Causes Of Emigration/Immigration  (Circa 1550-1900)

D) Jews appeared in Russia at an early date; in the eighth century the ruler of the Khazars and part of his people were converted to Judaism. During the Middle Ages, as in most countries of Christendom, they were received, persecuted, and banished. Admitted into Russia proper by Peter the Great, they were expelled---to the number of 35,000---by the Empress Elizabeth in 1742.

The partition of Poland (1772-95) brought a large Jewish population under Russian sway. Readmitted by Catharine II. into Russia proper, they were further protected by Alexander I., who in 1805 and 1809 issued decrees insuring them full liberty of trade and commerce; but of the liberties which he conferred upon them they were deprived by the Emperor Nicholas. After 1835 a scheme of gradual emancipation was entertained by the Government, and was partially carried out by Nicholas I. and Alexander II. But the reaction under Alexander III., due to the influence of Pobiedonostseff, procurator of the Holy Synod, was of the direst consequences to the Jews. From the year 1881 and the promulgation of the Ignatieff law of 1882, the most restrictive measures have been piled up against them.

They have been confined to one huge ghetto, the Pale of Settlement, and since 1891 the laws have been applied with the utmost severity. The Jews have been forced out of all offices of trust and from nearly all the professions; restricted in the use of schools and universities, and have been forced to live in the direst poverty and neglect. Their only hope lies in conversion to the Orthodox faith or in emigration. Fully 800,000 have sought safety in flight, and have settled in various parts of Europe and America. Many have benefited by the munificence of Baron Maurice de Hirsch, from whom the Jewish Colonization Association received many millions of dollars. The Jews are more numerous in Russia than in any other part of the world, being found mainly in those portions of the Empire which formed part of the ancient Kingdom of Poland, and the governments nearest to these territories.

Russia

" The anti-Semitic agitation which began to affect Europe about 1880 started in Russia a legal and extra-legal persecution of the Jews, which has been continued, and modified only when its severity has brought forth protests from the other civilized peoples that could not be ignored. The Jews are confined by law to the Pale of Settlement, a belt extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea, chiefly through the Polish and adjoining provinces. Successive acts have expelled them from other parts of the empire, and they can only live outside the Pale by special privilege.

Prohibited from acquiring real property, and thus prevented from becoming farmers, the Jews were forced to crowd into the towns, where they became artisans or engaged in mercantile pursuits. Great masses of them, unable to do anything in any of the fields left open to them, sank into poverty. With legal restrictions have come physical persecutions, at different times taking the form of riot and massacre. The most notable instance of this kind occurred in May, 1903, at Kishinev, the capital of the Government of Bessarabia, when more than fifty Jews were killed and the hospitals were filled with the wounded."

During the seventeenth century and the greater part of the eighteenth, however, they were much persecuted and sank into a state of great ignorance and poverty; but education---in spite of the severity and barbarism of Russian intolerance ---has, since the French Revolution, made great progress among them.

E) Frederick the Great of Prussia showed himself singularly harsh toward the Jews. All manner of taxes were laid upon them, only a certain number were allowed to reside in the country, and these were excluded both from the most honorable and the most lucrative employments. This condition was ended by the Prussian edict of toleration (1812), by which the Jews were placed almost in an equal position as citizens with other Prussians. Thereafter the tendency was to enlarge their "liberties," and the Revolution of 1848 finally gained them full emancipation, although owing to the subsequent reaction, it was slowly carried out. But a few years after the formation of the German Empire, a new kind of anti-Jewish persecution took its rise, under the name of Anti-Semitism (q.v.), and from Germany it spread to Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and France.

Anti-Semitism

" A movement based on race hatred of the Jew, due to social and economic causes, in Germany, Austria and France, and partly also to political causes in Russia. The movement has crystallized in some countries into an anti-Semitic political party. A political party organized in Berlin in 1879 sought to place Jews under political disabilities. The leaders of the party were Stocker, court preacher of Prussia and a so-called Christian Socialist; Professor Treitschke, of the University of Berlin, an historian and deputy in the Reichstag; and Dr. Duhring, author of treatises on history and philosophy. Throughout 1879 and 1880 these men, through the press, in
speeches, and in various ways, deplored the presence in Germany of an active, wealthy, and powerful people, incapable of assimilation, who are opposed to Christian civilization in all its phases. The matter was brought to a vote in the Reichstag in 1880; but that body declared itself in favor of economic and religious liberty by a decisive vote. The Anti-Semitic Party became a strong one in the Reichstag, however, in the early nineties. In France the Anti-Semitic propaganda was begun by Edward Drumont, editor of La Libre Parole,' about 1882, and was carried on until the movement reached a climax in the "Affaire Dreyfus." See DREYFUS.

Since its organization in Germany the Anti-Semitic Party has been organized in Russia, Austria, Greece, and Holland. As the Jews in Russia are to a great extent kept out of the ordinary trades, many of them have resorted to the business of money lending, and by means of mortgages placed to secure loans they have obtained control of small landed properties. This fact, coupled with religious prejudice, caused the Anti-Semitic movement in Russia, about twenty years ago, to assume a most violent form. Laws preventing them from entering professions and from living in places other than towns and hamlets were vigorously enforced. In some cities, where a majority of the people were Jews, they were expelled without warning. The fierce persecution to which the Jews have been subjected in Russia and Rumania has caused an emigration on a vast scale to the United States."

It was started as a political move, the promoters desiring to discredit the Liberals and Socialists through the Jews. The old blood accusation has often been revived, and the Jews have been gradually forced out of all offices of public trust and of Government appointment. In the smaller German States full rights were likewise legally conceded to the Jews. The first German national assembly, held in Frankfort in 1848, contained many prominent Jewish members. In Austria, the Emperor Joseph II. distinguished himself by passing an act of toleration (1782). This act was extraordinarily liberal in its provisions for the Jews. Not till 1867, however, did they acquire the right to possess land. The anti-Semitic agitation has been exceedingly strong in Austria; and attempts have been made (1890-96) to reenact former restrictive measures, especially in Vienna, where an anti-Semitic Board of Aldermen existed for many years.

 In Hungary the Jews, who had long enjoyed important privileges, and who had been protected by the nobility, were emancipated at the time of the Revolution of 1848, in which they were patriotic to a man. In that kingdom they are on an absolute equality with the Christians. The Jews have lived in Rumania (Moldavia, Wallachia) since the thirteenth century. They have not fared better there than in other parts of Europe. The severest persecution came over them during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In spite of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), the Government refused to naturalize the Jews, and has gradually forced them out of all but a few employments and driven them altogether from the schools. The financial and economic crisis of 1899 and 1900 made the lot of Rumanian Jews unbearable and they have been forced to leave the country in large numbers. Spain began to tolerate the Jews again in 1837, and they can follow trade or agriculture like other Spaniards; but few Jews have as yet cared to venture back to a land that is filled with mournful recollections.

F) Portugal has about 400 Jews, and the Jewish religion is legally tolerated there. Switzerland long treated them harshly, but while they now enjoy full personal liberty in all cantons, popular ill-will has interfered with the exercise of some of their religious observances. In Denmark, since 1814, they have been on a footing of equality as citizens with native Danes. In Sweden they did not obtain admission till 1776, and then only into Stockholm and three other towns. Citizenship is still conferred as a favor. Norway forbade them to touch its soil till 1860.

G) In Turkey they are very numerous. The communities in Constantinople, Adrianople, Smyrna, Aleppo, and Damascus are considerable. Saloniki is almost a Jewish city. In Palestine, their ancient home, they are rapidly increasing. The city of Jerusalem had in 1900 a Jewish population estimated at 41,000, and agricultural colonies have been established in various parts of the land. But, in spite of the efforts on the part of their European brothers to ameliorate their condition, most of them are very poor. Their numbers in Arabia are not very large, yet they enjoy some independence. Those in Persia have sunk into ignorance through oppression and the general sluggishness prevailing in that country. They are found in Afghanistan, and carry on trade between Kabul and China; in various parts of India, where they are both agriculturists and artisans; in Bokhara, where they possess equal rights with the other inhabitants, and are skilled in the manufacture of silks and metals; in Tartary and China, where, however, they are very
insignificant, both in numbers and position. There are flourishing communities in the English and Dutch settlements in the south of Africa. They are also found all along the North African coast where, indeed, they have had communities for perhaps more than a thousand years, which were largely reinforced in consequence of the great Spanish persecutions. They are especially numerous in Fez and Morocco, though they are not always free from the perils of Mohammedan fanaticism.

H) Jews at an early date settled on the American continent, exiled from Spain and Portugal, or taking part in the Dutch and English enterprises in the New World. In the sixteenth century we find some in Brazil, whither they had been sent in company with convicts. In 1642 a large number of Portuguese Jews came from Amsterdam and settled in Pernambuco and Surinam. From here they spread to Guadeloupe, Cayenne, and Curacao. The strong arm of the Inquisition was also felt in Brazil, and many were compelled to comport themselves as Christians (Maranos), or to emigrate to the West Indies. There were Jews in New Amsterdam as early as 1652; others came from Brazil in 1654. They were not heartily welcomed, and therefore betook themselves to Newport and Providence.

 The Newport congregation was strengthened by fresh arrivals from Lisbon (1755) and Curacao. At the end of the seventeenth century there were some Jews in Maryland. Pennsylvania, Georgia, and the Carolinas were the next places of settlement. This was during the first half of the eighteenth century. During the struggle for independence, the Jews attached themselves to the nation under whose wing they had thus found protection. There were nine Jewish signers of the Non-Importation resolution drawn up in Philadelphia in 1768. Jews were in the Charlestown regiment of militia, and three Jews served on the staff of De Kalb. Haym Solomon enjoyed an enviable reputation as one who aided the Continental Cong ress with his money. Forty-four Jews figured in the War of 1812, fifty-eight in the Mexican War, and in the War of the Rebellion they were to be found in large numbers both on the Northern and Southern sides.

During the nineteenth century the Jews spread over the whole extent of the United States, and important congregations have also grown up in the larger cities of Canada. From 1830 to 1870 the immigration came largely from the Southern States of Germany and Hungary. The riots and persecutions in Russia have driven hundreds of thousands of Jews to the United States. To these have been added large numbers from Galicia and Rumania, who have for the most part settled in the large business centres; though efforts have been made to found agricultural colonies for them in Delaware, New Jersey, the Dakotas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and also in Argentina.

I) The arrival of large numbers of Jews from Russia and Rumania has made necessary the founding of manual training and technical schools, in which the rising generation may be taught handicrafts, from which they have largely been excluded by legislation in Eastern Europe. Such schools exist in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities, and have been fostered especially by the Baron de Hirsch Fund. A remarkable development in modern Jewish life is that of the Zionist movement. In a measure it is the continuation of the old Jewish hope of restoration to the land of Palestine. It is also the Jewish answer to anti-Semitism. Its object is to found a secure and legal home for the oppressed Jews in Palestine.

J) About the middle of the nineteenth century, when Jews were scattered in out-of-the-way places, a number of orders similar to that of the Free Masons were called into being. The "B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant'), founded in the United States in 1843, in 1901 had 315 lodges in America and a few in Germany, Rumania, Austria, Algeria, Bulgaria and Egypt. Other similar societies are the Sons of Benjamin, the Free Sons of Israel, and the Free Sons of Judah. As the number of Jews in the United States increased, extensive calls were made upon the Jews already domiciled here to provide adequately for their more unfortunate brethren.

There were in 1902 fifteen homes for orphans in the United States, twelve homes for the aged, and nine hospitals. In 1889 Rabbi Gustav Gottheil organized the first Sisterhood for Personal Service, in connection with the Temple Emanu-El, in New York City. Since then such societies, in which the work is done by the women of the congregation, have become attached to nearly every important synagogue in the land. In most of the cities the work of the Jewish charities has been organized, so that one central body directs it in a large measure--the United Hebrew Charities of the City of New York.

K) No account of Jewish charitable endeavor during the nineteenth century would be complete without the particular mention of Baron and Baroness de Hirsch, who bequeathed three hundred million francs for the purpose of aiding the oppressed Jews of Eastern Europe. This fund is in the hands of a private corporation composed of a few trustees, and has its seat in Paris. It has spent vast sums in colonizing some five thousand Jews in the Argentine Republic; it assists colonization in Canada, and has recently taken over the Jewish colonies established by Edmund de Rothschild in Palestine; it also maintains schools and homes in several American cities to which the Russian Jews have emigrated.