Immigration.

Although there were Jews living in Britain's American colonies as early as 1654, it was not until the nineteenth century that Jews began migrating
to North America in large numbers. Most came during the second half of the century, but the earlier period also saw a significant increase in the Jewish population. Some Jews came after the end of the wars in Europe in 1815, others on the heels of the revolutionary movements inGermany of 1830 and 1848. The first large-scale immigration came in 1836, when extended families and even entire communities left Bavaria, where in a time of economic depression they had been subjected to xtra taxes and restrictions that limited their chances for financial success. Between 1836 and 1850 the Jewish community in the United States grew from fewer than 5,000 to about 50,000. By 1860 the population had reached 160,000.

Adaptation.

In these early years of immigration the newcomers were generally poor people with imited...