A driving force in the history of American Jews has been the pursuit of religious equality under law. Jews reasoned that state and federal legislation or public practices which sanctioned religious, specifically Christian, usages blocked their path to full integration within society. Always a small minority and ever fearful of the outspoken proponents of the Christian state, nineteenth-century Jews became ardent defenders of church-state separation. In the twentieth century, Jewish defense organizations took a prominent role in landmark court cases on religion in the schools, Sunday laws, and public displays of Christian symbols. Over the last two centuries, Jews shifted from support of a neutral-to-all-religions government to a divorced-from-religion government, and from defense of their own interests to the defense of other religious minorities. Jews in Christian America traces in historical context the response of American Jews to the issues presented by a Christian-flavored public religion. Discussing the contributions of each major wave of Jewish immigrants to the reinforcement of a separationist stand, Cohen shows how Jewish communal priorities, pressures from the larger society, and Jewish-Christian relationships fashioned that response. She also makes clear that the Jewish community was never totally united on the goals and tactics of a separationist posture; despite the continued predominance of the strict separationists, others argued the adverse effects of that position on communal well-being and on the very survival of Judaism.

History of the Jews in America is a thorough historical account of Jewish communities in both South and North America starting from the earliest days of Spanish colonization all the way to the beginning of the 20th century. _x000D_ Contents_x000D_ The Participation of Jews in the Discovery of the New World_x000D_ Early Jewish Martyrs Under Spanish Rule in the New World_x000D_ Victims of the Inquisition in Mexico and in Peru_x000D_ Marranos in the Portuguese Colonies_x000D_ The Short-lived Dominion of the Dutch Over Brazil_x000D_ Recife: The First Jewish Community in the New World_x000D_ The Jews in Surinam or Dutch Guiana_x000D_ The Dutch and English West Indies_x000D_ New Amsterdam and New York_x000D_ New England and the Other English Colonies_x000D_ The Religious Aspect of the War of Independence_x000D_ The Participation of Jews in the War of the Revolution_x000D_ The Decline of Newport; Washington and the Jews_x000D_ Other Communities in the First Periods of Independence_x000D_ The Question of Religious Liberty in Virginia and in North Carolina_x000D_ The War of 1812 and the Removal of Jewish Disabilities in Maryland_x000D_ Mordecai Manuel Noah and His Territorialist-Zionistic Plans_x000D_ The First Communities in the Mississippi Valley_x000D_ New Settlements in the Middle West and on the Pacific Coast_x000D_ The Jews in the Early History of Texas_x000D_ Conservative Judaism and Its Stand Against Reform_x000D_ The Discussion About Slavery_x000D_ Lincoln and the Jews_x000D_ Participation of Jews in the Civil War_x000D_ Immigration From Russia Prior to 1880_x000D_ Relations With Russia_x000D_ The Passport Question_x000D_ The American-Jewish Committee_x000D_ The Jews in the Dominion of Canada_x000D_ Jews in South America, Mexico and Cuba

History of the Jews in America is a thorough historical account of Jewish communities in both South and North America starting from the earliest days of Spanish colonization all the way to the beginning of the 20th century. Contents The Participation of Jews in the Discovery of the New World Early Jewish Martyrs Under Spanish Rule in the New World Victims of the Inquisition in Mexico and in Peru Marranos in the Portuguese Colonies The Short-lived Dominion of the Dutch Over Brazil Recife: The First Jewish Community in the New World The Jews in Surinam or Dutch Guiana The Dutch and English West Indies New Amsterdam and New York New England and the Other English Colonies The Religious Aspect of the War of Independence The Participation of Jews in the War of the Revolution The Decline of Newport; Washington and the Jews Other Communities in the First Periods of Independence The Question of Religious Liberty in Virginia and in North Carolina The War of 1812 and the Removal of Jewish Disabilities in Maryland Mordecai Manuel Noah and His Territorialist-Zionistic Plans The First Communities in the Mississippi Valley New Settlements in the Middle West and on the Pacific Coast The Jews in the Early History of Texas Conservative Judaism and Its Stand Against Reform The Discussion About Slavery Lincoln and the Jews Participation of Jews in the Civil War Immigration From Russia Prior to 1880 Relations With Russia The Passport Question The American-Jewish Committee The Jews in the Dominion of Canada Jews in South America, Mexico and Cuba

Published to mark the 100th anniversary of The Jewish Publication Society, Jonathan Sarna’s engaging blend of anecdote and analysis presents the personalities and the controversies, the struggles and the achievements behind a century of publishing by the oldest English-language publisher of Jewish books in the world. Includes black and white photographs and extensive listings of JPS officers and editors, governing boards, and authors, translators, and illustrators, up to 1988.