ABSTRACT
The decade of the 1820s saw the development of a truly American Jewry. Although such present-day terms as assimilation, outreach, and doing your own thing were unheard of, their effect was present. In 1820, for the first and last time until our own generation, the majority of American Jews were English-speaking, many of them second- and even third-generation (or more) Americans. Some of them had the time and the means to advance themselves culturally and educationally. Their interests extended beyond making a livelihood. In minuscule, they were a generation of American Jews with some resemblances to our own. They were busy exploring ways of adjusting to their environment, concerned with their identity as Jews, and anxious to help their less fortunate Jewish brethren overseas.
