A Jewish Colony In The New World (TL Discussion)

Avitus, those are some good points. I think you may be underestimating how much money Columbus could get from the Jewish merchants - remember how they dominated the banking industry at the time. And I had already thought of the slavery issue, and my solution is this: the Jews would be converting their slaves, particularly since they would be implementing the Talmudic code (which has complex and specific provisions for the treatment of slaves). You're right that in time, their community would no longer be ethnically Jewish, but it would be culturally and religiously Jewish.

HJ Tulp, I was planning on having Columbus arrive in the Carolinas, actually.

In the meantime, I think that the Ottoman option still has potential. As long as the Jews provided a tribute (a variation on the jizya tax), Suleiman would probably let them run their own affairs. And the narrative potential of having a Jewish colony allied to the Ottomans in the 16th century is extremely attractive. Jewish Pirates with ships that can shrug off light cannon fire, anyone?

EDIT: Herzen, forgot about you. I think an Old World colony would be another thread. But the idea of Jewish Cossacks has a few things going for it. There was a pretty stable Jewish community in the Crimea, for one. Thande actually had a Jewish Crimean state in Look To The West. And on a personal note, I'm of Krymchak descent myself.
 
Last edited:
I'll read it later, but it does give me another idea:

New POD is that Granada survives a little while longer, maybe even gets a little bigger. Jewish Columbus (or an OC Jewish navigator) convinces the Emir to sponsor an expedition. In return for his services, one colony is reserved for the Jews. The others will be Muslim.

But then for a plot twist, some time after the colonies get going, Granada is conquered by Spain. The Granadan colonies ally with the Ottomans, although they might be operating as sovereign nations or some sort of coalition. The Europeans get to work with the colonizing - maybe the Knights of St. John end up there instead of Malta - and things get hairy.

Finally, I have a tentative idea for a name for the Jewish colony: Zikron, from the Hebrew word for "remember". It ties into the cultural memory of Judaism. Zikron will be a nation that remembers its friends... and its enemies.
 
Last edited:
Avitus, those are some good points. I think you may be underestimating how much money Columbus could get from the Jewish merchants - remember how they dominated the banking industry at the time. And I had already thought of the slavery issue, and my solution is this: the Jews would be converting their slaves, particularly since they would be implementing the Talmudic code (which has complex and specific provisions for the treatment of slaves). You're right that in time, their community would no longer be ethnically Jewish, but it would be culturally and religiously Jewish.

Actually, by the time Columbus sailed the Jewish bankers had mostly been replaced by Italians, who had been inventing creative workarounds for usury since the 1200s, and actual merchants (as opposed to bankers) never were a particularly Jew-heavy class, so Jewish wealth in Christian Europe was at a decidedly low ebb in 1492.

Slavery issue has been resolved to my satisfaction.

Landing in the Carolinas is a bad idea (I say this as a man living in North Carolina). The coasts are marshy and lack good natural port facilities, while the climate is unsuitable to the growing of sugar, the foremost cash crop of the time, and the position of the region's mountains makes us prone to drought. We also lack major waterways. The Carolinas are nice enough after 1600 when tobacco growers can exploit the place and the native population has thinned, but this early the Carribean is where the money is.

Lastly, aligning with the Ottomans is a terrible idea for an Atlantic based colony, because the Ottomans can't project any meaningful force into the Atlantic themselves, and it provokes Christian Europe (which can project into the Atlantic) to attack. Even if the Ottomans can hurt Spain some, they can't stop Spain from sending out a ship or two to seize the colony, to say nothing of all the other Europeans who would love the chance to steal a colony that's already been started for them, and with the pope's blessing no less. France, England, or even Spain itself are all better allies for this colony than the Ottomans. Just convince any one of them that the colony is more profitable to them if left in Jewish hands and they would be happy to leave it alone or even protect it to an extent.
 
Actually, by the time Columbus sailed the Jewish bankers had mostly been replaced by Italians, who had been inventing creative workarounds for usury since the 1200s, and actual merchants (as opposed to bankers) never were a particularly Jew-heavy class, so Jewish wealth in Christian Europe was at a decidedly low ebb in 1492.

They were still pretty wealthy. Isaac Abrabanel alone was worth 600,000 crowns (he offered it to Ferdinand in hopes of preventing the Expulsion). I think they might have been able to offer up the cash to get the expedition going.

Landing in the Carolinas is a bad idea (I say this as a man living in North Carolina). The coasts are marshy and lack good natural port facilities, while the climate is unsuitable to the growing of sugar, the foremost cash crop of the time, and the position of the region's mountains makes us prone to drought. We also lack major waterways. The Carolinas are nice enough after 1600 when tobacco growers can exploit the place and the native population has thinned, but this early the Carribean is where the money is.

While I wouldn't argue with a local, I thought Charleston was a good natural harbor. I'll admit the main crop I'm interested in is Southern Live Oak. Maybe the Jews end up getting "stuck" with Charleston while their sponsor claims the Caribbean.

Lastly, aligning with the Ottomans is a terrible idea for an Atlantic based colony, because the Ottomans can't project any meaningful force into the Atlantic themselves, and it provokes Christian Europe (which can project into the Atlantic) to attack. Even if the Ottomans can hurt Spain some, they can't stop Spain from sending out a ship or two to seize the colony, to say nothing of all the other Europeans who would love the chance to steal a colony that's already been started for them, and with the pope's blessing no less. France, England, or even Spain itself are all better allies for this colony than the Ottomans. Just convince any one of them that the colony is more profitable to them if left in Jewish hands and they would be happy to leave it alone or even protect it to an extent.

The aligning with the Ottomans would only happen if war had already come. But if I could come up with a way to get Christian support, I would.

Hmm. Come to think of it, I've probably overlooked France. They were definitely less motivated by religion. They'd probably take the "we pay you tribute and fly your flag, you watch our backs and leave us alone" deal.

That said, the Granadan option is looking better. Especially if I can get things going a few years earlier, giving the colony more time to develop before the Ottoman-Spanish wars kick off.
 
Top