All references are in The Secret Relationship Between Blacks
and Jews
Moseh Hamis, a Jew residing in Barbados, prepared
a will in Portuguese dated March 26, 1684, in which he and his wife directed that 2,000 lbs. of sugar be paid after their
death to his son Simon Massiah "to help in the purchase of a young negress."
-
It
is my last wish that our slaves named Consciencia continue serving my said Wife all her life, & if she serves her faithfully,
& with love and due respect as if I had been living, I desire & direct that on the death of my said wife she shall
become free, without any person or persons, heirs of myself or my wife, having the right to keep her captive; this being a
reward for her good service to me, and as I hope to my wife.
Isaac Harby (1788-1828) was a Charleston, South
Carolina, dramatist and political essayist and president of the Reform Society of Israelites. He regularly wrote in opposition
to "the abolitionist society and its secret branches," as early as 1824. He edited the Quiver,
the Investigator, and the Southern Patriot, and contributed to the Mercury and the Courier.
Aaron Hart, in his will of 1762, bequeathed to his
servant, "a mourning gown."
Ephraim Hart (1747-1825), a wealthy New York stockbroker,
land speculator and state senator (in 1810), enslaved at least one Black woman named "Silvia." He was an official of Congregation
Shearith Israel, and founder of its burial society Hebra Hesed ve Emet, as well as a member of the Philadelphia Synagogue.
Henry Hart, a "Jew Tailor" of Arundel County, Maryland,
was accused in 1752 of an illicit relationship with a maid. He was sentenced to serve a man named McNamara for six months
"for the Damage Sustained...on Acct. of the said Henry Hart begetting a Bastard child on the body of Susanna Talome, a Servant
belonging to the said McNamara."
Isaac Hart (d. 1780) was a founder and member of
Newport's Touro Synagogue. His firm, Naphtali Hart & Co., shipped and traded in Black slaves and cultivated their New
England property with hired hands and slaves. He sided with and supplied the British during the Revolutionary War and was
shot to death by the Continental army.
Jacob Hart (b. 1781) came to New Orleans from New
York in 1804 and traded in slave ships and African people. In 1808, Hart advertised in Saint Dominigue for the sale of three
Black people, including a cook, two fisherman and a tailor who spoke English and French fluently. In 1810, he bought two Africans
in Florida. The 1820 census reports that he imprisoned seven African people as slaves. He became the owner of a number of
vessels, including the schooner Celestine, and he brokered the sale of four African citizens. At
the time of his bankruptcy in 1823, he held fourteen Black hostages.
Levy Hart owned a general merchandise business firm
in Savannah, Georgia, in the early 1800s. "Unlucky in 'chattel,' he was exasperated by a very valuable slave, Sandy, who functioned
as a butcher, and was prone to 'take off' now and again."
Michael Hart (d. 1813), an Easton, Pennsylvania,
Indian trader, "never acquired wealth" but he owned a stone house, collected some silverplate, owned a slave and sold whiskey
to the Indians "in hundreds of gallons."
Though Michael Hart (d. 1861) was from New York,
he owned a Virginia plantation. When he feared that Richmond would be taken by the Union Army in the Civil War, his son escaped
with "most of the slaves belonging to the estate."
Moses Hart, son of Aaron,
was sent to Albany in 1786, where his mother:
-
wanted
him to buy a good Negro wench for houseworke [because the] last one had died -- and if the price was right [his] father wanted
a Negro hand who knew something about farming, could handle an ax, and work in the garden.
Myer Hart, of Easton on the Delaware, was the richest
man in town and one of the founding fathers. In 1768, he owned "two houses, a bond servant, six lots, a horse, a cow, and
his stock in trade."
Nathan Hart, of Newport, informed the community
by newspaper advertisement on March 18, 1765, that among other things, he "also wants to purchase a negro."
Nathan Hart was the constable of Charleston in 1821,
whose job it was to punish runaway slaves. In October of 1827, he sold five slaves to Sophie Monsanto,
and he was listed as enslaving fifteen Blacks in the census of 1830.
Philip Hart (1727-1796) was a Charleston Jew with
at least one African captive named "Flora."
Samuel Hart came to Louisiana via England and by
1823 he owned half of the steamboat United States and "four Negro slaves," $20,000 in bank stock
and two lots in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a "slave mistress" named "Polly" with a "mulatto child." Hart cut them from his
will and added "Cecilia Beni," "a woman of color," and her four children, presumably all his.
David Hays (1732-1812),a farmer and storekeeper
and son of Jacob Hays, fought against the Indians in the French and Indian War. One of his Black
captives was named "Darby." The inventory of his estate, valued at $3,658.98, included the following items all valued greater
than or equal to his Black humans.
-
An
inventory of the Goods, Chattels & Effect belonging to the Estate of David Hays of the Township of Mount Pleasant,
Deceased.
-
6
Cows @ $15 $90
-
1Colt
12.50
-
1
Yoke Oxen 50
-
3
Calves @ $3.50 10.50
-
1
fat Steer 18
-
2
fat Cows @ $18 36
-
1
Bay Horse 10
-
1/2
field Rye 25
-
1/2
field Corn 15
-
1
field Corn 15
-
1
field Wheat 15
-
1
Lott Buckwheat 17.50
-
1
Windfan 12
-
10
Sheep @ $1 10
-
1
Lott wheat in the Sheaf 15
-
1
Lott Rye 15
-
1
Lott Oats 10
-
1
Lot Hay in the Barn 10
-
8
Stacks Hay @ $5 40
-
1
Mare & yearling Colt 14
-
14
Hogs @ $5 70
-
1
Ton of plaster 15.75
-
1
Waggon & Harness 25
-
4
feather beds 25
-
1
Lot silver Plate 15
-
1
Silver Watch 20
-
1
Black Girl 10
-
1
Black Woman 10
Grace Hays (d. 1740) conveyed in her will, "fifty
ounces of sterling wrought silver plate and the best negro slave which I should be possessed of..."
Judah Hays (1703-1764) was a New York merchant and
shipowner who was elected constable in 1736. His Black captives were allegedly part of a foiled 1741 plot to burn the city
and escape from their Jewish captors. "Like other well-to-do men of his period," wrote Harold Korn, "he bought negroes and
the time of indentured servants. He paid £80 for a negro man named Aaron and £20 for four years' service of an indentured
boy named John Camble."
Hays had some apparent difficulties tracking his runaway slave "Sarah" when
he ran this ad in February of 1751:
-
Run
away last Sunday night, from Judah Hays, a Negroe wench, named Sarah, aged about 30 years; she is a likely wench, of a Mulatto
complexion, was brought up at Amboy, in Col. Hamilton's family, and has had several Masters in the Jerseys: She dresses very
well, has a good parcel of cloaths, and speaks good English. Whoever takes up the said wench, and brings her to her said master,
or secures her in any county goal, so that he may have her again, shall receive Forty Shillings reward, and reasonable charges.
Whoever entertains said wench, shall be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law. All masters of vessels, boat-men, &c.
are forewarned of conveying said wench away, as they shall answer the same. Judah Hays
-
N.B.
Said wench has robb'd her said master, in apparel, &c. upwards of Fifty Pounds.
And this one in May of 1751:
-
Whereas
the subscriber hereof, has great reason to apprehend that his Negroe wench Sarah, formerly advertised in this paper, has been
and is now harboured and concealed by some white person in this town; this is to give publick notice, that whoever brings
said wench to me, or has her confined in goal, shall immediately receive from me Five Pounds as a reward: And farther, that
whoever will give information upon oath, who it is that harbours and detains said Negroe wench, shall have Ten Pounds reward.
-
N.B.
All masters of vessels, boatmen and others, are cautioned against taking said wench on board, as she has lately been seen
in sailors dress. Judah Hays.
All references are in the publication: "The Secret Relationsip Between Blacks
and Jews".
Samuel Hays (1764-1838) of Philadelphia was a slave
owner and active Mason who is remembered as a humanitarian because he arranged to have his slaves liberated. He reserved the
right, however, to keep them as indentured servants.
Abraham Baruch Henriques, a Portuguese Jew of Barbados,
bequeathed to his family the "liberty to sell houses, slaves or plantations..."
David Henriques was a Jamaican-Jewish slave-marketing
"specialist" in the late eighteenth century.
Manuel Dias Henriques (probably the same as Manuel Diaz Enriquez) "lived in New Spain during the early 1620s where he had been a representative of
Portuguese slave traders." He was accused of being a Jew by Inquisitional authorities in early 17th century New Spain. Though
unnamed in the historical record, his uncle was described as, "a broker or dealer in Negro slaves."
Jacob Henry held a seat in the House of Commons
of North Carolina in 1808. He was the son of Joel and Amelia Henry,
who in 1810, held ten Black African slaves. Jacob's household consisted of twelve Black hostages, according to the census
of 1810; in 1820 that number is believed to have increased to fifteen.
Isaac Hermann (1838-1917); author Jacob R. Marcus
described him as follows:
-
In
the Reconstruction period, Hermann was a leader in the movement to organize the veterans into an association whose primary
aim, it would seem, was to protect the whites against the Negro freedmen....[H]e worked to restore white supremacy and to
resist what he believed to be the encroachments of the Negroes.
Samuel Hermann was a New Orleans merchant and banker
and partner of Asher Moses Nathan, and according to census data of 1810 he enslaved four Blacks,
ten in 1820 and seventeen in 1830. His dealings in Blacks were "extensive." In 1825, he sold 16 Black Africans to various
farmers.
Solomon Heydenfeldt (1816-1890) of California gave
up his judgeship because his position automatically bound him to the Union but his sympathies were with the Confederacy. Jewish
historians have claimed that he was against slavery, and yet, contrarily, he wrote in a pamphlet of the "unjust and bitter
crusades of the Northern Abolitionists." He was a "passionate secessionist" and thought Lincoln's slave emancipation plan
of 1861 to be "tyranny." He opposed the importation of slaves into Alabama in 1849, not for any humanitarian reason, but because
of "the unproductiveness of slave labor, and its gradual, but certain, impoverishment of our State, is a sufficient reason
for limiting its farther propagation among us." He felt that when other states recognized the uneconomic character of slave
labor they would dump the freed Africans on Alabama.
Aaron Hirsch (1829-1911) was a French Jew who settled
in New Orleans and later became a resident of Mississippi and Arkansas. He was a strong Confederate who expressed the Jewish
sentiment of his time when in the 1860s he stated that:
-
the
institution of slavery as it existed in the south was not so great a wrong as people believe. The Negroes were brought here
in a savage state; they captured and ate each other in their African home. Here they were instructed to work, were civilized
and got religion, and were perfectly happy.
Hirsch spoke in favor of slavery because the plantation owners were his customers.
He owned slaves and bought and sold them in his Batesville, Arkansas, business, Hirsch & Adler. During the Civil War he
bought six Blacks and later exchanged them for a farm. He was against the proposal to free the slaves who had fought for the
Confederacy, reasoning that the war was fought to keep them enslaved.
Haham Jeossuha His advertised in the Royal
Gazette of Kingston, Jamaica, for the return of a runaway slave on December 15, 1792.
Uriah Hyam (d. 1740) was a New York merchant, member
of Shearith Israel and slave maker. He held Black people against their will and one, named "Cavandro," he bequeathed to his
son, Andrew Israel, in his 1740 will.
Henry Hyams was a staunch supporter of slavery,
Jewish leader, and lieutenant governor of Louisiana in 1859.
Samuel Hyams of Charleston had more than twenty
African hostages. As the 1822 keeper of the jail, his job was to incarcerate freedom-seeking Blacks.
Levi Hyman was a merchant and landowner who lived
at his plantation estate in St. Andrew, Jamaica, called "Hyman's Delight." In 1811, he held 32 African citizens, 46 in 1821
and 45 in 1830.
Rev. Bernard Illowy (1812-1871) of Baltimore was
a Jewish spiritual leader and vocal supporter of the American slave system. He said that the Abolitionists had "thrown the
country into a general state of confusion" and called them "ambitious aspirants and selfish politicians."
Abraham Isaacks paid a £700 debt to Nathan Simson
with "feathers, flour, cider, negro slaves and cash."
Jacob Isaacks was a Newport merchant who frequently
bought and sold Black human beings even from his home on Broad Street. One 1777 advertisement offered "Foodstuffs, pork, negro
man and woman." He placed ads in the Newport Mercury over the next seven years for the sale of
"negroes" at least five times.
Born in Germany, Isaiah Isaacs (1747-1806) was the
first Jew in Richmond, Virginia, and a founder of the Congregation Beth Shalome, a grantor of its cemetery land and a slave
driver. In 1788, he was elected to the Common Hall. He was in slave-making alliance with Jacob I. Cohen and held Black Africans
named "Lucy," "James," "Polly," "Henry" and "Rachel," and her children "Clement Washington" and "Mary." His business firm
once took a Black captive as security for a debt. Isaacs placed this advertisement in the Virginia Gazette
or American Advertiser on June 1, 1782:
-
TWENTY
DOLLARS REWARD
-
RAN
AWAY from the subscriber, living in the town of Richmond, a very likely Negro woman named MOLLY, lately the property of Mr.
Edward Busbel, of Gloucester-town; she is much pitted with the small-pox, about twenty-two years old, and about five feet
six inches high; had on when she went away, a Virginia cloth vest and petticoat, checked; she had with her a checked apron,
a callico petticoat, and a pair of leather high-heeled country made shoes. I expect she will make towards Williamsburg or
Gloucester-town, as she came from those parts a few days ago. She had four horse-locks fastened on her legs when she went
away. Whoever apprehends and delivers the said Negro to me, shall receive the above reward and reasonable charges, paid by
ISA[I]AH ISAACS.
Referring to the words of Isaacs, the great Jewish scholar Jacob R. Marcus
wrote that "the following phrases [are] redolent of the spirit of the great Virginians of [Isaacs'] generation":
-
Being
of the opinion that all men are by nature equally free, and being possessed of some of those beings who are unfortunate[ly],
doomed to slavery, as to them I must enjoin my executor a strict observance of the following clause in my will. My slaves...are
hereby manumeted and made free, so that after [30 years] they shall enjoy all the privileges and immunities of freed people....Each
one of my slaves is to receive the value of twenty dollars in clothing on the days of their manumission.
Samuel Isaacs (Isaaks), from one of the original
300 families to populate Texas (comprised of 1,800 persons and 443 slaves), was allotted "a Spanish Grant of one league (4,428.4
acres grazing land) and one labor (177.13612 acres farming land)," situated about midway between the Gulf Coast and the upriver
settlement of Washington-on-the-Brazos.
Solomon Isaacs of the New York family of that name
imported some slaves into Charlestown in 1755. In his will, probated in 1757, he left "a substantial inventory of goods, a
house, books, mahogany furniture, colored prints, silver plate, several Negro slaves -- three of whom were children -- two
horses and a chaise, and a quarter ownership of a sloop."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret Relationsip Between Blacks
and Jews".
David Israel, Jewish inhabitant of Barbados, wrote
his will in Portuguese dated May 24, 1689, "revoking all previous Wills made if it should please God to take me to a better
world I ask pardon for all my sins & that my soul may be rec'd in mercy." Then, to his wife Sarah he left "a negress named
Betty, and the use of two negresses named below to go (eventually) to my daughter Esther when 21, or on her previous marriage."
-
To
my son Isaac a male negro named Antonio....Also my two negresses Maria Ibo and Esperansa they to be delivered by my wife unto
Esther when she marries or attains 21 years....To my daur. Rahel, wife of David Judah Rodriques £25 sterling payable by executors
and 2 moreques (=negro-boys (moliques)) for my grand-daughter Ester
Zinha. To grandson Jacob son of David and Rahel Judah Rodrigues a moliques named Robin....Also
2 negroes named Vallenty and Macaco which I sent him for the service of the business.
Rabbi George Jacobs of Richmond, Virginia, held
Black hostages and rented them for a fee.
Gerrit Jacobs (d. 1754) from the Netherlands was
a storekeeper and planter with a plantation in Surinam called Nieuw Meerzorg, with 100 Black African slaves. He later ordered
that number to be increased to more than 200. To his wife Haija Sadoks, he bequeathed "ten domestic slaves," which he stipulated
could not be sold. To his stepson went "the Negro boy Present."
Israel Jacobs (c. 1741-1810) of Philadelphia held
Black hostages but was, nevertheless, well respected in his synagogue.
Jacob Jacobs of Charleston, an auctioneer, left
an estate that included ten slaves, horses, carriages, notes and bonds. He advertised in the Gazette of
the State of South-Carolina November 24, 1779:
-
Four Hundred Dollars Reward
-
RUN
away from the Subscriber, on Sunday Night last, two Negro Fellows named Hercules and Romeo, the former is about five Feet
two or three Inches high, very black, speaks good English, and had on when he went away a blue Coat and Jacket with a red
Cape, and white metal buttons: The latter is about five Feet high, of a yellowish Complexion, speaks good English, and had
on a great Coat, red Jacket and black or Osnabrugs Breeches. They both had hats, and may perhaps change their Dress, having
carried all their Cloathing with them: The above Reward will be given for the taking of the said two Negroes, and the half
for either of them. All Masters of Vessels are forbid carrying off the Negroes at their Peril.
John Jacobs, possibly a Jew, placed this advertisement
in the Virginia Gazette on February 7, 1771:
-
RUN
away from the Subscriber, in Amherst county, on or about the 5th of October last, a new Negro man slave who calls himself
CHARLES, which is every word of English he can speak, he is a black fellow, with a smooth skin, of a middle size, well made
for strength, appears to be about 18 years of age, and has a good set of teeth. He was purchased from the Yanimerew the 14th
of last September, and was one of the number judged to have had the small pox. Had on when he left me a Negro cotton Jacket
with buttons (both top and bottom) of brass, a pair of cotton breeches, very long, with flat metal buttons to the waistband,
cotton boots, and a coarse linen cap. Whoever will deliver him to me, or secure him so that I may get him again, shall receive
a reward of FIVE POUNDS; and if he is taken out of the colony and brought home to me TEN POUNDS current money.
Joseph Jacob, of Newport, ran an advertisement in
December of 1769: "Notice: Reward $3 South Hampton, Long Island runaway Indian servant."
Levy Jacobs was a New Orleans and Mobile liquor
and slave dealer who advertised to "buy and sell Negroes" in 1819. In September of 1828, he notified the public that he was
expecting about 100
-
prime,
Virginia slaves, selected expressly for this market -- among which are Ostlers, Carriage Drivers, Mechanics, Field Hands and
Cooks, House Servants, seamstresses and washer women.
As proprietor of one of the leading auctioneer houses of New Orleans, Levy
Jacobs was reported to have "paraded blacks on the slave block that was operated by Levy Jacobs and his Christian partner,
George Asbridge." When he was accused of selling Kentucky slaves and not the advertised Virginia slaves, Jacobs posted this
notice:
-
Notice
-- A report being circulated that I have for sale no other than Kentucky slaves, I beg leave to state to the public that all
the Negroes which I have on hand, and shall hereafter keep for sale are and will be Virginia born Negroes, of good character;
that the person who has stated to the contrary, with the view of injuring me, I call upon in this public manner to come forward
and support this charge if he can, or hereafter hold his peace. All Negroes sold and bought by me from traders (excepting
at my own house) will be free of commission.
-
L.
Jacobs
Manis Jacobs (c. 1782-1839) was the rabbi and president
of the New Orleans Jewish congregation Shanarai Chasset and a leading Jewish citizen, even though he held eleven Black people
as slaves. Rabbi Sharfman writes of Jacobs: "Though unordained, he felt his ability to recite Hebrew prayers qualified him.
He proudly signed his name in Hebrew on bills of sale, as a cachet or seal -- some on his transactions involving the purchase
of slaves still exist."
Samuel Jacobs, in 1761, "ordered a Negro girl from
New York -- domestic slaves were popular because hired help was scarce." Jacobs was the owner of the slave schooner Betsey.
Solomon Jacobs (1777-1827) was acting mayor of Richmond,
Virginia, in 1818-1819, president of Beth Shalome Congregation, and the first Jew to become grand master of the Masons of
Virginia. He was an agent for the French government's tobacco interests and the Richmond representative for the Rothschild
banking house. He owned a slave named "Esther," and when he died his tombstone epitaph read:
-
Fond
as a Husband. Indulgent as a Father. Kind as a Master...
His widow, Hetty, then successfully lobbied the
Virginia House and Senate to allow the sale of a number of Black female captives and children because of the "conduct of said
slaves toward their mistress...was so very malevolent and very objectionable."
In 1830, L. Jacoby held thirty Africans against
their will in the New Orleans area.
Joseph Jonas, in an address to the Ohio House of
Representatives on February 25-26, 1861, said, "I am not in favor of slavery, and would not own a slave on any account. But
this is not the question. Slavery in the South is an institution, and the framers of the Constitution guarded their rights
and their property."
Israel I. Jones (1810-1877) of Mobile, Alabama,
was leader of the Jewish community in the mid-1800s, as well as being a slave-trading auctioneer. President of Congregation
Shaarai Shomayim from 1844-1873, he was on the Board of Delegates of American Israelites, the first national Jewish organization.
On Feb. 6, 1841, he advertised in the Mobile Daily Advertiser and Chronical that he had "Negroes
at Auction," including a "Man Alfred, 25 years old, field hand; Boy Isaac, 7 years old; Woman Judy, 30 years old and two work
horses."
Samuel Jones (c. 1737-1809) was a Charleston Jew
who ordered that his survivors free two of his eight Black hostages named "Jenny" and her son "Emanuel." This selective manumission
of an African woman indicates that she was the victim of rape by the Jew and that her son may have been the result of that
crime.
J. Joseph advertised for the return of a runaway
African female child in the Quebec Gazette on July 28, 1791.
Meir Josephson, a Pennsylvania trader, informed
Michael Gratz in a letter written in Yiddish:
-
...that
I may sell my nigger wench at a profit. So if a ship with niggers should arrive, or a ship with [indentured] Germans you will
let me know, because I cannot manage without a servant. The wench I now have has two virtues, both bad ones. First, she is
drunk all day, when she can get it, and second, she is mean so that my wife cannot say a word to her. She is afraid of her.
How did all this happen? A free nigger wants to court her and to buy her from me. I don't want to give her away for less than
110 pounds with her bastard, because I bought the bastard too. At present she costs me 90 pounds. So if I can make out with
her, I think it is best to let her go and get another. So if you have occasion to hear of a good nigger wench or of a good
servant, you will inform me.
Baruch H. Judah "hired" a Black African woman named
"Mary" who was tried in 1820, and acquitted, for setting fire to the house of her employer.
Isaac H. Judah (1761-1827) of Richmond, Virginia,
was a merchant and Beth Shalome's first minister. He fathered two "mulatto" children named "Philip
Norbourne" and "Benjamin Wythe," the products of the rape of an African woman. Judah's slave "Harry" was charged on March
13, 1815, with "going at large and hiring himself to Paul Christian, was remanded to jail and Judah summoned to appear the
next day and show cause why he should not be fined for allowing the said slave to go at large and hire himself out."
Manual Judah owned a Black slave named "Shadrach,"
who was tried in the Richmond courts in 1805 for stealing a hog. He was found guilty, and given nine and thirty on his bare
back.
Samuel Judah was the most prominent of the Jewish
slave-traffickers in Canada.
David S. Kaufman of Texas was a notable proponent
of the spread of the slavocracy.
Betsy Levi Kokernot and her son Louis
of New Orleans operated a retail store in the 1830s. In 1832, the sheriff seized part of their stock to pay bills and found
that:
-
Betsy
and Louis seemed to have caught an inordinate number of runaway Negroes, or stopped Negroes carrying money without proper
identification; probably much of their trade was with slave owners.
David Cohen Labatt of Louisiana was devoted to the
Confederacy and the preservation of the slave system.
Joseph Lasalle was active in the Louisiana militia
and local politics. He owned four female slaves in 1830.
Benjamin D. Lazarus sold "A Negro named Sam, about
Eighty Years of age, diseased, and a Negro Woman named Sylvie about seventy five years of Age," for ninety dollars. Dr. Bertram
W. Korn comments on the cruelty of this act:
-
Perhaps
the estate required cash, and undoubtedly the slaves were too old for any useful purpose, but what future could they have
at the hands of a purchaser who would be compelled somehow to regain his investment?
Jacob Lazarus, Jr., from Charleston, South Carolina,
enslaved more than twenty African hostages.
Sampson Lazarus of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, "had
a female slave and a horse and was a shopkeeper," in 1782.
Ishak Gabay Letob, probably of Speightstown, Barbados,
prepared his will in Portuguese dated August 24, 1698:
-
To
son Jacob Gabay Lettob my slave-girl Juana, so that she may look after him, he being ill, and she is not to be disposed of
by him but at his death she is to go to whichever one of his brothers she prefers. To grand-dau. Ribca Ulloa the daur. named
Peggy, of said Juana and for her heirs at her death but not otherwise.
Rachel Mordecai Lazarus was "fully aware of the
evils of slavery, but, after a fashion, defended this institution in her correspondence with Maria Edgeworth. Rachel contended
that the black under chattel slavery was no worse off than the European who suffered under wage slavery."
Edwin De Leon (1828-1891) considered those who opposed
slavery to be guided by a "mistaken philanthropy" with a disregard for "Providence" or "God." He was one of the chief Confederate
propaganda agents and vehemently supported slavery with the belief that Blacks are the "bearer of burdens; never a conqueror
or a king." In 1862, he was sent abroad by Jefferson Davis and Judah P. Benjamin on a secret mission
to persuade Britain, France and other countries to grant diplomatic recognition to the Confederacy. He failed after nearly
two years and expenditures of $30,000.
Lewis Leon was a Confederate Jew who said retrospectively:
"I still say our Cause was just, nor do I regret one thing that I have done to cripple the North." Author Charles Segal says
that this statement "is indicative of Jewish loyalty to the Southern cause."
Abraham Levi was in partnership with Edward Newman
in New Orleans. Levi's assets at the outbreak of the war were said to be in the range of $300,000. Records of some of Levi's
transactions for the year 1860 indicate that in January, A. Levi & Co. advanced $7,000 to James Bogan, a planter in East
Baton Rouge Parish. In return, Bogan signed a series of promissory notes that gave A. Levi & Co. a mortgage on his 746-acre
plantation and his slaves.
Jacob Levin of Columbia, South Carolina, was the
leader of his Jewish community in the mid-1800s and a slave-trading auctioneer. An acting rabbi, he was quoted in prestigious
Jewish periodicals, and his wife was director of the Columbia Hebrew Sunday School. He was also the secretary and treasurer
of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Columbia and a grand master of the Masons. On December 17, 1852, he advertised in the
Columbia Daily South Carolinian the sale of:
-
22
Likely Negroes, the larger number of which are young and desirable. Among them are Field Hands, Hostlers and Carriage Drivers,
House Servants, & c., and of the following ages: Robinson 40, Elsey 34, Yanaky 13, Sylvia 11, Anikee 8, Robinson 6, Candy
3, Infant 9, Thomas 35, Die 38, Amey 18, Eldridge 13, Charles 6, Sarah 60, Baket 50, Mary 18, Betty 16, Guy 12, Tilla 9, Lydia
24, Rachel 4, Scippio 2. The above Negroes are sold for the purpose of making some other investment of the proceeds, the
sale will therefore be positive.
-
Arthur Levy of New York owned at least one Black
woman named "Cresie."
Ash Levy worked with the notorious Davis
brothers in their slave dealings.
Benjamin Levy (c. 1650-1704) was a New Orleans printer
and publisher who bequeathed to his African hostage, "Richard White," the chance to buy his freedom for $500 from Levy's son,
Alexander. The deception was that, as a slave, "Richard White" was unpaid. Additionally, "White"
was "never to be sold, Mortgaged, or hired out for a longer term than one Year at a time, and never to be hired out of the
State of Louisiana."
The elder Levy also instructed that each of his eight remaining hostages named
"Harry," "Samuel," "Joseph," "Ellen," "Martha," "Horace," "Millie" and "Richard," be given a token trinket as a "small memorial
of their old master."
In 1761, Levy joined coreligionists David Franks
and Joseph Marks in the signing of a petition protesting a duty on imported Blacks.
Chapman Levy (1787-1850) was born in Camden, South
Carolina, and elected to the state legislature and served as a colonel in the War of 1812. He was a prominent Jewish lawyer
who held 31 Black human beings as slaves. He moved to Mississippi and operated a plantation until his death. Levy's will manumitted
some of his hostages and retained others. His mother, Sarah, sold her Black hostage "Kennedy" and
an African woman to Levy for $300.
Eugene Henry Levy of New Orleans was an official
in the Confederate Army who said: "The slaves are in their proper sphere as they are at present situated within the boundaries
of the Confederacy." The day before General Robert E. Lee surrendered, Levy was captured and soon released. He made his post-Civil
War sentiments known when he declared that "Negroes are among the masters and have the inclination to be tyrants. The extermination
of this race is a necessary consequence of this state of affairs."
Gershon Levy and Hyam Myers
did business with the notorious Indian murderer Sir Jeffrey Amherst.
Hayman Levy (1721-1789) was born in Germany and
came to New York City in 1748. He made his fortune fur-trading with the Indians and in the Black Holocaust as owner of several
ships. His Shearith Israel congregation voted him its president six times.
Hyman Levy was a Jamaican Jewish "specialist" in
the Black flesh trade in the late eighteenth century.
Isaac Levy was the brother of Nathan
(see below) and partner with David and Moses Franks
in African flesh dealing. He worked in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and London and was part owner of the slave ship Crown Gally. He once brought 117 Africans into bondage.
Israel Levy, a merchant of Charlestown, sold an
African man named "Thomas (H)Eskett" to John Evans in 1759.
J. Levy (May be the same as John B. Levy) owned
a Louisiana plantation at Ascension Parish with forty-one Black people working his fields at no wage.
Jacob Levy, Jr. (d. 1837) was active in the Congregation
Shearith Israel of New York and owned slaves named "George Roper," "Mary Mundy," "John Jackson,"
"Samuel Spures," "Edwin Jackson," "Elizabeth Jackson" and "James Jackson," among others. One of his daughters married Moses Seixas, another married Moses Hays, and another married Joseph
L. Joseph, all of whom were slave dealers or owners.
John B. Levy came to New Orleans in 1828 with 37
Africans on the schooner Transport.
Joseph Israel Levy, in his 1786 will, left to the
mother of his child Jabica, "five hundred Rupees, and two slave girls and the garden and the house, with everything belonging
unto her to be paid to her by my executors..."
Levy Andrew Levy, described as a "gentlemen," participated
in the extermination plot against the Indians by providing them with blankets laced with smallpox. He is listed as a resident
of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with "two female slaves and one house." Levy once had a slave "who preferred freedom with the
Indians to servitude under Levy. The slave ran off with a local tribe."
Lewis B. Levy of Richmond, Virginia, was a "manufacturer
[of] all kinds of servant's clothing." He sold rags to such slave dealers as the Davis brothers.
M. C. Levy of Charleston, South Carolina, had more
than twenty African hostages.
Moses Levy (c. 1665-1728) was a New York merchant,
distiller, real estate investor, ship and land owner. He became probably the most prominent and wealthiest New York Jew of
the 18th century terrorizing Black humans. He was elected constable of his municipal district in 1719 but declined to serve.
He was president of his Jewish congregation and died holding that office. Levy's slave-trading profits were used to help build
the Shearith Israel on Mill Street.
Moses Levy of Charleston, South Carolina, was the
most successful detective on the Charleston police force. Part of his responsibility was to pursue runaway Blacks.
Moses Elias Levy (1782-1854) was a plantation owner
in Florida, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and Havana, Cuba. While in England, Levy attacked the evils of slavery in public
forums and written pamphlets. In Florida, he used dozens of Black Africans to try to establish a Zionist homeland.
Nathan Levy (1704-1753) came to Philadelphia from
London on the same ship (Myrtilla) that brought the Liberty Bell. He established an indentured
servant placement service with his brother Isaac, and on January 3, 1738, they advertised in Benjamin
Franklin's Gazette for buyers for: "A likely young Negroe Man to be sold by Nathan and Isaac Levy,
fit for Town and Country."
In 1741, they teamed up with David and
Moses Franks to ship their Black victims in from Africa. Levy was a founder of the Jewish community in Philadelphia
and bought land for the Jewish cemetery in 1740. He was "undoubtedly the city's richest Jew at the time of his death in 1753."
Uriah Phillips Levy (1792-1862) was a ship captain
in the navy before he was twenty, and later a commodore. He held title to Thomas Jefferson's famous estate Montecello,
and to the Virginia plantation Washington Farm, where Black Africans were imprisoned as slaves.
He was a member of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York and charter member of Washington's
Hebrew Congregation. Jacob R. Marcus has written of the contradiction:
-
Jews
in the South knew full well that there was a slave problem, but like the people about them, they did nothing to come to grips
with this evil. Though Captain Uriah P. Levy wanted to abolish slavery, his wish did not deter him from running his Virginia
plantation with slave labor.
Rabbi Max (Menachem) Lilienthal (1815-1882) of Cincinnati
was a major Jewish leader and ardent supporter of the Southern state's right to kidnap and enslave African people.
Alexander Lindo (1753-1812) was a "major importer
of slaves" in the late eighteenth century. He admitted to being responsible for the deaths of over 150 African slaves in the
Middle Passage and 20 more upon their arrival in Jamaica, though he was never punished.
Moses Lindo (1712-1774) of South Carolina was a
wealthy planter and enslaver of Africans, according to the Jewish Encyclopaedia. He ran an advertisement
stating that: "If any person is willing to part with a plantation of 500 acres with 60 or 70 Negroes, I am ready to purchase
it for ready money." Lindo imported 49 slaves from Barbados in the 1750s and in 1756, he bought 2 African male children from
John Gordon, according to a bill of sale. One of his slave ships was named Lindo Packett. Lindo
was reputed to be one of the best judges of indigo in America or Europe. He was largely responsible for the growth of that
industry from 300,000 pounds yearly to over 1,200,000 pounds. "Lindo himself handled millions of pounds of it. He lived to
see the indigo industry employ 10,000 slaves," according to Jacob Rader Marcus.
Aaron Lopez (1731-1782) was the most notorious of
the slave dealing Jews. He was Newport's leading participant in the Black Holocaust, largest taxpayer and the epitome of the
Newport slave dealing Jewish culture. His son-in-law, Abraham Pereira Mendes, carried on the murderous
trade and built massive wealth in his own right. Born in Portugal Lopez moved to Newport, Rhode Island in 1752, renounced
his Marrano past and built an extensive trans-Atlantic slave dealing empire. "What can be said about this most attractive
figure," writes Dr. Marcus, "is that he lived on a baronial scale, maintained an entourage of over thirty persons, including
the necessary slaves and hired servants, and had his own stable and two chaises." He was engaged extensively in smuggling
and the owner of between 30 and 40 ships. By 1749, Lopez was generally considered to be one of the largest merchants in the
country, shipping every marketable item including molasses, Blacks, rum, pork and bottled beer. He owned a wharf, arranged
for building, chartering, and outfitting the vessels, hired captains and crews, and kept detailed accounts.
Lopez reportedly launched his career as a slave merchant late in 1761 when
he and Jacob Rodriguez Rivera began to outfit their jointly owned brigantine Grayhound
for an African voyage. On January 7, 1763, William Pinnegar captained a Lopez ship which delivered 134 Africans to Lopez's
Jewish agents in South Carolina, Da Costa and Farr. Four captains made thirteen of the voyages, two of whom died in Lopez's
service. Below are the recorded slaving voyages of Aaron Lopez in the years 1764 through 1774:
-
Sloop
Spry, Capt. Willaim Pinneger, July 16, 1764 - May 22, 1766, stopping at Barbados, Jamaica, and
New York on the return voyage. The cargo included iron hoops, iron chains and slave shackles.252 Slaves sold: 57. Brig
Africa, Capt. Abraham All, May 3, 1765 - July 11, 1766. Slaves sold at Kingston: 45. Sloop Betsey, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, July 22, 1765 - August 21, 1766. Slaves sold at Kingston: 40. Brig
Sally (the Spry rerigged), Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, August, 1766 - July
1767. Slaves sold at St. Kitts: c. 33. Brig Africa, Capt. Abraham All, October 20, 1766 - January
9, 1768. Slaves sold at Kingston: 69. Brig Hannah, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, May 3, 1768 - May
4, 1769. Slaves sold in South Carolina and Barbados: 63. Sloop Mary, Capt. William English,
June 4, 1770 - spring 1771. Slaves sold in Barbados: c. 57. Ship Cleopatra, Capt. Nathaniel
Briggs, July 1770 - 1771. Slaves sold in Barbados: 96. Ship Cleopatra, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs,
June 16, 1771 - May 27, 1772. Slaves sold in Barbados: 230. Brig Ann, Capt. William English,
November 27, 1772 - winter 1773-74 (arrived in Jamaica October 8, 1773). Slaves sold at Kingston: 104.253 Ship Africa,
Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, April 22, 1773 - August 1774. Slaves sold in Jamaica: c. 49. Ship Cleopatra,
Capt. James Bourk, June 30, 1773 - August 1774, Cargo consigned to Briggs. Slaves sold in Jamaica: c. 77. Brig Ann,
Capt. William English, spring 1774 - March 1775. Slaves sold in Jamaica: 112.
Mortality on these voyages was extremely high, as this passage from the William and Mary Quarterly suggests:
-
Captain
Briggs had taken aboard twenty-one slaves at the Windward Coast south of Cape Verde, ten at Cape Mount on the Grain Coast,
and sixty-seven along the Gold Coast -- a total of ninety-eight. However, as Lopez informed his London correspondent, William
Stead, there was severe loss of life at sea, and much sickness among the survivors forced a hurried sale at St. Kitts. Sally's
log records the burial of six slaves at sea, dead "with the feaver and flox"; the loss was doubtless much heavier, as the
log does not cover a four-month period of coasting southward and eastward from the Windward Coast to Cape Coast Castle....The
figure, given above, of thirty-three slaves sold is calculated from the sum realized on the sale of the survivors, who may
have been more numerous than this but of low value because of their debilitated condition.
The Cleopatra was assumed to have experienced very
heavy mortality, according to Lopez biographer Virginia Bever Platt, because the ship had carried a "much higher number of
230 blacks to Barbados on her next voyage." Using this reasoning and simple mathematics, one could conclude that as many as,
or more than, 287 Black Africans may have lost their lives in these two voyages of the Cleopatra
alone.
In the last recorded voyage of the Ann, "[Captain]
English reached Kingston on October 7, having lost five slaves on the voyage but with his people apparently healthy. By the
time the sale could be made, two more had died and the prevalence of 'the Swelling' among the remainder caused a drastic reduction
in their value..."
Lopez's other commercial ventures were sometimes called into question. One
Caribbean trader bitterly complained in a series of letters about the quality of the lumber, flour, and fish cargoes dispatched
from Newport -- consignments that often arrived out of season or in leaky vessels to which he had to give time and attention.
Flour, too often was of low grade; staves and hoops for the making of molasses hogsheads were often worm-eaten and fish was
putrid from being packed in insufficient brine. He found it difficult to dispose of such cargoes and implied that slave cargoes
were easier to handle and more profitable.
Dr. Marcus discusses the household and business of Lopez and his utter dependency
on free Black labor:
-
Lopez
always maintained a staff of Negro domestics and in addition often hired Negro slaves from their masters, though in his papers
such laborers were always referred to as servants, never as slaves. At least half a dozen negroes were usually employed at
one time at the Lopez shop, storehouse and wharf. For his living quarters, Lopez supplemented his Negro domestics by hiring
an Indian woman to wash and scrub and a white seamstress to sew and make garments for the family and the Negro household servants.
Lopez took 27 of these slaves to Leicester, Massachusetts, when fleeing the
British attack on Newport.
It was also Lopez who was identified as the primary Newport merchant who ignored
the non-importation protest of British tax policies organized by the Revolution-era colonists. The man who fingered Lopez
was Ezra Stiles, a leading clergyman and President of Yale University. He referred to Lopez in his Diary as "a Merchant of
the first Eminence; for Honor and Extent of Commerce probably surpassed by no Merchant in America."
Journeying to Rhode Island with his wife and family on May 28, 1782, he passed
Scott's Pond, near Providence and was thrown by his horse into quicksand where he drowned.
Ships Owned by Aaron Lopez
-
Active
-
Africa
-
America
-
Ann
-
Betsy
-
Charlotte
-
Cleopatra
-
Coaxel
-
Diana
-
Dolphin
-
Eagle
-
Friendship
-
George
-
Grayhound
-
Hannah
-
Hope
-
Industry
-
Jacob
-
Mary
-
Newport
Packet
-
Ocean
-
Ranger
-
Royal
Charlotte
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Sally
-
Spry
-
Venus
Haham Eliahu Lopez, the spiritual head of the Barbados
Jews of the late seventeenth century, said that he "would certainly continue in enjoyment of his own two negro attendants."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret Relationsip Between Blacks
and Jews".
Moses Lopez purchased a Black woman from John Roosevelt.
The sale was witnessed by Judah Hays and Jacobus Roosevelt.
Rachel Lopez lived in Bridgetown, Barbados, with
a family of four and "one negro."
Aaron Baruch Louzada lived with his family in Broad
Street, Bridgetown, Barbados, attended by five Black slaves.
Rachell Baruh Louzada's will in Portuguese, dated
October 29, 1703, required her sons Solomon and Jacob to "sell everything
in the house, goods, jewels, silver, gold & copper, also slaves, & to pay all my debts, funeral expenses, & doctors
bills....To my daughter Hannah Baruh Louzada a negress named Esperansa, & a diamond ring, also £25 current money with
which to commence seeking a livelihood, & that she may live in sisterly harmony with her brothers...as God commands."
James Lucena was a Portuguese cousin of Aaron
Lopez who found revenue as a shipper in the African slave trade. A refugee from the Portuguese Inquisition, he came
to Rhode Island in the early 1750s claiming to be a Catholic. In June of 1768, he wrote to Lopez asking instructions as he
prepared for a voyage to Africa to kidnap innocent Africans. In the letter he establishes that it was customary for ship owners
to pay their captains with slaves.
Lucena reportedly enslaved at least nine and as many as twenty Africans and
owned 750 acres in Georgia when the trustees of that colony introduced slavery in 1749. He was a justice of the peace in 1766,
and in 1771 he owned 1000 more acres and "sent a vessel to Jamaica for a parcel of Negroes." On March 21, 1770, he placed
the following advertisement in the Savannah Georgia Gazette:
-
RUN
AWAY from the subscriber, on Friday last, A NEGROE FELLOW, named SAM, about 22 years old, and about 5 feet 6 inches high,
is well known in and about Savannah, has his country marks on each side his face thus |||, his teeth remarkably wide apart,
and speaks very good English, had on when he went away a dark grey cloth double breasted waistcoat and a white negroe cloth
under jacket, a pair of green negroe cloth long trowsers, and a round sailor's cap. Whoever delivers him to me at Savannah
shall have a reward of twenty shillings, and all reasonable charges.
-
James
Lucena
-
N.B.
Said negroe is suspected to be concealed on board some vessel, and I forewarn the masters of vessels from carrying him off,
as they may depend on being prosecuted to the utmost rigour of the law.
Abraham De Lyon, Sr., arrived in Savannah, Georgia,
in 1733, and later held eighteen Black hostages against their will.
Abraham De Lyon (may be the same as above) left
his Savannah, Georgia, wine- making business due to "the want of Negroes...whereas his white servants cost him more than he
was able to afford."
Isaac Lyons of Columbia, South Carolina, owned a
plantation and held numerous African citizens against their will. He imported eight Blacks in 1763.
Samuel Maas of Charleston, according to Professor
Marcus, took
-
only
four weeks to be convinced that blacks had to be watched, disciplined, and, if necessary, ruthlessly punished. Slavery he
agreed, was a sound institution; the Southern economy was built on black labor. The black made an ideal workhand, for only
he, stemming from the torrid African lands, could tolerate the humidity, intense heat, and backbreaking labor of the Carolina
lowlands. Undoubtedly, Maas was influenced in his views by his uncle and by the luxury of the well-appointed home with its
massive silver service and numerous, obsequious slaves ready to respond to his slightest nod -- all this impressed Maas mightily.
Esther Marache sent her "mulatto wench" out to peddle
cakes, but "[did] not want her admitted into anyone's home."
A. J. Marks (This may be Alexander Marks; 1788-1861)
was the acting rabbi in New Orleans in the 1830s, and owned eleven Africans according to the 1840 census.
Joseph Marks signed a petition from a group of Philadelphia
merchants against a tax on Negroes in 1761. Joining him were Jews David Franks and
Benjamin Levy.
Mark Marks was deputy sheriff of Charleston in 1822,
part of whose job was to punish runaway Blacks.
Mordecai Marks (1739 or 1740-1797) was a merchant
and farmer "who owned his own trotting and pacing mares, a Negro slave, and a small library."
Isaac Rodrigues Marques (d. 1706 or 1707) was a
New York merchant, importer and shipowner from Denmark who dictated in his will that a "good serviceable negro woman" be purchased
to serve his "dear mother" after his death.
Joseph Marx (1771 or 1772-1840) was born in Hanover,
Germany, and moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he engaged in large real estate transactions. He was an associate of Thomas
Jefferson and active in the Jewish community while holding 11 Blacks against their will to perform hard labor at no pay.
Abraham Pereira Mendes (1825-1893) was a Jamaican
rabbi, the son-in-law of Jacob Rodriguez Rivera, and made his money as a slave trader. On May 4,
1752, he advertised the following:
-
To
be sold by Abraham Pereira Mendes, a Parcel of Likely young Negroes, Piemento, Old Copper, Coffee, etc....If any Person has
a Mind to purchase any of the Goods mentioned, they may enquire of Mr. Daniel Gomez.
In 1767, when on a mission to Jamaica, Mendes reported back to his father-in-law
that a consignment of Negroes was "in such poor order" because of the storage conditions that he could not do anything but
sell them off cheaply:
-
To
my great surprise I found the negroes nothing to what I expected....Captain All's small cargo, however, turned out as we see
to consist almost entirely of "refuse slaves," and Captain All himself fell ill.
Joseph Mendes, of the town of Speights in the Parish
of St. Peters, Barbados, prepared his will in English dated February 17, 1700:
-
To
my dear & loving wife Rachel M. 3 Negro Slaves, Mary, Astor she & her boy Matte & the Issue or Offspring of their
bodies for ever....To son Moses M. £1000 on marriage or 21st birthday (which shall first happen) & for ever one Negro
Woman named Hagar & the issue or offspring of her body & 2 negro boys named Jack Coger & Tom. To daughter Sarah
£1000 on marriage or 18th birthday (which shall first happen) & for ever one negro woman named Mary & a Negro girl
named Evare & the issue...of their bodies. To daughter Luna £1000 on marriage or 18th birthday (which shall first happen)
& £40 [so] that 2 young negroes be bought for her forever....Ex'ors may sell all such Lands houses & Negroes as I
have in this Island for the better adjusting their Accounts.
Jacob Defonseca Meza of Barbados owned "a certain
Molatto woman Isabella."
Abraham Bueno DeMezqueto (Mesquita)--probably
a son of Benjamin Bueno de Mesquita, who, with two sons, was banished from Jamaica on August 16,
1665. Abraham owned a plantation at Barbados in 1692, and was recorded as a slave owner in the census of 1707.
Gustavas Meyers was a staunch supporter of slavery
and a Jewish leader.
Moses Michal (or Michaels,
c. 1685-1740) was born in Germany and was a New York merchant in partnership with Michael Asher
of Boston. By 1730, he was the largest importer among the Curaçaoan Jews. He was a member of Shearith
Israel and enslaved at least two Blacks named "Tham" and "Prins."
Abigail Minis (1701-1794); In 1740, many Jews left
Savannah, Georgia, because of the restriction against slavery. Ms. Minis and family stayed, waited for the law to change,
and then forced at least 17 Blacks to work her 2,500-acre farm. Her son Philip was president of
Savannah's Congregation Mikveh Israel. Minis named three of the Africans "Sue," "Lizzy," and "Sandy."
He advertised in the Savannah Georgia Gazette, on June 28, 1775:
-
RUN
AWAY, A CREOLE NEGROE FELLOW, named Charles, well known in Savannah. Ten shillings reward will be given on delivery of him
to Philip Minis.
Isaac Miranda was an active trader and land owner
in Lancaster County in 1720. In 1730, the Indians filed a formal complaint against Miranda, who they claimed defrauded them.
According to historian David Brener, "In all probability it was the gullibility and childish wants of the Indians which made
them give their valuable furs in exchange for trinkets, mirrors, rum and blankets. Such was the nature of Indian traders."
All references are in The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews
Moline Family was run out of San Domingo in 1793
when the Africans revolted against the White man's slave society. They brought with them some African captives, branded with
the Moline name, to work for them in Pennsylvania. Another source lists a Solomon Moline from Cape
Francois, who fled to Philadelphia in 1792 with his family and slaves.
Manoel Rodrigues Monsancto of Brazil was charged
with openly professing Judaism by Inquisitional authorities in 1646. He held a woman from Guinea named "Beatriz," and her
"mulatto" daughter "Rachel," as slaves.
Monsanto Family of Louisiana included Benjamin,
Isaac, Manuel, Eleanora, Gracia and Jacob. They made frequent purchases of Blacks including
twelve in 1785, thirteen and then thirty-one in 1787, and eighty in 1768. In 1794, Benjamin sold "Babet," a Black woman, to
Franco Cardel. Manuel sold two Blacks from Guinea named "Polidor" and "Lucy" to James Saunders for $850 in silver. As individuals
they were owners of Africans whom they named "Quetelle," "Valentin," "Baptiste," "Prince," "Princess," "Ceasar," "Dolly,"
"Jen," "Fanchonet," "Rozetta," "Mamy," "Sofia," and many others. Isaac repeatedly mortgaged four of these when in financial
trouble. Benjamin Monsanto of Natchez, Mississippi entered into at least 6 contracts for the sale of his slaves which would
take place after his death. Gracia bequeathed nine Africans to her relatives in her 1790 will, and Eleanora also held Blacks
as slaves. Manuel Jacob Monsanto entered into at least 12 contracts for sale of slaves between 1787 and 1789 in Natchez and
New Orleans, Louisiana.291 "His family consists of himself and seven Negroes."292 Later, "Jacob Monsanto, son of Isaac Rodrigues
Monsanto, one of the very first known Jews to settle in New Orleans, owner of a several-hundred-acre plantation at Manchac,
fell in love with his slave, Mamy or Maimi William. Their daughter Sophia, grew up to be a lovely quadroon." An excerpt of
one of Benjamin's many slave contracts follows:
-
Be
it known to all to whom these presents shall come, that I Benjamin Monsanto do really and effectually sell to Henry Manadu
a negro wench named "Judy," aged Eighteen years, native of Guinea, for the sum of four hundred Dollars in all the month of
January in the year one thousand Seven hundred and ninety one; and paying interest at the rate of ten per cent for the remaining
two hundred and fifty Dollars until paid; said negro wench being and remaining mortgaged until final payment shall have been
made; wherewith I acknowledge to be fully satisfied and content, hereby renouncing the plea of non numerata pecunia, fraud,
or others in the case Whatsoever; granting formal receipt for the same. For which said consideration I do hereby resign all
right, title, possession and claim, in and to the said Slave, all of which I transfer and convey to the Said Purchaser and
his assigns, to be, as his own, held and enjoyed, and when fully paid for, Sold, exchanged, or otherwise alienated at pleasure
in virtue of these presents granted in his favor in token of real delivery, without other proof of property being required,
from which he is hereby released, binding myself to maintain the validity of this present sale in full form and right in favor
of the Purchaser aforesaid, and granting authority to the Justices of his Majesty to compel me to the performance of the same
as if Judgment had already been given therein, renouncing all laws, rights, and privileges in my favor whatsoever. And I the
said Henry Manadu being present, do hereby accept this Instrument in my favor, receiving said negro Wench as purchased in
the form and for the consideration therein mentioned and contained, wherewith I am fully satisfied and content, hereby renouncing
the plea of non numerato pecunia, fraud, or other considerations in the case Whatsoever; granting formal receipt for the same.
Done and executed, in testimony thereof, at the post of Natchez, this nineteenth day of the month of February in the year
one thousand seven hundred and ninety...
Benjamin Monsanto sold land and "a Dwelling House,
Store, and two other buildings, for which I have received payment in a negro, named 'Nat;' to my full satisfaction." Another
contract stipulated "that Don Louis Faure is bound to defend the said sale in case the negro shall be claimed by any other
Person."
In a 1792 contract, Benjamin mortgaged his Black slaves:
-
I
do hereby specially mortgage three slaves to me belonging, namely Eugene and Louis, aged twenty four years each, the first
named of the Senegal nation and the second of the Congo nation; and a Negro Woman named Adelaide, aged twenty eight years,
also of the Congo nation; which said slaves I warrant free from mortgage or other incumbrance, as I have made appear by certificate
from the Recorder of mortgages; and which said slaves I promise and engage shall not be sold nor otherwise alienated during
the term of this obligation...
Born in Warrenton, North Carolina, Major Alfred Mordecai
completed West Point and in 1861 was assigned to the army arsenal at Watervliert, New York. He resigned his commission rather
than fight against the Confederates and made these observations of the African and slavery:
-
[I
have] a sort of repugnance to the Negroes which has increased upon me as I have been less and less associated with them. Therefore,
I have never wished to make a home among them. This feeling is, naturally enough, much stronger on the part of my family;
we have seldom spoken of it, but I am sure that it would be utterly repugnant to the feelings of my wife and daughters to
live among slaves, and if it can be avoided, I should be extremely loathe to oblige them, by residence and habit, to overcome
this repugnance, even supposing it possible....I have no doubt that the race is in a better condition here than they are as
savages in Africa, or than they would be as free men, from all the experience we have seen. But I never wished to be one of
the agents in thus bettering their condition...and I am utterly averse to any participation in the schemes for destroying
or weakening the hold of the masters on their slaves, unless they themselves are willing to abandon it.
In his letter of March 17, 1861, to brother Samuel,
Mordecai defended slavery as a constitutional right:
-
...it
appears to be sufficient to know that at the formation of our government slavery existed all over the land and was expressly
protected by the Constitution from being interfered with by any authority but the states themselves; that therefore the people
who have retained it are entitled to the enforcement of their constitutional rights with regard to it both in the letter and
the spirit.
Furthermore, Mordecai firmly believed that the maintenance of slavery was the
result of the activities of Northern abolitionist and condemned abolitionism, which had "grown to a fearful extent within
a few years."
Mordecai's Southern relatives had been slaveholders as far back as he could
remember; indeed, his brother George, a wealthy Raleigh businessman, owned about one hundred slaves.
Augustus Mordecai, brother of Emma, owned a plantation
called Rosewood in North Carolina, with many slaves.
Benjamin Mordecai of Charleston dealt in huge sales
of Blacks and penned them up like livestock next to his warehouses. At least one of his captives was named "Abram" or "Abraham."
Of his participation in the Civil War the Boston Transcript reported that Mordecai "has presented
to his belligerent state and city $10,000, to aid the purpose of secession, with the offer besides of a large number of negroes
to work in the cause..."
In 1857, he advertised in the Charleston Courier,
"Prime Field Negros and House Servants" for sale. They included:
-
Coachmen and House Servants Cooks, Seamstresses, Washers and Ironers
-
Tom,
25 years of age John, 21 Lilburn, 24 Isaac, 22 Elvy, 18 Amelia, 22 Lydia, 40 Louisa, 40 Patsy, 19;
Nurse
-
-
Field Hands and Laborers
-
Caroline,17 Betsy,
17 Catherine, 16 Octavia, 16 Mary, 28 Sarah, 30; w/ child
-
Sarah,
18
-
Saunders,
22
-
Sampson,
30
-
Moses,
33; woodworker
-
Henry,
20
-
Lawrence,
45
-
Dave,
25; laborer
-
Henry,
22; tailor
-
Lucy,
19
-
Margaret,
16
-
Milly,
17
-
Salina,
16
-
Nancy,
20; with 2 children
-
Susan,
30
-
Caroline,
18
-
Benjamin,
25
-
Sam,
16; ploughboy
-
Lindsay,
27
-
Isaac,
18
-
Byron,
22
-
Nat,
30; laborer and sailor
-
Mordecai regularly shipped slaves to New Orleans between 1846 and 1860 and
bought at least 102 slaves at Charleston district judicial sales of the 1850s.
Emma Mordecai was a Jewish relative of the Gratz and Hays families who enslaved several Black Africans. She described
in her journal how the Jews participated in the lynching of Nat Turner's rebel forces by burning off the foot of an innocent
Black man and cutting off the ear of another. They then rubbed sand into their wounds and horse-dragged them to their death.
The slaves of Emma Mordecai included "George," "Cyrus," "Massie," "Mary," "Georgiana"
and possibly "Phil," "Lizzy" and "Elick." She said of the freed Blacks: "They are as ill-bred as old Lincoln himself....They
will now begin to find out how easy their life as slaves had been, and to feel the slavery of their freedom."
George Washington Mordecai was a wealthy Raleigh,
North Carolina, plantation owner, bank president and slave driver who owned at least one hundred Black Africans. He wrote
to a northern Republican in 1860: "I would much sooner trust myself alone on my plantation surrounded by my slaves, than in
one of your large manufacturing towns when your labourers are discharged from employment and crying aloud for bread for themselves
and their little ones."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret Relationsip Between Blacks
and Jews".
Jacob Mordecai of Henrico County, Virginia held
more than twenty African hostages.
Mordecai Moses Mordecai, a Russian Jewish businessman
in Pennsylvania, helped Joseph Simon to buy a slave.
Rebecca Mordecai, of Richmond, Virginia, was fined
$3.33 in 1839, "for allowing a hired slave to go at large contrary to the Act of Assembly."
Samuel Mordecai (1786-c. 1865); was a journalist
from Richmond who derived part of his income from his articles in the pro-slavery journal, The Farmer's
Register. He regarded slavery as a natural and desirable condition of society and helped to put down Nat Turner's 1831
rebellion and assisted in the lynch mob that followed.
Barnard Moses of Charleston, South Carolina, placed
the following advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser
on November 4, 1783.
-
RUN
away from the subscriber, a Negro Wench called HAGAR, and her daughter called MARY, Hagar is about 40 years of age, speaks
very good English. Mary about 12 years of age, speaks good English, had on when she went away a green frize habit. Whoever
apprehends and secures said negroes, so that the owner may get them, shall receive a Guinea reward for each. Any person or
persons harbouring said negroes, many depend on being prosecuted according to law; a farther reward of Five Guineas will be
given to any person who shall give information of either of the said negroes being harboured by any white persons, on conviction. Barnard
Moses.
-
N.B.
I was since informed the above negroes crossed Ashley River a few days ago, and suppose they are gone to Mr. William Stoutenburg's
plantation, as her relations belong to him. All masters of vessels are forbid to harbour, or carry them off.
Isaac Moses of Philadelphia enslaved "a certain
Negro named Bill of the age of thirty or thereabouts."
Isaiah Moses enslaved thirty-five Black Africans
whom he forced to work his farm at St. James, Goose Creek, South Carolina.
J. F. Moses of Lumpkin, Georgia was a slave dealer
who once advertised:
-
-
The
undersigned has just arrived in Lumpkin from Virginia, with a likely lot of negroes, about 40 in number, embracing every shade
and variety. He has seamstresses, chamber maids, field hands, and doubts not that he is able to fill the bill of any who may
want to buy. He has sold over two hundred negroes in this section, mostly in this county, and flatters himself that he has
so far given satisfaction to his purchasers. Being a regular trader to this market he has nothing to gain by misrepresentation,
and will, therefore, warrant every negro sold to come up to the bill, squarely and completely. Give him a call at his mart.
Major Moses was a Jew who gave the name "London"
to one of his Black captives.
Meyer Moses advertised in the South-Carolina Gazette
for a runaway slave on September 19, 1771:
-
RUN
AWAY from the Subscriber about a week past, a negro man named JACK, had on when he went away a soldier's coat, and petty coat
trowsers; he is a square well set fellow, about five feet six inches high, much pock marked in the face; one of his feet is
frost bitten; speaks good English. Any person that will apprehend and bring him to me, or deliver him to the warden of the
work-house, shall receive FIVE POUNDS reward, and if discovered to be harboured by a white person TWENTY POUNDS reward, and
if by a negro, TEN POUNDS, on conviction. Masters of vessels are cautioned against carrying him off, as they must answer the
consequence: I have been informed he gives himself out for a freeman, lately from England and wants to ship himself.
Myer Moses (1779-1833) of Charleston, South Carolina
had a long record of civic leadership as a state legislator, a commissioner of schools, a director of the Planters and Mechanics
Bank, a major in the War of 1812, and a major slave dealer. The following is an excerpt of an advertisement placed in The Southern Patriot of Charleston on August 14, 1815:
-
Sales
at Auction by Myer Moses On Tuesday, 22d August, at 10 o'clock, will be exposed to public sale, at the North side of the
Exchange, the following Valuable property:
-
That
well settled farm, on Charleston Neck, situated but one mile from the Lines, fronting on King and Russel-streets. On the premises
is a comfortable Farm House [with] two very convenient Negro Houses....At the same time will be sold THE FOLLOWING VALUABLE
SLAVES
-
BOOMA,
(an African) about 22 years of age, an excellent jobbing carpenter, and a prime field hand, has been emply'd several years
as a market man, in selling vegetables. MARIA, (a country born) about 22 or 23 years old, an excellent market wench, speaks
French remarkably well, is a plain cook and tolerable washer, but prefers the attendance of market, or working in the field,
and is a prime field hand. SARAH, (a country born) about 20 years old, a prime field hand. BEN, (an African) about 20
years old Born in Africa, a prime field hand and a good boatman. ANDREW, (an African) age unknown, a prime field hand,
possesses an uncommon good disposition. PHILLIS, (a country born) a cook, washer and ironer. JOHN, (ditto) her son,
a mullatto boy, about 16 or 17 years old, a smart house servant, understands the management of horse, drives a chair. ROBERT,
(ditto) her son, a mullatto boy, about 5 years old. This family will be sold together or separate.
-
Conditions
- For Lots and Farm, one half cash, balance payable in 12 months, by Note with two approved endorsers; for the Negroes, cash,
or Notes with two approved endorsers, at 60 days, with discount added. Indisputable titles will be given, and the Negroes
warranted sound and agreeable to description.
Raphael J. Moses (1812-1893) was a lawyer, orator
and leader of the Columbus, Georgia Jewish community and a staunch supporter of slavery. At one time he held title to at least
47 Black people whom he forced to tend his 20,000 fruit trees. He helped lead Georgia out of the Union and then joined the
Confederate army with his three sons. He was a Florida delegate to the 1847 Democratic convention where he teamed with Alabama
secessionist William L. Yancey to include in the platform the right to carry slaves into the Northwest territories. When this
failed he protested and withdrew his delegation from the convention.
Samuel Moses was a ship owner who formed a partnership
with Isaac Elizer and Jacob Rivera. He rewarded the crews of his profitable ships with Black men and women.
Solomon Moses (c. 1734-1828); Born in Amsterdam,
he was Charleston's constable in 1822, whose job was to punish Africans who sought freedom.
Solomon Moses, Jr. (1783-1857) was Charleston, South
Carolina's deputy sheriff in 1822, whose job, like his father (above), was to punish runaway Blacks.
Clara la Mota purchased a female slave and married
Benjamin Monsanto in 1787.
Sarah A. Motta; Daughter of R. D'Azevedo, from whom
she inherited at least four Blacks and was given an option in the will to free or keep them. She continued to force them to
labor for her without pay.
Isaac Motta was a South Carolina resident who, acting possibly as a legal agent
or bounty hunter, placed this advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette on March 29, 1770:
-
RUN
AWAY from the Honourable WILLIAM DRAYTON, Esq; at St. Augustine, in East-Florida, two NEGRO MEN; Anthony, about 25 Years of
Age, very black, near six Feet high, has lost part of the first Joint of his left Thumb; Frank, about 22 Years of Age, yellow
Complexioned, and pitted with the Small-pox. They were born on the Estate of the late THOMAS DRAYTON, Esq; at Indian-Land,
and are supposed to have attempted to return thither. Ten Pounds Currency will be paid for each, on being delivered to the
Warden of the Work-House.
Dr. Jacob De La Motta (1789-1845) of Charleston
enslaved Africans named "Ann Maria Simmons" and her son "Augustus," who were transferred to his sister Rachel after his death.
He also held two other African citizens whom he called "Sam" and "Sylvia." A physician who was active in politics, he served
as minister at the Jewish congregations in Savannah and Charleston. He was also involved in Masonry and was the secretary
of the South Carolina Medical Society, assistant commissioner of health and founder and president of his orthodox congregation.
Esther Myers (1748-1826) of the Georgetown district
of South Carolina was the wife of Mordecai and enslaved 11 African citizens.
Dr. Henry Myers; According to Jewish writer, Emma
Mordecai, Myers joined the militia and helped to put down the 1831 rebellion of Nat Turner.
Hyam Myers did business with Sir Jeffrey Amherst,
the infamous Indian exterminator. Myers wrote to Samuel Jacobs on September 27, 1761,
-
I
take this opportunity to inform you that [I] have shipp'd you on board a schooner bound to Quebeck, which will sail in a day
or two, your Negro girl, seal, and blank paper.
A subsequent letter identifies the "Negro Girl" as "Jenny" whose price was
£65.328
Joseph Myers, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania owned a
slave, age 25, in 1773.
Manuel Myers (d. 1799) was a New York merchant,
distiller and high official of Congregation Shearith Israel. To his wife Judith, he left: "my mulatto boy slave, named Harry,
during the term of her natural life, and upon the decease of my said wife, I do manumit set free and release from slavery
my said slave named Harry." His wife died 33 years later.
All references are in the publication: "The Secret Relationsip Between Blacks
and Jews".
Mordecai Myers' plantation housed sixty-four slaves.331
Based on regional records, it may be he or his relatives who are responsible for the following advertisement in the South-Carolina
Gazette of October 24, 1770:
-
ABSENTED
herself from the Subscriber, on Thursday last, a tall stout NEGRO WENCH, named LUCY, well known in and about Jacksonburgh;
formerly the Property of Francis Oldfield, on Ponpon Neck. She had on when she went away a Callico Petticoat and Jacket: But
as she took other Cloaths with her, may probably appear in other Dresses. TEN POUNDS Currency Reward will be paid to any Person
who will give Information of her being harboured by a white Person, and ONE DOLLAR if by a Negro, on Conviction of the Offender;
and FIVE POUNDS like Money to any one who will deliver her to Mordecai Myers.
Years later he still sought his slave through an advertisement in the Savannah Georgia Gazette, on May 17, 1775:
-
RUN
AWAY from the subscriber, A NEGROE WENCH, named Lucy, from Ponpon, formerly the property of Francis Oldfield, said wench supposed
to have gone to George Galphin, Esq.'s or harboured by horse thieves, &c. either Joseph or Brukins Prine. Whoever brings
said wench to me shall have one hundred pounds reward South-Carolina currency; if harboured by white persons, and the same
prosecuted. I hereby promise a reward of five hundred pounds South-Carolina currency.
-
Mordecai
Mires (sic).
-
N.B.
The wench has been absent four years.
Moses Myers (1752-1835) of Philadelphia, held an
African named "David Anderson" against his will.
Samuel Myers (1755-1836) of Petersburg, Virginia
enslaved Blacks named "Isaac," "Judah," "Maria" and "Betsy" and in 1796, bought an African woman named "Alice," probably to
sexually violate at his will, due to the loss of his wife four months earlier. He sold "Alice" shortly after his next marriage.335
The Samuel S. Myers & Co. in Richmond, held 82 African citizens as slaves in 1830. The Virginia capital was the center
of the nation's tobacco industry, an industry in which slaves were owned by manufacturing enterprises. Samuel S. Myers &
Co. was one of Virginia's leading tobacco manufacturers.
David Naar (1800-1880) was born in St. Thomas, Danish
West Indies to Joshua Naar and Sarah D'Azevedo. According to an island census in 1830, his family, including himself, numbered
"2 men, 1 woman, 2 sons and 1 daughter, his domestic staff 5 colored women and his stock of slaves still 1 full-grown."337
Soon thereafter, the increasing threat of slave insurrections in the Caribbean and the decline of trade caused a considerable
number of Jews, including the Naars, to begin to emigrate to continental North America. "David Naar wielded a powerful
influence as owner and editor of the Daily True American," writes biographer Rabbi S. Joshua Kohn: "It became the organ of
the Democratic party in central New Jersey" and was edited for more than half a century, from 1853 to 1905, by David Naar
and by his nephew, Moses D. Naar, and by David's son, Joseph L. Naar. .; He was politically rewarded with several prominent
positions:
· Appointed as one of the lay Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Essex
County. · 1843: appointed Mayor of the Borough of Elizabeth by the New Jersey Legislature. · 1844: elected a Delegate
from Essex County to the State Constitutional Convention. · 1844: campaigned for James K. Polk as President and in 1845
was rewarded with the appointment as Commercial Agent of the United States to Saint Thomas.
· 1848: returned to Elizabeth, New Jersey where he was soon elected Recorder
of the Borough and a member of the Borough Council. · 1851-1852: chosen Clerk of the General Assembly for two successive
terms.
Naar used his influence in these positions to promote his white supremacist
ideology. As a member of the committee on the new bill of rights he played a prominent part in its deliberations and conclusions.
In the new constitution of 1844, the word "white" was inserted into the text concerning suffrage which effectively disfranchised
Blacks. It was not until the enactment in 1870 of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that the
right of suffrage was restored. Furthermore, the word "white" was not struck out of the New Jersey constitution by amendment
until the year 1875. Naar was appointed to a committee to prepare an address and resolutions at the Democratic convention
held on December 11, 1860, in Trenton. The resolutions passed:
-
RESOLVED,
That we see no remedy for this deplorable state of public affairs unless the North, in the most prompt and explicit manner,
shall avow its determination to remove all political agitation for the abolition of slavery; shall repeal all acts designed
to nullify or embarrass the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law; shall consent to the citizen of the South enjoying
the services of his domestic while temporarily sojourning here on business or pleasure...
Rabbi Kohn described Naar as one who "espoused the cause of the South and was
a strong and irreconcilable exponent of states' rights and pro-slavery." In the election of November 7, 1860, with Naar's
help, New Jersey was the only Northern state to vote against Lincoln. Among the examples of his anti-Black wisdom: "Is it
'freedom' to destroy the peace, happiness and prosperity of thirty millions of white freemen, in order to give a nominal freedom
and bring into a condition of actual misery, four million of negroes? Is it 'freedom' of the 'higher law' which ignores the
laws of God and man, and seeks to substitute for the will of madmen and fanatics?" The Emancipation Proclamation, promulgated
on September 25, 1862, brought forth a vigorous denunciation from Naar:
-
The
injustice of this measure is only exceeded, we think, by its impolicy, and will serve, we fear, to aggravate the difficulties
of our position. What is to be gained by the emancipation of the slaves in any point of view, we have never been able to discover;
but to the contrary, we can perceive that, if successful, it will be of great harm to the population of the non-slave holding
States, both white and colored. In anticipation of this project, we have more than once admonished our readers of the pernicious
effect which must follow, in a social and industrial point of view, the influx in their midst of a body of Negro slaves, unaccustomed
to voluntary habits of industry or self-control, and we do not propose now to repeat what we have said.
To Naar, the forthcoming Proclamation "will witness the most stupendous act
of folly and usurpation on the part of the occupant of the Executive Chair that has ever been perpetuated by the ostensible
representative of the American people." In a speech at a mass meeting in Trenton, on March 4, 1863, he voiced the opinion
that Americans were "cutting each other's throats" for the sake of a few Negroes and that the abolitionists had wanted to
place the Negro above the White man. Says Rabbi Kohn, "Naar was against Negro suffrage because it would mean that Negroes
could hold office. This was too difficult a thought for him to accept." He condemned the proponents of freedom for Blacks
with a curious logic:
-
This
is the case with the fanatical Zealots, who unfortunately for the country, now hold the reins of Government....They have determined
that Negro slavery shall be abolished and that determination they are bent upon adhering to even at the cost of Constitutional
liberty and of the Union itself. Failing in that they have resolved to have no Union at all.
When Lincoln was assassinated, it was Naar who objected to the recitation of
the Escaba (Memorial Prayer) in the synagogues of Philadelphia. Finally, in an editorial entitled "Treason," the
Daily Gazette & Republican expressed its view of Naar:
-
...a
West India Jew, whose very being is made of low cunning, craftiness, meaness, and deception, is less to be wondered at, and
merely shows to what perfection the animal can be brought when put under proper training. That future historians will link
the name of Naar with those of Arnold and Judas there is but little doubt, judging from the present course of events.
David Namias was a Barbados planter in 1680 "with
a dozen negroes and twenty acres of land." His household in St. Michaells housed "nine persons (Jews) and five further slaves."
David De Isaac Cohen Nassy of Philadelphia, held
two "personal slaves" (which is synonymous with "sexual slave"). His Jewish ancestors built a whole colony in Surinam based
on African slave labor.
Asher Moses Nathan of Baton Rouge, Louisiana was
a businessman who loaned money to plantation owners for slave buying and was himself a slave dealer. He owned an eighty-year-old
Black male whom Nathan attempted to sell when he fell ill in 1807. This practice, in another instance, netted his estate $72
when he sold a 70 year old Black woman named "Lucretia."
Nathan Nathans was the president of the Beth Elohim
Congregation in Charleston, South Carolina and owned and operated a plantation on the Cooper River using the forced labor
of African hostages.
Aaron Navarro's household comprised seven Jews,
"and no less than eleven black slaves....Other Navarros, Samuel and Judith, also owned slaves.349 He dispensed his Black slaves
in his will of July 4, 1685:
-
I
say that Entitta & her daughter Hannah are mine, being the daughter & grand-daughter of my slave (negress) Maria Arda;
if they wish to free themselves, they can come to an arrangement with my wife, & no one may prevent or contradict them;
this is my order & desire.350
Major Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was a journalist,
judge, politician and "was probably the most distinguished Jewish layman until 1840." A prolific proponent of slavery, he
felt that "the bonds of society must be kept as they now are." To emancipate the slaves, he said, "would be to jeopardize
the safety of the whole country." The first Black American periodical, The Freedom's Journal, was launched in response to
Noah's racist propaganda - it characterized him as the Black man's "bitterest enemy."
Benjamin Nones (1757-1826); Born in France, he moved
to Philadelphia and enslaved two African people to build his business. They regularly ran away and by 1793, he manumitted
them. He was an active Mason and president of Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel synagogue for eight years.
Jacob Franco Nunes' household of four used "only
one negro slave."
Moses Nunes (1705-1787 or 1797) of Savannah, Georgia
enslaved at least thirteen and possibly twenty Africans. He admitted to repeatedly raping one Black woman named "Mulatta Rose,"
who bore his children named "Robert," "James," and "Alexander," and "Frances." He was a landowner and merchant and was a prominent
Mason. His grandson Joseph had five children by the rape of a Black women named "Patience." He tried to sell these children
but was legally challenged when their race was questioned.
Abraham Nunez left to his granddaughter Hester Lopez,
"the following negroes viz. - Old Katy, Old Flora & Katy Casandar & John her children (& the children thereafter
to be born of her body) Ishmael a negro boy....To great grand daughter Ester N. (daur. of my son Morducoy & my grand daur.
Rebecca) my negro woman slave called Casander & Sammy her child & the children she shall have at the time of my decease."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks
and Jews".
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