“Atlantic Jewish History: A Conceptual Reorientation”

This chapter explores the radical implications of an Atlantic perspective on American Jewish history, based on an analysis of select primary sources from The Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica, housed at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Such an Atlantic perspective allows us to revise the national interpretation of “American” Jewish history, commonly taken to mean the United States, reminding us of its plural hemispheric meaning (Americas) and allowing us to envision an Atlantic Jewish world connecting four continents: Europe, Africa, South and North America. Adopting a chronological-thematic approach, this chapter identifies three key areas for analysis: “Portuguese Jewish hegemony”; “slavery”; and “the triad of privileges, disabilities, and Emancipation.