Antisemitism, an American Tradition

Antisemitism, an American Tradition

Nadia Neale

Nadia Neale

The powerful story of antisemitism in America and how it has shaped the lives of Jews for almost four centuries.Jews experienced antisemitism the moment they landed on what would become the United States. When they first arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654, Peter Stuyvesant tried but failed to deport them. As historian Pamela S. Nadell tells in Antisemitism, an American Tradition, this was only antisemitism's beginning on our shores, as negative European stereotypes about Jews rooted into American soil.Compared with the Old World, with its expulsions, Inquisition, ghettos, and Holocaust, America's Jews have a different history—but one where antisemitism, even if it has had fewer dramatic eruptions, is deeply embedded. Jews in America faced restrictions on holding office and getting financial credit. Universities set quotas to limit the number of Jews attending and businesses refused to hire them. Jews endured verbal and physical attacks, and...
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