Landmark Assignment History Essay Research Coursework

Landmark Assignment
Student’s Name:
Student’s Number:
Institution:
Introduction
Jews in New York account for roughly 13% of the whole population. The numbers make the them the vastest population outside of Israel. According to the statistics of 2014, 1.1 million of them are scattered in the city, and 2 million reside in the overall state of New York. The migration of the Jews to the United States kicked off after the initial encampment in New Amsterdam, in 1654. To be specific, the movement was massive in the later parts of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when they grew in size from approximately 80,000 in 1880 to 1.5 million in 1920. The establishment of the Jewish community in New York City greatly affected the culture of the indigenous Americans. This document assesses the history of the Jews in New York, then describes the Lower East Side, the group’s most important location in the city.
History
1654-1881
Jacob Barsimson pioneered the settlement of the Jews in New York. He arrived in August of 1654. In September, a large mass of Jews came searching for refuge in New York from Recife, Brazil (Oppenheim, 2016). The refugees settled in the then colony of New Amsterdam, where they faced a backlash from the natives and Governor Peter Stuyvesant, who died shortly after their arrival. In 1654, the British colonialists conquered New Amsterdam and found Asser Levy, the only Jew left in New York until 1680, when his relatives arrived. In 1682, the Jews built the Sephardi Congregation Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in the city (Levenson, 2014). Although the building did not gain recognition until 1730, and the fact that the Ashkenazim outnumbered the Sephardim in 1720, Jewish customs were maintained. By 1825, there were notably many members of the Ashkenazim tribe, who built other synagogues; B’nai Jerusalem, Congregation Shaare Zedek in 1839, and the Congregation Emanu-El of New York in 1845.
1881-1945
The most significant wave of Jewish migration into the United States occurred for 36 years, starting in 1881. Following the assassination of Alexander II of Russia, many of the Russians blamed the Jews. The citizens, assisted by the government, created and passed laws that banned Jews in the country, resulting in more than 2 million of them leaving the country for the United States (Bloch, 2012). Of the total population, more than 1.2 million settled in New York. The Eastern Ashkenazi Jews set up their buildings and businesses in the city in order to retain their culture, language, and religion. Moreover, Levenson (2014) states that since New York was renowned for publishing, the Jews published “Foverts" in and several other newspapers in 1897. Although the immigrants were young, they were experienced in making clothes and trade, which rendered New York City, one of the best in the country. Also, when the German Jews arrived, they headed for Manhattan, away from the rest. Apart from clothing, the Jews worked in factories, and to this date, most of them belong to the upper social class of the Jews in New York.
Landmark Site
The Lower East Side
The Lower East Side is a place in Manhattan, one of the boroughs of New York City. The place was initially...