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Sarah Kerschgens

Dr. Flowers

History of Ethnic Groups

June, 15 2018

Jews in America

Jews have been persecuted since as early as the 10th Century, by 1290 they were banned from

England , and by the mid 15th Century they were banned from most of Western Europe. So Poland

became the home to the largest population of Jews by the 16th Century. The first explorers and settlers

of the 'New World' of America came from Spain and Portugal. A small number of Jews took the

opportunity to follow in their wake when the Spanish Inquisition, that demanded conversion to

Catholicism, made living in those countries an impossibility. However, the largest number of the first

Jewish migrants to America came from Holland which was practically the only Jewish refuge in

Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.(Alchin)

Jews are said to have first come to the United States as early as 1654, it has been said that 23

Jewish passengers landed in New Amsterdam but historians are not sure. According to the Author of

book “The Jews in America” , Arthur Hertzberg this is not true. They did not arrive until much later.

The Jews that came to America were mainly poor. According to Hertzberg some 200,000 Jews arrived

in the U.S in 1906 and from these 200,000 only 50 of them had a profession listed in their papers when

they arrived. The well off Jews only started arriving in the U.S when the Nazi's pushed them out of
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Europe. Also according to Hertzberg the Jewish community that came to America carried with them

their Anti European streak and they made their own Ethnic Culture here in America, they decided

which religious traditions and folk traditions they wanted to carry on here.

Jews that came to America were mainly all from Russia and Eastern Europe according to Sachar

the author of “A History of Jews in America, “ It was an emigration largely of poorer, under educated,

small town Jews. Most were single men, unlike their Gentile neighbors, Jewish families rarely were

able to sell a homestead large enough to support a group departure”.

Jews according to Sowell the author of “Ethnic America”, Jews made up only 8% of the

immigrants moving to America between 1890 and 1924. It is also known that America in the 1900's

kept the Catholics and the Jews on the fringes of society. It was not until the the 1980's that the Jews

became the most affluent people in the US. The Jews have the highest income and they have gone from

the poorest immigrants to the most affluent people in the United States. In the family Index the Jewish

population are ranked in first place with an average wealth of 172, the US index is 100 and the Indians

are ranked at 60 while the Irish rank 103.(Sachar).

The first Jews that arrived in America, were not fleeing their countries due to persecution, rather

they were just trying to make a living. Most Jews came to New York and it wasn't until the late 1700's

according to Sachar that the Jews were allowed to practice their religion in a Synagogue and by the mid

1700 they enjoyed the same rights and privileges of the Protestants, whereas in Massachusetts at that

time the Jews were not tolerated, whereas South Carolina welcomed them.

From the mid nineteenth century to the creation of Israel, America was the number one

destination for Jews with over two million Jews immigrating to America from mainly Russia and

Eastern Europe , it was not until 1924 that over a half a million Jews entered the US as refugees from

Western Europe.
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There are typical stereotyping of Jews, the three main ones according to Schneider who wrote

the book “The Physiology of Stereotyping”, - Jews are known to be powerful and manipulative, they

are known to split their allegiance between the US and Israel and the third is their materialistic values.

An interesting fact that Schneider discovered is that people who were prejudiced against Jews were

more likely to be prejudiced to Blacks and vice versa. But on a lighter note the typical stereotypes of

Jewish people include: big nose, curly hair, good with money, rich, stingy, often saying yiddish phrases.

But it is also worth noting that Jewish Law says that Jews must contribute at least 10% of their income

to charities.

Jewish contributions to formation of LV, There were four Jewish men who built Las Vegas, men

who paved figurative streets of gold out of desert sand by creating one of the most prosperous resort

destinations in the world. Greenspun. Cohen. Greenbaum. Dalitz.

Dalitz, who headed up the Desert Inn in the early days, was active in developing the Las Vegas Golf

Course, played a big role in setting up the Tournament of Champions, and was a powerful force behind

the building of Sunrise Hospital, the Boulevard Mall, and the Maryland Parkway area. The Flamingo

hotel-casino, for example, was among the first notable developments in the post-WWII period. Gus

Greenbaum was among those keeping the property profitable following original owner Ben Siegel's

demise. The Las Vegas Jewish community only makes up 2% of the population in Las Vegas.
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Works Cited

A History of the Jews in America By Howard Morley Sachar.

Alchin, Linda. Author Linda Alchin -Http://Www.emmigration.info/Jewish-Immigration-to-

America.htm.

American Jewish Year Book 2015: The Annual Record of the North American ... Edited by Arnold

Dashefsky, Ira M. Sheski.

Hertzberg, Arthur. The Jews in America: Four Centuries of an Uneasy Encounter : a History .

Schneider, David. The Psychology of Stereotyping By David J. Schneider.

Sowell, Thomas. Ethnic America: A History By Thomas Sowell.

A History of the Jews in America By Howard Morley Sachar.