Spring Break Summary and Opinion of Sources

While searching for sources on the internet, I found a concise and informative text called Unites States Jewry, 1776-1985, Volume 3. Though I presumed it would provide insipid reading material, I read through 10 pages of it, and happened to find exceedingly fascinating and pertinent information within the book. A particular chapter described the political and economical advances by Jews in the United States from 1860- 1920, specifically. The writing manner in which the historical facts was written indeed captivated my interest and allowed me to obtain much more information about the topic.
Jews started to desire political authority in the early history of the US, even going so far as to request the positions of postmaster general or charge d'affairs, both of which positions were achieved by Jews in 1778 and 1843, respectively. After the end of the Civil War, those affiliated with this religion were allowed involvement in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. David Levy (who's last name was alternately Yulee due to problems with his blatantly Jewish last name and the discrimination his family received because of it) was in fact the first Jewish man to represent a state (Florida) in the Senate in 1841. Another similarly notable Jewish politician was Judah P. Benjamin, he was largely more successful as a senator than previous and later government officials of the same faith. However, Yulee was indeed instrumental in the development of a railroad from the Atlantic to the Gulf, through the latter of Mexico. He was greatly involved in the completion and success of the railroad. despite his achievements, he was not in fact a very active member of the Jewish community, and was even rumored to have converted to Christianity due to the fact he was buried by an Evangelical. His brother was a Swedenborgenist, a radical Christian sect that believes in Jesus Christ as the only true representation of God. Nonetheless, he was of Jewish heritage, starting a series of American Jewish politicians who were in fact religious and practiced their faith openly and piously. The religious facet also relates to another aspect of American Jewish life: that of discrimination, or as it is colloquially called, "Judeophobia".  It was reinforced by the Immigration Act of 1921, which was an emergency law of Congress (due to rising tensions with Americans and both Japanese and Eastern Europeans) that states the amount of people moving from any nation to America could not exceed the amount of three percent of the given nation's population. Only 357,000 people in total were allowed to immigrate to the US. In addition, antisemitism was formed through not only fundamentalist Christian values, but also by the fact most Jews were wealthy and others resented them for their success and prosperity.  As regards to culture, the dilution of both the culture and religion of the Jews occurred, and measures were acted upon to reverse this process of receding their faith. One such measure was the Jewish Chautauqua Society, an organization formed for the purpose of preserving Judaism for those living in America. It was formed by Rev. Dr. Henry Berkowitz, and was used to distribute Jewish literature among those who made effort to still carry on their culture. Another interesting aspect of their society was music. The well known composer Arthur Rubenstein moved to America in 1946, and not only was he influenced by those well known musicians such as Chopin, but also by the klezmer music of New York Jewish society. Jews also started music publishing companies, and produced music with Yiddish lyrics. The cultivation of such arts in the American Jewish affiliation was therefore further developed, causing greater deviation from their original Eastern European heritage.
I have enjoyed researching this topic greatly, learning a great deal more about my Jewish predecessors. I had very little knowledge of anything beyond my own synagogue, as regards to the American population. Much concentration is put upon the importance of Eastern European Jews, but not nearly as much upon those who immigrated to America in the late 1800s. I have always been fascinated about how they adapted and changed the culture, and managed to remain faithful to their faith through the hardships of segregation and antisemitism. Through the valuable and educational resources I used, I learned many facts about Jewish roles in American politics, society, and the arts. It was not only engaging, but I also found myself absorbing the information due to my excessive interest in the topic. I am looking forward to reading more about this culture that affects my own life, and acquiring more information regarding the fascinating history of American Jews.

Possible Research Topic

I, like most high school students, have been taking a U.S. history class for numerous semesters this year. I, also like most high school students, must research a topic that interests me, at least in an academic context. I find that one of the central themes of this class is to establish connections between central themes of events during the history of your relatively new nation. I will investigate central themes such as the development of society and culture as relates to the ideas of our founding fathers, as well as the effects of industrialization and urbanization. I will, to my best ability, attempt to make this topic interesting, through both visual aids and dry humor scattered throughout my amateurish interpretations of the texts and given materials of study. 

Numerous topics had called for my attention while I gave a cursory glance over the topic list. Namely among them was that of Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. I dare claim to be an avid connoisseur of literature, especially that which relates to an important historical event. The Harlem Renaissance describes a time that begun in the 1910s, in which African Americans underwent an important cultural revolution in cities such as Chicago, New York, and Cleveland. They composed important works of music and theater, such as Torrence's Three Plays for a Negro Theater attempted to produce awareness of racism and prevent segregative ideals that were prevalent in society between the 1910 and 1920 era. The writer Langston Hughes was a revolutionary of the Harlem Renaissance, producing novels, poems, and plays during his lifetime. He utilized the new technique of "jazz poetry" to add a modern and innovative style to his works. "Jazz poetry" describes a style of prose that not only references jazz musicians and compositions, but also is written with a rhythm similar to that heard in the aforementioned music. I am interested in researching both the Harlem Renaissance and the works of Langston Hughes because not only am I interested in the music and liberal arts revolution in America, but also I find the advancement and development of black rights an engaging and pertinent topic, due to cultural situations such as terrorism and segregation that are still prevalent today.

Another topic that captured my attention was Jewish immigration into America, specifically between the early 1920s through 1930s. My interest in this subject was generated by my own Jewish roots, and I realized while studying the origins of my religious heritage, that I didn't know much about American Jews.
Many Jews immigrated in the early 1900s to places such as New York, where they gained jobs in business and banking, earning stereotypes as money lenders among other Americans. There were 270 synagogues in the USA by 1880, due to the mass movement of Jewish people from pogroms in Eastern Europe. A particular aspect of this topic that interested me was that of literature among Jewish communities in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Most of these books and literary works were written in Yiddish, the language that is an amalgamation of Hebrew and German, used colloquially among Jewish communities. Chaim Potok was a renowned author who I will be interested in further researching. Early Jewish culture is also an intriguing aspect of this historical era.
Though I am still undecided about which topic I will choose, I will continue to research each of them until I have come to a decision about which interests me more. I am exceedingly inspired to continue this project, and am looking forward to furthering my knowledge on the topic I choose for this assignment.