Summary Of American Jewry

The history of Jews in host cities often depict a story of success or of failure when it comes to relations between the Jews and the Christians in Europe. Historian Jonathan Elukin, author of Living Together, Living Apart, presents the integration as a success process with rare, and special cases, of failure. On the other side of the spectrum is historian Raymond P. Scheindlin. Scheindlin’s novel, A Short History of the Jewish People, presents many cases of integration between the Christians and Jews that led to massacres and brutal endings for the Jewish community. There are many monumental events that take place during the long span of time that oversees European Jewish history, and both historians study and evaluate the events, however, they do so through different lenses.

Rebecca Samuel’s letters provide interesting insight into what is was like to be a Jewish American woman in the emerging United States. Her letters provide some evidence to struggles many Jews faced trying to observe their religion, as well as the tension of merging American practices with Jewish identity.

Regardless of the growing frequency of Jewish migrating to the United States, the community continues to confront the many issues as part of their assimilation. Through this process of assimilating,

The issue of slavery in the U.S. was controversial during the 19th century. There was division within the states on the decision of how to deal with the slavery issue - keep it? Or abolish it? On the pro-slavery side, advocates used legal, religious, and economic arguments to defend the institution of slavery. Many of the reasons given by the supporters of the “peculiar institution” were challenging to fight against, which is why slavery was a prolonged issue. Slavery supporters fought for what kept their economy running, what they believed was rightfully their property, and what they believed was good for the slaves - simply because the Bible told them so.

Throughout the time period between 1776 to 1852, the institution of slavery was a bustling business. However, some aspects of American society rejected slavery as an institution. These aspects that opposed slavery were the sense of growing inequality within the states, the rising abolitionist movement, and the growing religious bond that formed regardless of race. These causes of opposition would later lead to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Therefore, even though slavery was a widely accepted practice, the main causes of opposition were guilt about inequality, the abolitionist movement, and religious dogma.

David Blight’s book varies from other scholars’ works significantly as his research concentrates on the American Civil War until the year 1915 through the memories of individuals and groups who experienced the war. By evaluating the past in this manner, the author brings to light how others viewed the war and its aftermath rather than discussing events in a traditional way as many authors do. In his introduction, Blight reveals that there were three different ideas of memories concerning the Civil War which are a reconciliation view, a white supremacist view, and an emancipationist view. Through these three perspectives comes the thesis of Blight’s book which is to view the interrelationship between race and reunion in American culture and society from 1863 until 1915. In examining the previously mentioned viewpoints as an aspect of his argument, the author is able to adequately support his conclusions while creating a new narrative from which to learn. Additionally, in examining other books with Race and Reunion, various correlating themes emerge that share common traits.

The history of slavery in the United States divided people by the color of their skin. During the 16th thru 18th century, people of African ethnicity were automatically considered slaves. This not only created a parceling between races but also the demarcation of the northern and southern states of the America. The northern states had asseverated their opposition of slavery while the southern states upheld their concordance with it. Although there is now an overwhelming agreement that slavery was fallacious, Paul Finkelman’s composition of documents called Defending Slavery displays the opposite.

To become an effective counselor to Jewish Americans or any race or diverse population is to be aware of one’s thoughts and opinions concerning racism and racial advantage, as well increase knowledge of culture’s different from oneself (Hays & Erford, 2014). Jewish Americans are referred to those Caucasian individuals who have immigrated to the United States from another country, such as Eastern Europe (Hays and Erford, 2014). In this paper, I will identify and provide a description of the Jewish population and how they differ from myself in a variety of ways. Additionally, I will provide a reflection of my immersion into the Jewish culture via my observations and highlight what I have learned

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” (Brainy Quote, 2016). The inspiring pome that graces the Statue of Liberty was written by a Jewish poet Emma Lazarus, a decedent of the first Jews to arrive in North American colonies in the 1650s. For centuries Jewish people have lived in many places far from there ancestral home in the Middle East, always searching for a home. Like many religious minorities Jews saw America as a special place where they could be a part of creating something new and embraced the opportunity. Today there are around 6 million Jews living in the United States but three centuries ago in colonial America there were only around 300. The fate of these early American Jews was as fragile

The history of Jews in the United States of America is a long and arduous one. This relationship began in the first week of September 1654, when 23 Jewish immigrants landed at New Amsterdam, the Dutch colony ( Now known as Manhattan), and was immediacy ask to leave by the then governor Peter Stuyvesant, for as he said they should not be allowed to infest the new colony,(Schappes 9). The Jews immigrants refused and was later granted permission by the Dutch West India Company to stay , travel and trade. However, the major migration of Jews to the United States of America took place in three waves mainly known as the German period of immigrants1850-1870,

In the autobiography, “Out of the Shadow”, author Rose Cohen, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, explains the social and economic conditions during the late 1800s and early 1900s for Jews immigrating into the United States. Cohen explains how many Jews fled Eastern Europe and Russia during this time due to the ruling of the tsar, fear of religious persecution, and economic restrictions. Because these restrictions were becoming the norm for Jewish people in their county, Rose’s father, a tailor, began to embark on a journey to the United States of America, in hopes of beginning a new life for himself and his family. Even though her father is captured at the border of Russia and returned home, he managed to get to America. Once in

In The Origins of Proslavery Christianity: White and Black Evangelicals in Colonial and Antebellum Virginia, historian Charles F. Irons traces how proslavery arguments shifted and changed over time. The time frame he considers spans 1680-1870, and while Irons considers the broad context of north and southern states he particularly uses Virginia evangelicals as a focal point. In this paper, I will briefly highlight how Irons details proslavery arguments as they changed over time, and particularly what prompted the changes. Irons thesis is that proslavery arguments developed and changed because white evangelicals were in community with black evangelicals, and these relationships with black evangelicals forced white evangelicals to articulate

One interesting topic that is discussed in this essay is the role that black and white abolitionists and the civil war played in the creation of Americanism. The Civil War, they say, has relevance because it brought the two opposing ideas of American identity into conflict. Kazin and McCartin argue that it was not until the nation’s leaders thought the conflict would tear the nation apart that they decided the solution was Americanization. The authors continue by discussing historical events and happenings which fluctuated or aided to Americanism such as the issue of immigration, WWI, the Vietnam War and WWII. The argument proposed in this essay was less apparent to me that that which was proposed in the Andersons essay. However, what I made of the essay was that the authors recognize that inequality exists in the United States but they also recognize that there must be some common ground. Something has to unify the country and that is where Americanism comes into

Judaism is a religion that almost seems uncommon in today’s era. Currently, the United States is occupied with just two percent of individuals who believe in judaism; Globally, only .2 percent of the population is Jewish, which means this religion isn’t practiced heavily by many. The USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) indicates that World War II was responsible for the death of more than six million innocent jews; this still impacts the jewish community today. Jews

In his essay “Concerning The Jews,” Mark Twain marvels over the historic ascendency of Jews in attempt to counter the burgeoning anti-semitism of his time: