Image via Wikipedia
From the start, the immigration of Jews to the United States marked an important new direction for a people who, with few exceptions, had been persecuted throughout their history. It also set the stage for remarkable prosperity and growth for the Jewish people.
The first Jewish colony in the New World was established in Recif, Brazil in 1642. Seven years later, in 1649, the first Jew – Soloman Franco – immigrated to Boston from Spain via Holland. While he was initially unwelcomed, the matter was resolved and he stayed. In 1654, a group of 23 Sephardic Jews immigrated from Dutch Brazil to New Amsterdam (now New York City). By 1776 there were 2,500 Jews living in the colonies.
The first significant wave of Jewish immigrants began in 1826. German Jews began entering the United States and by 1850 the Jewish population had risen from 6,000 to 50,000. Ten years later the population was 150,000. Most of this first wave were middle class professional and businessmen. The second and largest wave of European Jews began in 1881 and lasted until 1924. During this period, one third of Europe’s Jewish population immigrated to the US, swelling this population from 250,000 in 1881 to 4.5 million in 1924. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 placed restrictions on the number of immigrants and dramatically slowed the influx of Jews through the end of World War II. The population of Jews peaked in 1937 at 3.7 percent.
Jewish immigrants brought with them the skills and talents that had allowed them to survive elsewhere – along with the drive to be succesful in business, academia and politics.
