Jews in the Thirteen Colonies (1654-1789) 

I am not Jewish. I am African American. I enjoy learning about how various people came to America.

Many years I was walking in New York's Chinatown and passed by a very tiny Cemetery tucked away in the backyard of an apartment building. The cemetery was barely visible from the street and could only be seen if like me you are very tall. There was a plaque that said this was the first Jewish cemetery in North America. The names were Sephardic sounding Spanish or Portuguese but often with a Jewish first name. The plaque said that the cemetery was on "the outdkirts" of New Amsterdam.

"Send for Haym Salomon." Dude must have been an absolute baller.

I spent years amongst revolutionary era reenactors and armchair historians and never once heard any of this. Thank you so much!

Aaron Levy, prominent merchant of Philadelphia and a member of the Sons of Liberty was a close friend of Haym Salomon and like Salomon, donated much of his own fortune to the Continental Army. He also paid for the building of the first Lutheran church in Pennsylvania as an act of interfaith friendliness.

Love this video! I remember the first time that I learned about the history of American Jews. I had always been interested in history since I was a young child, but my public textbooks emphasized a narrow conception of what made up the American experience. I stumbled upon Jonathan Sarna's works, and for the first time I saw myself as an integral part of American history rather than being a later addition in the 19th century wave of immigration. After reading Sarna, I decided that I would study Jewish history in college and contribute to the scholarship of American Jewish life to spread the knowledge of our experiences in this country. A sheynem dank Sam for bringing the history of American Jews to light for a larger audience to see! It warms my heart to know that it might inspire those who are searching for themselves as part of the American story.

As a descendant of Prussian (Polish) Jews named Salomon, I am proud of Hayim Salomon's contribution to America's independence weather he is a blood relative or not.

My Grandfather whom was Sicilian-Italian saw some of the "Not quite White" stuff, and due to CCC service in the South saw Jim Crow, which he disapproved of. His best friend in the Army was a Jewish guy, whom he stayed in contact with after he left the East & moved to California.

I've always loved how detailed your maps were, even showing stuff that isn't important to the story at hand. I remember I could pause and see so many countries and locations. And I'm glad you included the indigenous tribes on the map because most maps about this time period that I've seen just included the various European colonies and then brown blank space for the rest. While everybody knows there were people there, the blank space thing can put forth the impression that the land was unimportant and the people sparse. So great job again I'm excited to see what comes next.

For me, as a Brazilian, it's very emotional to hear about the first fellow jews that founded the Kahar Zur Israel congregation here and their expulsion by the portuguese inquisition (specially for being a 'da Fonseca' from my paternal grandmother side like Isaac Aboab). Great work as always Sam!

I have been to the Touro synagogue on a trip to Newport and prayed there during the festival of Sukkot. It’s a beautiful structure, built in the Portuguese style. Its congregation is dwindling and it’s more museum than synagogue now.

Why was "and none have them had been a rabbi" the best cliffhanger of 2022 thus far?

"May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." -President Washington, 1790

Really loving your channel. Good history that I haven't heard anywhere else. Shoutout to my fellow 1/64+ Cherokees out there.

This is awesome job! On my father's side, his grandfather's family were Sephardic Jews came to New Amsterdam from Holland, then ended up in Philadelphia. They received land grants from their service in War for Independence in the Applachian frontier. There they eventually assimilated as there was no Jewish community intermarrying among their neighbors with only their last name to point to their Jewish origin.

I had heard anecdotally that there was a jew who was involved in the funding of the revolutionary war. This was quite specific in explaining how that all came about. Thankyou.

I didn't know that colonial Rhode Island didn't allow Jews to become citizens, wow... If any colonial Jews out there want citizenship, hmu and we can get married

Don't mind me, I'm just celebrating the cameo of Tadeusz Kościuszko at 14:45. Seriously though, this video was full of fascinating information. Also, some outstanding voice acting during Caldwell's speech.

I have always been curious about this subject but never had the strength to do the research myself. Thank you very much for this one!

Thanks for this video Aaron! I studied this particular subject in my college US History class. My prof was Jewish and very renowned and respected for his extensive knowledge of Jewish history in the New World. Their history in the colony and state of New York in particular. I live in Albany County in the Capital District. The Revolution was literally fought in my back yard. The Liberty Bell was forged at the Meneely Bell Foundry that was located one block north of my childhood home. Saratoga and Bennington are only a short drive from my home. This video actually clarified some of the things I learned but it also taught me a lot that I wasn’t aware of. Namely how the Jewish citizens basically financed our fight for freedom while being unable to enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice like their fellow Americans. I really enjoy your channel, Aaron. Thank you again! 👍

Great episode!

0:50 mormons: actually

I have been telling everybody at shul about you bro! I love your channel, I have learnt so much with your shiurim!!!! Thank you 🙏🏼!

I love your illustrations of people. Its a really good balance of detail and simplicity. Works well for a vector-based program like illustrator. The two shade approach to skin color and shadows is a great balance too. Kudos!

- "first Jew in the Americas…" - Joseph Smith joined to the chat. :D

If it weren’t for Solomon Haym’s cash and credit we wouldn’t have won the War for Independence

I always look forward to you works!

Thank you for this lecture. Very informative.

What a fascinating story! I especially enjoyed the music in this video.

Thank you for making Jewish history ever more fascinating!

This is a great documentary, thank you for sharing it with us on RU-vid .

thank you, this was phenomenal

Great video on a fascinating topic, thank you!

The local Jewish library claims "Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, is home is one of the United States' oldest and largest Jewish communities. As an immigrant port of entry and border town between North and South, as a gateway to the nation's interior and as a manufacturing center in its own right, Baltimore has been well-positioned to reflect developments in American Jewish life." It was from Baltimore that the Jews were sent to Israel during the Exodus of 1947

Man quality content as always. I LOVE this video.

This was incredible I can’t wait to teach this to my students one day!!!

another great vid, thanks

What an amazingly thought producing production! It was concise yet well researched, it covered multiple aspects of a wonderful part of our history as American. Thank you for the tremendous dedication to your research and editing discipline. A+ in my book! Thanks for sharing this. Poty Mouth Mike, San Antonio, Texas. Can't wait for your next one!

Thank you, Sam!

Great video sam

As is well known Alexander Hamilton received his formative education at a Jewish school in the West Indies.

Great content as always!!!!

I finally recognize the music you used in the video! Jean-Baptiste Lully est l'un des mes compositeurs préférés!

great video as always

Great Video! I'm training to be a High Shool History teacher in the United States. However, in all i've read, I' had never heard of Haym Solomon or of Locke specifically encouraging Jewish emigration into the Carolina Colonies. I'm always on the lookout for ways to inform students that minorities are for more important in their countries history than they might realize. Additionally, All your other videos have been highly informative and interesting as well. Keep up the great work!

Hey Sam, amigo, how about a video on Portuguese Jews who went to northern Mexico 🇲🇽 (New Spain) and southern USA 🇺🇸 and stable shed there? Please???? I can’t find anything on that myself. Obviously you have an extraordinary source!

Thank you for this magnificent, informative, and patriotic video! I learned so much about things I thought I knew, and I also learned a lot that was entirely new to me.

Just found this channel and I’m loving it. I’d love to see a video on the Assyrian (sometimes called Kurdish) Jews of Northern Iraq and Hakkari. Thanks and keep up the good work!

I just can not get over how good this series is. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch every episode.

Excellent work.

Amazing video! Keep it up!

Very interesting! Bravo!👌

VERY cool. I have always wondered about this.

What a history lesson this is. Incredible. Astounding information.

Sam! You're awesome! I've been looking for this story for over a decade. I was invited to a Passover Seder, and when I read the Haggadah, the words and tone sounded familiar, like... the Declaration of Independence. Ever since then I had the idea there was something missing from the story of the American Revolution, but I never found out much. This fills the gap that I knew was there.

Your Southern Accent is spot on. Well done sir.

Great video. I knew almost nothing of this.

So Jews literally saved the American Revolution from economic collapse? Thats amazing! Why didn't even my Jewish school teach this?

Was waiting for Charleston 👍🏽

This video is very educational. Previously I had hear of Hyam Salomon but not much about other specific Colonial Jews. I knew of Jewish communities but not the full and great impact of those very small communities. This video earned a subscription.

New worlds jews are a fascinating group imagine how disconnected you would have been from the community and likely from classically trained rabbis and how that would have and did affect their attitudes and beliefs.

Now that was interesting, well presented articulate and intelligently presented.

A fantastic short history which I was never taught in highschool. Only did I learn much of history on my own. I will contest a little regarding Rodeisland, it was two flavours of Baptist that played heavly in it's founding not purtians so much.

I must congratulate Sam on his excellent choice in music.

I hope to visit those historical places someday!

Thank you for this video Do one about the Jews in the Antebellum South, as well as Jews in the American Civil War!

Something funny I'd noticed is that before Jews became common in the United States it was common for synagogues to be referred to as "Jewish churches."

Many Sephardic Jews who were miners, settled throughout the South in the early days of the country. They were more apt to assimilate than their Ashkenazic brethren and it appears that many married into non-Jewish European families including the Cherokee people throughout the Southeastern U.S. This explains why we see their genetic presence in Cherokee and Appalachian people's DNA history.

This is one of the most informative videos on US history I’ve ever encountered. Fantastic ✨

Although I've casually studied American history for decades, I was ignorant of all of this. Thank you for posting this video.

You do know how to tell a tale, young man!

Thx for making this video, i'm of Jewish heritage and I'm an American so i find this fascinating

Damn that was great 👍

Brilliant thanks

Ahh man, Your southern accent... So good!

There was a great exhibition at the New York Art Society a few years ago. Self-portraits of Early American Jewish families.

There were Jews in Latin America at least by 1520. I know because my family was among them.

awesome story !

Sorry, I sent my message by mistake When the king Dom Manuel saw how many gifted and prosperous people his country was losing, he changed tack and performed mass, unconsented baptisms, transforming all Jews into nominal Catholics, who need not be expelled. Brazil was officially discovered in 1500. Many Jews fled to Brazil, as there was an erroneous belief that they might make their way overland to Israel. Almost all these immigrants were single men. More "reputable" Catholic Portuguese preferred going to India and Southeast Asia, as it was much easier to make a fortune there. Brazil, at the outset, had nothing of value. These recent immigrants found the Tupi-Guatani natives, with very different customs. One of these was polygamy, which for the Indians was considered the normal state of affairs. As a result, these early colonists had hordes of children, the ancestors of today's Brazilians. If one peruses the history of the early days in colonial Brazil, one will find incredible stories of exploration and exploits performed by these "New Christians " and their descendants. I saw one estimate, whose exact source I do not remember, that up to 40% of the gene pool in Brazil is of Jewish origin. The "Portuguese Jews" in Europe were actually Spanish Jews who had been expelled from Portugal. Excuse me for many errors committed by the automatic editing device on my phone, which insists on converting English into Portuguese.

Leggo!

Francis Salvador of South Carolina, I've read, was the first Jewish person to be elected to a legislature anywhere.

I love learning about the lesser known details about American history. And this makes want to learn more about Judaism in other historical periods. Great vid!

Great video, but I couldn't help but laugh at the decision to read out the David Caldwell quote in a non-rhotic southern accent; such an accent did not exist at the time, as it would only develop from the introduction of non-rhoticity into coastal American dialects in the 19th century, which itself stemmed from the influence of the non-rhotic English accent which was only popularized in the 19th century. In the 1780s, an average person from the Southern US wouldn't have sounded exactly like anyone today, but would have had an accent more similar to England's West Country accent than to the accent we associate with the Southern plantation elite today.

@Samaronow I have a few books on Jewish History and they cost me a lot. Each time I watch one of your videos I feel you have the topic well covered, way better in fact… Can you please do the Jewish history in Australia. I believe the first fleet had Jewish people and convicts and free settlers came from then. Many great Australians, Judges Governor Generals Isaac Isaacs and our Greatest General in the GW Sir John Monash. Many politicians like the current Treasurer Josh Freydenberg and businessmen are worth mentioning; Frank Lowy, Harry Triguboff to name a few and many more. I’m sure that you’d find many nuances and something completely unheard of … like Australia’s faults look at pre war refugees and our points of praise.

A history of Jews in the Dutch West India Company is a video I did not know I needed.

Thanks Sam for another great video, very interesting. I guess next video will be napoleonic Europe?

i would love to see a video about Sephardic Jews of the Caribbean

What great history. Makes me proud to be an American as imperfect as we are.

4:00 Delaware - 'New Sweden link', could explain a lot current state of affairs :)

Nice use of the March of the Ceremony of the Turks! Impeccable choice of music.

I was homeschooled, and knew a little of this. I remembered that a Jewish man singlehandedly financed much of the war and died bankrupt, though I could never remember his name. Another little known fact, if I remember my history correctly is that Ferdinand and Isabella did not finance the voyage of Christopher Columbus, but rather an important Jewish man convinced the monarchs to grant the mission by paying for it himself. From what I gather, he got the short end of that stick. Further, there was cause for concern among both Jews and Christians in the New World because of Spanish control in the Carribbean, Mexico, and Florida and the very real threat of an Inquisition driven war to the North. I am certain that neither Jews nor Christians were ignorant of the slaughter of French Protestants in the renamed city of St. Augustine. A final interesting fact is that for all that most Jews supported Independence, I do recall a Southern Jewish representative in the Confederacy 87 years later. As a Christian, I love learning about Jewish history. Further, I have never understood the fear of some who claim to be Christian of the Jewish people. Do they not believe that God spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and say that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse her are cursed, and that in Israel will all the nations and families of the Earh be blessed? (Genesis 12:2-3, 22:17-18, 26:3-5, 27:29, 28:3-4; Numbers 24:9) (I do not know how the references operate in the Jewish versions of the Torah, or I would have cited them in that fashion. As a Christian, I am only familiar with our own textual divisions. My apologies.)

Would you be able to name a couple Jewish board members for the Dutch East India Company?

I left all my books in Brazil when I moved to Portugal several years ago, so that I will opine here without citing sources. The history of Jews in Brazil is fascinating and known to very few. Portugal was a small country of perhaps one million people at the beginning of the age of navigations and discoveries. There had been a relatively small Jewish community there for centuries. When Spain expelled the Jews in 1492, many fled overland to Portugal. At one point, they apparently constituted around 20% of Portugal's population. The Portuguese King, Dom Manuel decided to marry a Spanish princess, and one of the conditions was that he should expell all the Jews from Portugal. Só he did. When he saw the enormous

There’s some evidence that there was a rabbi in KKBE in Charleston before the revolution named Moses Cohen.

Latinos and Jews. You never hear about them in the early days of America but they were here.

1:35 Claim to be 1/64 Cherokee, just brilliant. Wink wink.

All my life I've heard about the Sheftall family of Savannah, my hometown. Without the Sheftall family and many other Jews and their sacrifices there may not have been an America.

Haym Solomon is my favorite Jew of American History thanks to this video

Some goods could and were made in the colonies but these were very limited. Whale oil candles, rum from molasses and other goods that did not come from England and were not subject to the navigation acts which set the prices the colonists could get from British merchants or put a surtax on goods they sold to other nations and prevented the colonies from buying manufactured good from anywhere than Britian. The British goverment took a share of these transactions.

The way you say your 'a's in all your video, eg Lasting, Vast, After, is really strange for an American, is this some regional dialect that I don't know about? :)