Search Out the Land: The Jews and the Growth of Equality in British Colonial America, 1740-1867

Front Cover
McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1995 - History - 396 pages
Mapping the history of Canadian Jews from the arrival of the first settlers before 1750 through to the 1860s, Search Out the Land introduces a new set of colourful players on Canada's stage. Ezekiel Solomons, John Franks, Jacob Franks, Chapman Abraham, Rachel Myers, Moses David, Samuel Hart, Elizabeth Lyons, and a host of others now take their appropriate place in Canadian history. Focusing on the significant role played by Jews in British North America in the fight for civil and political rights, the authors compare the development of Canadians' rights with that in other British jurisdictions of the time and set the contribution of Jews within the context of other minority groups, including French Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Quakers. Using extensive archival, genealogical, and legal research, the authors prove that settlers other than those of British and French origins were building, exploring, and developing Canada from its inception.

From inside the book

Contents

Obstacles to Equality for Religious Minorities in Britain
15
The New World before 1740
34
An Invitation to the Thirteen
52
Remember Halifax
73
The Protestant Jews of Quebec 17631774
93
The Establishment
113
Two Steps Forward One Step
145
The Upper Canada Proving Ground
158
Colonial Legislatures and the Demise of the State Oaths
190
The Last Little Spot
218
From Toleration to Equality
228
Epilogue
235
Notes
241
Bibliography
351
Index
379
Copyright

The Jews of Lower Canada
171

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 379 - further Security of His Majesty's Person and Govern"ment and the Succession of the Crown in the Heirs of "the late Princess Sophia being Protestants and for ex"tinguishing the Hopes of the pretended Prince of Wales "and his open and secret Abettors...

Bibliographic information