The Denver Jewish news., 1921-09-28
Jews Play Important Part in.
American History
Have Participated Actively in Every Struggle for
the Welfare of this Country First White
Man in America Jew. First Jewish
Settler Arrived in 1921
BY David Philipson. d. d.

landing of the Jews in this country
directed public attention to the fact,
unknown to many, that Jews are
among the Oldest elements of the pop
ulatiOn in our various States. For
some years previous to that celebration
n small band of students, thru the
stimulus of the American Jewish His.
torical Society. had by painstaking in.
yestigatiOns into past records and doc.
uments brOughC to light much interest
ing material concerning the history of
the Jews in America. This knowledge
has remained the possession OF n rath-
er small circle. The object of this
tract is to make this information
available to larger public by giving
in as brief form as possible some sal
lent facts of the settlement and the
public activity of Jews in the United
States.
From these facts it will appear that
in length of residence and active par
ticipatiOn in every strugglc for the
welfare of the country, the story of
the Jew in America equals in inter-
est that of any other religious denom-
inatiOn. From these same facts it
will appear further thao the Jew in
the United States is American to the
citizens of every faith and opinion,
who understand the principles upon
which our Ameican institutions rest,
into the true spirit of this govern
ment, which lin the words written
by George Washington. in answer to
a congratulatOry address directed to
him by the Jewish congregation OF
Newport, Il. I.) gives to bigotry no
sanction, to persecution no assistance.
and requires only that those who live
under its protection shall dcmcan
themselves as good citizens in giving
II on all occasions their cffectual sup
port" But these facts spcaS for
themselves. and are in themselves so
significant that they merely require
statement to make clear the cOnclus-
ions to which they point and the les
cons which they embody.
Jews Make Columbus Voyage Possible
Jews were instrumental in making
the voyage OF Columbus possible. Ne
gotiatlOns between the navigator and
Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and
Queen of Spain, had been suspended
when the Jewish favorite of Ferdin-
and. Luis de Santangel. Chancellor of
the royal household of Aragon. induc-
ed them to lend favorable contribu-
,ion once. again to the appeal of Col
umbus. He himself advanced 1000
d,lcats out of his own fortune. for
which he would not accept interest.
towards fitting out Columbus first eN-
peditiOn. The discovery of this fact
has destroyed the century-Old legend
that Queen isabella pnwncd her jew
els to secure the money for the equip
ment of the expedition of Columbus.
and led the late Prof. Herbert B.
Adams. OF the Johns Hopkins Uni
versity, to coin the epigram that mot
Jewels. but Jews" were the real 'finan-
cial basis for the first expedition of
Columbus. II was undoubtedly be-
cause OF the assistance given him by
Santangel that Columbus wrote him
the first detailed account of his voy-
age. This was in the form of u letter
written by Columbus on February 10,
1893, from the Azores, where the navi-
cato stopped on his hOmeward voy-
age.
a kinsman of Santangel. Gabriel
Sanchez, is also mentioned in connec'
tion with this matter of furnishing
financial aid for the expedition. It
was, without doubt, in recognition of
his obligation to Sanchez also that
Columbus addressed to him from Lis
bon similar letter des --iDing his dis
coveries. Sanchez published this let
ter in Barcelona.
Jews was First European in America
The first European who set foot on
American soil was n Jew by birth.
Luis de Torres, the interpreter of ne
expedition of Columbus. He settled
in Cuba and lived there the remand
er OF his life. He was the first Eu-
ropean to discover the use of tobac-
co.
DIR. NJ. Kayserling. who pointed QUE
these facts in his book, Christopher
Cdlumtnis and the Participation of
the Jews in the Spanish and Portu-
guese Discoveries" mentions n num-
Der of other persons of Jewish des-
cent among those who sailed with
Columbus on his epoch-making voyage,
viz. Alonzo de la Gale, Rodrigo Sam
che. aud Maestro Bernal, the ships
surgeon.
There is also an indirect cOnnec-
don between the Jews aud the sec
ond expedition of Columbus. One Of