American Jews, The Civil War, And The Fight To End Slavery (with Richard Kreitner)

What you'll learn

• 1 (00:07) **Introduction & Guest Background** - Richard Kreitner introduces himself and explains how he became interested in Jewish abolitionism.
• 2 (05:50) **Historical Context: 1848 to the Civil War** - The political struggle over slavery from the 1848 revolutions through the 1850s and into the Civil War.
• 3 (08:31) **The Jewish Community in 1850s America** - Demographics, geography, and the absence of a unified community position on slavery.
• 4 (10:57) **Why Most Jews Stayed Away from Abolitionism** - The vulnerable position of a small immigrant community facing nativism and a Christian-inflected abolition movement.
• 5 (13:46) **The Six Central Figures** - Overview of the characters who represent the full spectrum of Jewish political and religious positions.
• 6 (16:52) **Ernestine Rose: The Atheist Abolitionist** - A rabbi's daughter who became a radical activist while remaining defined by her Jewish background.
• 7 (18:49) **David Einhorn: The Radical Reformer Who Fled for His Life** - A rabbi whose anti-slavery stance in Baltimore forced him to flee a lynch mob.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app