The History of Jews in the United States of America: Why and when did they migrate?

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The History of Jews in the United States of America.

Why and when did they migrate?

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, the Eastern European Emigration (1881-1924), and the Post Holocaust immigration (1945-60).

The first wave, the German period of immigration took place during the years 1850 to 1870, during which the American Jewish population quadrupled. In this period the Jews suffered political and religious persecution in Western Europe .this was preceded by the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, which saw oppressive laws and ordinances being reintroduced into many European countries (Wiernik 136). The German Jews were more seriously affected by these laws than any other group. To make matters worse the ghetto walls were rebuilt and a new wave anti-Semitism swept across Europe, which led to the migration of many Jews from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia Russia and Poland.

Also during this period capitalism was being introduced in Europe and the effect on agricultural economies was devastating; given the fact that most of the common folks made their living in by farming. In addition, there was wide s...

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...cial Studies on Greeks, Jews, Lithuanians, Ukrainians. 1976. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.

Drs. Sheskin, Ira and Dashefsky, Arnold. Jewish population statistics. Jewishdatabank.org. University of Connecticut. 2010, Web. 18 March. 2011

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Israel. cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency 14 Jan. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2011

Israel. igto.ca. Ministry of Tourism.Israel. 2005. Web.20 Jan. 2011

Jewish Virtual Library. American Israel Cooperative Enterprise.4 April. 2011. Web. 8 Feb. 2011.

Schappes, Morris u. The Jews in the United States: A Pictorial History 1654 to the Present. New York. The Citadel Press, 1958. Print.

Spielvogel, Jackson L. Western Civilization: A Brief History. USA.Wadsworth, 2008. Print

Wiernik, Peter. History of the Jews in America: From the Period of the Discovery of the New World to the Present Time. New York. Hermon Press, 197. Print.

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