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OK, I think I actually have a semi-plausible method for creating a Jewish colony in the New World. Our POD is that Christopher Columbus is Jewish. Basically, I took the "Columbus was a Converso" theory and ran with it.

This has no impact until 1492, when Columbus is trying to convince Ferdinand and Isabella to fund his New World expedition. When he learns of the Expulsion Edict, he withdraws his offer. He offers an excuse, but his real reason is anger over the decision. He then has the idea to get backing from the Jewish merchants, particularly those about to be expelled from Spain. His thinking is to make contact with Jewish merchants in China (in OTL he had expected to encounter them) and possibly establish a safe haven for Jews to emigrate to.

Columbus departs maybe a year or two later than in OTL, and his expedition is essentially a private venture. This would necessitate him (or, more likely, one of his backers) inventing the shareholding corporation a century or two early, but I think a bright merchant could come up with the basic concept easily. Most of his crew are Jews. He arrives somewhere in the New World (exact location TBD), and establishes an outpost as in OTL. While he still wants to find China, he also figures that since not many people are living here, he could set up a Jewish colony.

Now, the hard part for this to succeed is that Columbus has effectively founded an independent Jewish city-state in the New World. The danger is that someone (probably Spain, maybe Portugal) would come in with a fleet and conquer it. It'll take time for the colony to be in a position to defend itself, even with heavy Jewish immigration (which will happen - you tell a bunch of Jews in late medieval Europe that there's a Jewish city-state out there, and I guarantee you a lot of them will start packing). There might be a short-term solution of concealing its exact location, but sooner or later, the Europeans will find out. The question is, once Spain finds out, will they want to go after it, and how long before they do?

If the colony survives, they will have a lot of incentive to sabotage European colony efforts. This won't stop them, but it will slow them down. In particular, I was planning on having Cortez fail. This would delay Spain getting access to the New World gold and silver mines right as things are heating up in the Mediterranean with the Barbary Corsairs. Without that New World wealth, Spain may be unable to maintain a strong navy, which could lead to Spain losing Ceuta and Mellila and/or an Ottoman victory at Malta... which could in turn open the way for an Ottoman colony in the New World.

I've given some thought to how a Jewish colony in the New World might behave. While they wouldn't have much interest in evangelizing, all that means is that any natives who get in their way are either killed or pushed out, like what happened to the Canaanites in the Book of Joshua. They'd probably have a merchant republic style of government. Their legal system would be based on Jewish law, but they'd probably have a nice amount of religious toleration (mostly to avoid giving the Europeans an incentive to "liberate their oppressed brethren").

Thoughts? Commons? Criticism?
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