A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, and the Birth of Religious Freedom

by Adam Jortner

A new history that centers Judaism at the dawn of the United States

Jews played a critical role both in winning the American Revolution--fighting for the Patriot cause from Bunker Hill to Yorktown--and in defining the republic that was created from it. As the most visible non-Christian religion, Judaism was central to the debate over religious freedom in America at a critical juncture. During the war every city with a synagogue fell to the British-with the exception of Philadelphia, birthplace to the Declaration of Independence and a core of resistance. Jewish patriots throughout the colonies flocked to the city, where they re-founded the local synagogue as a distinctively American organization. After the war, Jews began to press for full citizenship in the hope that liberty would apply to everyone, and that the limits to freedom imposed on Jews in the Old World would be removed in the New.

As Adam Jortner shows in this eye-opening account, the decision to extend citizenship to all religions was not a twentieth-century phenomenon prompted by immigration and Supreme Court rulings, but a debate the Founding generation itself had had-unambiguously deciding against the idea of nation defined exclusively by Christianity. Instead, the Founders, Jewish patriots, and their allies, sought and achieved the broadest possible definition of religious liberty, and the separation of church and state. A Promised Land sheds new light on this key struggle in early America and the driving forces behind it.

Genres: History, Jewish, American History, Religion, Nonfiction, Politics, Judaism

344 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2024

About the author

Adam Jortner studies the transformation of religious and political life in the early United States. His book, The Gods of Prophetstown: The Battle of Tippecanoe and the Holy War for the American Frontier, examines the rise of the Shawnee Prophet Tenskwatawa and his new religion on the Indiana frontier in the 1800s. Jortner argues that Tenskwatawa’s religious vision created a new definition of community and power that ultimately coalesced into a viable political alternative for Native Americans in the Old Northwest. The book follows the creation of this movement and its fraught relationship with the new United States and Indiana’s ambitious territorial governor, William Henry Harrison. The relationship between the two men ultimately shaped the War of 1812 and the fate of the American frontier. Gods won the 2013 James Broussard Best First Book Prize from the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).

His current research interests include new religions in the early republic, deism, witchcraft, the decline of magic, and Native American prophets; he currently teaches classes on American religion, politics, and the Age of Jefferson. He is working on a manuscript on the politics of miracles in the early republic.

Dr. Jortner has received fellowships from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Kentucky Historical Society, and the Redd Center for Western Studies.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

In depth examination of Jewish patriots during the Revolutionary period of our nation’s history. Their struggle to become full fledged citizens is deeply explored by Jortner. He puts the lie to the belief that the US is a Christian nation. In fact, the desire to separate church from state is evident in the Constitutional Convention, the development of the Bill of Rights and in the statements of many of the thought leaders of the day.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This almost tops my list of best books have read in the past year or so. It is a "meaty" read; it takes concentration, but the reward was worth the effort. Colonial America, because individuals had to fight to get away from Britain's yoke and European religious mores, meant that people of all persuasions had fought in the American Revolution. This provided person of all sects with a feeling of freedom to be citizens and propose how their government and their religious affiliations could be choices.

Some of the Jews who were patriots who had fought for freedoms figured since they had chosen their constitution, they should also choose what to believe and how to conduct their religious ceremonies. This book is an in-depth story, first of whom the Jewish patriots were and second of how they created synagogues and choose less structured forms of worship, not always needing a fully trained rabbi. These men began after the revolution to help with drafting the constitution, always pushing for government to be separate from religion. They pushed very consistently to allow government oaths for citizenship to be oaths which let there be freedom "under God" but not including Christ or Christianity.

This is a history which most of us know nothing about. I think this history should be spread into school systems so that people grow up understanding how we got the government we have and why it is important to continue a fight for it.

The book begins with stories of specific patriots, tells about how few there were but how important their contributions were toward our final form of government, and separation of state. It ends with a look at how those who were not white as the Jews were, experienced as awful a time getting the same freedoms to become citizens as the Jews had battled.

[Fred Schreiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was well-researched, but I found it became very tedious to read because of all the minutiae pertaining to the people in the book, so I quit reading it. One of the main themes running through the book was the rampant antisemitism pervading colonial and postrevolutionary American life and politics. The author mentioned the reason Jews ended up in North America was due to expulsion from Spain and Portugal, but he never put his finger on why they were hated. He never mentioned that antisemitism was invented by christianity, then taught, then spread, then put into effect, and it's alive and well today because of that religion. He also used the term "Old Testament", but in my opinion, that is a term used to disparage the Jewish bible in favor of the "new" one, and I would never use the former term to refer to the Jewish bible. The ancient Jewish scribes never wrote a book entitled "The Old Testament".

[Marklutherlawoffice · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about early American Jews-who came from the Caribbean in the late 17th century and how they thrived in America. However, at the time of the American Revolution many colonies and later states did not give freedom to Jews to hold public office (Maryland in particular). This book delves into the part American Jews helped in the Revolution-not just as financiers but also as soldiers. The book also describes the efforts of American Jews to change laws allowing not only religious freedom but also the right to hold public office. The book also covers American Jews marginally involved in the slave trade and also issues about intermarriage and conversion.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads]

Stopping around 20% for now, and will hopefully come back and read on audio once it's published. Don't have the brain space for a scholarly print book right now. It's good so far though!

[Yusei158 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really good. Writing is excellent

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of detail

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took 10 years for the author to put this book together and it is 259 pages so it dense and and as book from Oxford publishing it is typically packed with resources. It is not a dry work(stuffed with interesting facts and quotes from the time, even some funny commentary from the author) but every page is going to take some effort to digest. It is stuffed with detail on the pre and post Revolution colonial periods. The Revolution threw up into the air the idea of religious freedom from the state. The tolerance for other religions was contested but when the Jewish leaders pushed back, they found that most agreed with the Founders that the most important question is that if you are a good citizen and if so, then religious background is not important. Jewish leaders really did a lot of heavy lifting to make freedom from religion an actual practice for the nation.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and interesting. Maybe 1-2 chapters longer than it needed to be, but I learned a lot.

[Saba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and informative. More easily digestible than other scholarly works.

[Lou Chodosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched ; Definitely worth reading for anyone interested in early America , and how religious liberty developed. Highly recommended.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

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