From Shylocks to Unbelievers: Early National Views of “Oriental” Jews

While scholars have expended much effort recently on discerning American representations of Islam from the literature on the United States' contact with the so-called Barbary nations, there has been no systematic effort to examine representation of Jews in the same literature. Examining literature produced by captives, diplomats, missionaries, and others, the author argues that representations of Jews initially (1785-1815) were produced primarily by diplomats and sailors who made much use of the Shylock stereotype, but later (1815-1830) were produced by missionaries who focused more on what they viewed as Jewish stubbornness and intolerance. The final portion of the article discusses the relevance of these representations to the expanding domestic Jewish population.