The Avalanche of Jew-Hatred
Exported From the Rest of the World to America
Anti-Semitism - not just a distrust of someone who follows a different cultural form, but active dislike/hate/desire to see Dead, Dead, Dead, is not an inherent part of the American Culture.
In the early days of the American colonies, Jews were relatively rare. At that time, and into the Revolution and for some time beyond, few Americans were all that fervent about religion.
Many described themselves as ‘Deists’ - those having a vague belief in some sort of Creator Force, but not necessarily a believer in the Divinity of Christ. Yes, those so believing were often among the Elite of the early days of this country.
The Quakers in Pennsylvania held non-orthodox ideas about God, Christ, and religion in general. It was for their refusal to fall in line with relatively standard Christian thinking that they were hounded out of England. Well, that, and their prickly insistence on opposing the authority of the state, if they felt that those secular mandates violated their beliefs.
So, too, others who were considered apostates by countries having a National Religion, migrated to America. Sects multiplied, many followed no religion and took advantage of the hands-off policies of government to belong to no church. Some, perhaps a sizeable minority, were completely ignorant of any church teaching. The Puritan fervor had peaked, the Quakers didn’t move far from their original location in Pennsylvania, and few churches had been built on the frontier.
The Great Awakening(s) changed that apathy.
The first, in the 1730s-1740s, brought a religious fervor to a largely unchurched people. It started with a series of revivals, that sparked Evangelism in America.
When Evangelism became a powerhouse in America, anyone not catching ‘the fever and the fervor’ was left outside of the mainstream culture - which excluded Catholics, those groups considered ‘non-Biblical’, and, yes, Jews.
Catholics had already built a strong network through the dioceses. Many of the Dissenters from Bible-Only Scripture had built resources in a restricted geographical setup.
Which left the Jews isolated. There were few synagogues, little accommodation to their Sabbath beliefs (until mid-20th century, so-called Blue Laws, that shut down non-essential commerce on Sundays, were common), and little resources for study of the Talmud, outside of the major East Coast cities.
Little wonder that intermarriage and conversion reduced the number of practicing Jews in America.
But, until the unrestricted immigration from Central Europe during the 19th century, active hostility was not common. The major cities, where the Jewish population was concentrated, experienced the greatest increase in Anti-Semitism. That influx of Jewish immigration followed closely the 2nd Great Awakening.
Still, open violence against Jews was rare, even then, and not much more common that that against other ethnic groups in crowded cities. Most of the outbreaks were from other immigrant groups - Catholics (Polish, Italian, etc.), Protestants (Germans, Scandanavians), and even other Jews.
Today, outside of specific groups - mostly Muslim - open Anti-Semitism is rare.
This is an unsettling development, and has some disturbing implications for national policy vis-a-vis Jews and Israel. If the Federal government continues to employ graduates from the same schools that inculcate this bigotry, Anti-Semitism may become even more entrenched that it currently is.