An in-depth look at the Portuguese Jews of Jamaica and their connections to broader European and Atlantic trade networks
Based on last wills and testaments composed by Jamaican Jews between 1673 and 1815, this book explores the social and familial experiences of one of the most critical yet understudied nodes of the Atlantic Portuguese Jewish Diaspora. Stanley Mirvis examines how Jamaica’s Jews put down roots as traders, planters, pen keepers, physicians, fishermen, and metalworkers, and reveals how their presence shaped the colony as much as settlement in the tropical West Indies transformed the lives of the island’s Jews.
Author(s): Stanley Mirvis
Publisher: Yale University Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
City: New Haven; London
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Preface
Names, Dates, Spelling, and Method
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Testamentary History of a Diaspora in Transition
Chapter 1. The Promise of Port Royal (1655–92)
Chapter 2. The Peril of Port Royal (1670–1740)
Chapter 3. The Jews of Plantation Jamaica (1740–70)
Chapter 4. The End of a Long Century (1770–1815)
Chapter 5. Jewish Communal Life: The Men, Women, and Children of the Nation
Chapter 6. The Ethnic Identity of Jamaica’s Portuguese Jewish Households
Chapter 7. The Creole Jewish Families of Jamaica
Conclusion
Appendix: Excerpts from the Wills of Selected Jamaican Jews
Notes
Index
