They Came for Good - A History of the Jews in the United States - Present at the Creation, 1654-1820

The second in a series of the History of the Jews coming to US. I bought this for one of the troops I support. He had requested it and I was glad to find it.

They Came for Good, a history of the Jews from 1654 to 1820 in the United States, is an important documentary. I appreciate all of the research that was done to produce this DVD. I will definitely recommend it to others.

This hour-long video is the first part of a two-disc series on the history of Jews in the United States. This part covers the period from 1654, when the first Jews arrived in North America, to 1820, the beginning of the massive wave of Jewish immigration from Germany and Central Europe. (The second part, "Taking Root," covers the period from 1820 to 1880.) Both parts are informative and interesting.

One complaint: Like another reviewer, I found it strange that the film refers to North America prior to European colonization as "empty" and "unexplored." Also, one commentator in the film says that "there was very little anti-slavery sentiment in the colonies," but I imagine there was plenty of anti-slavery sentiment among the slaves, who constituted something like fifteen percent of the population by the time of the Revolution.

Chapter titles:
- 23 Brazilian Jews land on Manhattan
- Asher Levy fights for equal rights
- First Jewish synagogue built in 1720
- Rhode Island welcomes Jewish settlers
- Jews and the Revolutionary War
- Influence of Mordecai Manuel Noah
- Rebecca Gratz's life of public service
- Uriah Levy versus the U.S. Navy
- Next exodus of European Jews begins

Another good video on Judaism in the U.S. is "A Life Apart: Hasidism in America." And an excellent book on the history of Judaism in the U.S. is Jonathan Sarna's "American Judaism: A History."

This documentary is filled with lots of good information and many interesting stories. I learned much from it. However, at one point, the narrator refers to North America at the time of European colonization as an "Empty Continent". Such a gaff calls into question the perspective of the entire program. In describing the oppression of the Jewish people and their struggle to overcome it, the program does an immense disservice to that struggle by implicitly denying the oppression of another people - an oppression that all Europeans contributed to.

A documentary of the Jewish history during and after the creation of the United states of America.

It speaks about the role of the Jews in the American life and history.

Whether during the constitution or civil war they were always there as American Jews. Soldiers ,philosphers ,lawyers and economists .

A worth watching tape.