long as it was in Jewish hands.

We must therefore go as far back as to the first half of the 14th century to find a record of Jews who went to sea on their own account in an independent way.

According to the great authority on the subject of this chapter (Dr. M.

Kayserling, “Christopher Columbus and the participation of the Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese Discoveries,” English translation by the late Prof. Charles Gross of Harvard University) Jaime III.

, the last king of Mallorca, testified in 1334 that Juceff Faquin, a Jew of Barcelona, “has navigated the whole then known world.

” About a century later we find again a Jew prominently identified with navigation;

but in this instance he is a scientific teacher, in the employ of an energetic prince who considered navigation as a national project of the greatest moment.

Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460), who helped his father to capture Ceuta, in North Africa, and there “obtained information from Jewish travellers concerning the south coast of Guinea and the interior of Africa”, established a naval academy or school of navigation at the Villa do Iffante or Sagres, a seaport town which he caused to be built.

He appointed as its director Mestre Jaime of Mallorca whose real name was Jafuda (Judah) Cresques, the son of Abraham Cresques of Palma, the capital of Mallorca.

Jafuda was known as “the Map Jew,” and a map which he prepared for King Juan I. of Aragon and was presented by the latter to the King of France, is preserved in the National Library of Paris.

[2] He became the teacher of the Portuguese in the art of navigation as well as in the manufacture of nautical instruments and maps.

In this work he had no superior in his day.

While this Jewish scholar helped the Portuguese to many notable achievements in their daring voyages, another one, at a later period, was almost the direct cause of their being overtaken by the Spaniards in the race for new discoveries.

For it was Joseph Vecinho, physician to King João, of Portugal, considered by the high court functionaries to be the greatest authority in nautical matters, who influenced the King to reject the plan submitted by Christopher Columbus (1446?

‒1506), and thereby caused the latter to leave Portugal for Spain in 1484. Columbus came to Spain when Ferdinand and Isabella, with the aid of the newly introduced Inquisition, were despoiling the wealthy Marranos, who were burned at the stake in large numbers.

The last war with the Moors had already begun.

Another and more famous Jewish scholar was to make amends for whatever suffering was caused to the great discoverer by Vecincho’s fatal advice.

Abraham Ben Samuel Zacuto, who was born in Salamanca, Spain, about the middle of the 15th century and died an exile in Turkey after 1510, was famous as an astronomer and mathematician, and in his capacity as one of the leading professors in the university of his native city was formerly the teacher of the above named Vecinho.

He was more discerning than his pupil, and when he learned to know Columbus, soon after the latter’s arrival in Spain, he encouraged him personally and also gave him his almanacs and astronomical tables, which were a great help in the voyage of discovery.

Zacuto was among the first influential men in Spain to favor the plans of Columbus, and his favorable report caused Ferdinand and Isabella to take him into their service in 1487. The explorer was then ordered to proceed to Malaga, which was captured several weeks before, and there made the acquaintance of the two most prominent Jews of Spain in that time――the chief farmer of taxes, Abraham Senior, and Don Isaac Abravanel.

These two men were provisioning the Spanish armies which operated against the Moors, and were in high favor at Court.

Abravanel was one of the first to render financial assistance to Columbus.

Louis de Santangel and other Marranos interposed in favor of Columbus when he was about to go to France in January, 1492, because Ferdinand refused to make him Viceroy and Life-Governor of all the lands which he might discover.

Santangel’s pleadings with Isabella were especially effective, and when the question of funds remained the only obstacle to be overcome, he who was saved from the stake by the King’s grace at the time when several other members of the Santangel family perished, advanced a loan of seventeen thousand florins――nearly five million maravedis――to finance the entire project.

Account books in which the transfer of money from Santangel to Columbus, through the Bishop of Avila, who afterwards became the Archbishop of Granada, were recorded, are still preserved in the _Archive de India_ of Seville, Spain.

“After the Spanish monarchs had expelled all the Jews from all their Kingdoms and lands in April, in the same month they commissioned me to undertake the voyage to India”――writes Christopher Columbus.

This refers to the Decree of Expulsion, but the coincidence of the actual happening was still more remarkable.

The expulsion took place on the second day of August, 1492, which occurred on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Ab, the day on which, according to the Jewish tradition, is the anniversary of the destruction of both the first Holy Temple of Jerusalem in the year 586 B. C.

and also of the second Temple at the hands of the Romans in the year 70 C. E.

The day, known as “Tishah be’Ab,” was observed as a day of mourning and lamentation among the Jews of the Diaspora in all countries and is still so observed by the Orthodox everywhere to this day.

Columbus sailed on his momentous voyage on the day after――the third of August.

The boats which were carrying away throngs of the expatriated and despairing Jews from the country which they loved so well and in which their ancestors dwelt for more than eight centuries, sighted that little fleet of three sailing craft which was destined to open up a new world for the oppressed of many races, where at a later age millions of Jews were to find a free home under the protection of laws which were unthought of in those times.

Neither all the names nor even the number of men who accompanied Columbus on his first voyage are known to posterity.

Some authorities place the number at 120, others as low as 90. But among the names which came down to us are those of several Jews, the best known among them being Louis de Torres, who was baptized shortly before he joined Columbus.