Politics, Faith, and the Making of American Judaism

Images

Isaac Mayer Wise (circa 1860). Cincinnati rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (1819–­ 1900) led the effort to Americanize Jews inside and outside the synagogue. (Courtesy Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives) Isaac Leeser (circa 1868). Beginning in the 1840s, Philadelphia rabbi Isaac Leeser (1806–­68) articulated the concerns of Orthodox Jews in America. (Courtesy Library of Congress) Jewish peddler (circa 1880–­ 90). For immigrant Jews, peddling was a foothold in the growing U.S. economy, but many people perceived the occupation as less than respectable. (Courtesy Library of Congress) Proposed punishment of the fraudulent army contractors. Civil War contractors who sold “shoddy” goods to the troops were reviled. Some suggested that those found guilty of the practice be tarred and feathered. (From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News, April 1862. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.) “A Patriot.” Corruption was an acute problem as the North mobilized for war. (From Frank Leslie’s Budget of Fun, May 1862. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.) The Civil War years brought an unusual spike in anti-­ Jewish feelings. The tabloid press was particularly virulent in its racism. (From Frank Leslie’s Budget of Fun, December 1863. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.) “The Height of Madness.”With heightened fears of foreigners in both the Union and the Confederacy, the Civil War years saw the depiction of Jews as disloyal speculators and international financiers . (From Frank Leslie’s Budget of Fun, June 1864. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.) “Shoddy, or the Vulture of the Camp.” Anti-­ Semitism in its most primitive form led to military edicts against Jewish citizens in areas occupied by U.S. forces. (From Frank Leslie’s Budget of Fun, April 1864. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.) Lazarus Powell (circa 1865). Kentucky senator Lazarus Powell (1812–­ 67) came to the defense of the Jews of Paducah expelled by Ulysses S. Grant under General Orders 11. (Courtesy Library of Congress) Henry Foote (circa 1860). Tennessee congressman Henry Foote (1804–­ 80) raised the pitch of xenophobia to alarming levels in speeches before the Confederate Congress . (Courtesy Library of Congress) Brick Pomeroy (circa 1865). During the 1868 election campaign, newspaper publisher Brick Pomeroy (1833–­ 96) charged that Ulysses S. Grant had expelled the Jews from his military district to eliminate competition in the cotton trade. (Courtesy Library of Congress) Benjamin Butler (circa 1860). One of the most feared generals during the Civil War, Benjamin Butler (1818–­ 93) initiated a lively correspondence with Jewish leaders about the nature of anti-­ Semitism. (Courtesy Library of Congress) Hamilton Fish (circa 1870). As secretary of state under President Ulysses S. Grant, Hamilton Fish (1808–­ 93) reluctantly came to the aid of Russian and Romanian Jews. (Courtesy Library of Congress) “Grand Union.” In 1877, banker Joseph Seligman (1819–­ 80) found the doors of the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York, closed to him and other Jewish patrons. (From Puck, June 27, 1877. Courtesy Library of Congress.) Grand Union Hotel (1875). The Grand Union was the resort of the well connected and newly affluent of the Gilded Age. Its policy of discrimination underscored the challenges American Jews faced in the postwar years. (Courtesy Library of Congress ) “The Chosen People.” Resort owners Austin Corbin (1827–­ 96) and Henry Hilton (1824–­ 99) believed Jews were less cultured and refined than Christians. (From Puck, December 8, 1880. Courtesy Library of Congress.) “A Hint to the Hebrews.” Class was a significant factor in American attitudes toward Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants crowding into cities on the Eastern Seaboard. (From Puck, February 15, 1882. Courtesy Library of Congress.) “Then and Now.—­1862 and 1882.” The humorists at Puck doubted Ulysses S. Grant’s sincerity in lending his support to Russian Jews in 1882. (From Puck, February 15, 1882. Courtesy Library of Congress.) Opposite:“New Trans-­Atlantic Hebrew Line.”The high numbers of people entering the United States—­ not only Jews, but Italians on the East Coast and Chinese on the West—­ led to demands to put the brakes on immigration. (From Puck, January 19, 1881. Courtesy Library of Congress.) “Stop Your Cruel Oppression of the Jews.”In 1903, a wave of violence in the Russian province of Bessarabia led...