Licence 3ème année Histoire - History of Jews in the United States, from the Revolution to the 1950s/Histoire des Juifs aux Etats-Unis, de la révolution aux années 1950

This course covers the history of Jews in the United States, from the American Revolution to the 1950s, providing a fascinating comparison with France during the same period. What was the place of Jews in the young American republic? Was American Jewish life truly “exceptional” and “post-emancipatory,” as some historians have suggested? What structures emerged to unite American Jewish life as it expanded geographically? Through the study of migration, religious ideologies, as well as communal and philanthropic institutions, we will examine the internal divisions within the American Jewish population, as well as the relationship between this population and the State. Particular attention will be paid to the place of American Jews within the larger Jewish diaspora, especially in the face of the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust.