British and Jewish: Jewish Women’S Quest for Britishness And
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BRITISH AND JEWISH: JEWISH WOMEN’S QUEST FOR BRITISHNESS AND JEWISH CIVIL AND POLITICAL EQUALITY IN BRITAIN, 1790-1860 by Ashley M. Cleeves A thesis submitted to Sonoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History ________________________________ Dr. Kathleen M. Noonan, Chair ________________________________ Dr. Michelle Jolly ________________________________ Dr. Cynthia Scheinberg ________________________________ Date Copyright 2011 By Ashley M. Cleeves ii AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in its entirety, without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorb the cost and provide proper acknowledgment of authorship. DATE: __________________ ____________________________________ Signature ____________________________________ Street Address ____________________________________ City, State, Zip iii BRITISH AND JEWISH: JEWISH WOMEN’S QUEST FOR BRITISHNESS AND JEWISH CIVIL AND POLITICAL EQUALITY IN BRITAIN, 1790-1860 Thesis by Ashley M. Cleeves ABSTRACT Purpose of the Study: In my thesis, I examine the role of Jewish women in British acculturation and political and civil emancipation efforts in the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century. Histories written in the last hundred years on Jews in nineteenth-century Britain have generally not included Jewish women. British women's historians have done considerable research on women's roles and participation in nineteenth-century British politics and society in the last thirty years, but they too have predominantly ignored Jewish women. Anglo-Jewish literature scholars have done important research in the past twenty years, using Jewish women writers and their works to examine gender, religion, and identity in Victorian Britain. While their research has focused on Jewish women, Anglo-Jewish historians have yet to incorporate literature scholars’ sources or conclusions into their own works. By including Anglo-Jewish women and integrating them into the past, my research will begin to fill the existing gap in the fields of Modern Anglo-Jewish and British history. Procedure: To demonstrate that Jewish women in Britain participated in acculturation efforts and in the political and civil emancipation movement between 1790 and 1860, I particularly look at middle- and upper-class Anglo-Jewish women writers, such as Grace Aguilar and Celia and Marion Moss. I draw primarily on these women’s poems, novels, and travelogues, as well as newspaper articles, letters, journal entries, and other primary sources of the time, for my research and evidence. I have also used secondary sources, research done by other historians and literature scholars, to argue and prove my thesis. Findings: A large part of being British in 1790 or 1800 was being Anglican, but by 1830 elite Jewish men and women had gained British identities. They became socially and culturally indiscernible from Protestant Britons, while remaining Jewish. Like middle- and upper-class Jewish men in Britain, Jewish women became British so they would gain all the rights and privileges of their class that came with Britishness, specifically citizenship and acceptance, which no Jews in Europe had at the time. What mattered more to Britons of the same economic class was wealth and culture, that Jews had the same amount of wealth and were culturally identical to them, rather than what religion they practiced. Evidence of that was elite non-Anglican Protestants and iv Catholics all having civil and political equality in Britain by 1830. They were considered British and included in the British polity, but despite their efforts, elite Jewish men and women were not. In order to be recognized as British by their government, elite Jewish women, along with Jewish men, took part in the Jewish emancipation movement and its debates on British identity and citizenship through written and public participation between 1830 and 1858. As a result of both sexes’ efforts, full British citizenship was granted to elite Jewish women and men in 1858, while Jewish men additionally gained full political rights. Conclusion: Middle- and upper-class Jewish women and men gained British identities befitting their economic class between 1790 and 1830 in order to be integrated into British society and culture and accepted by Christian Britons of their class. Anglo-Jews, both women and men, fought for inclusion, recognition, and acceptance in Britain between 1830 and 1858, and were successful in 1858. After all of their acculturation and emancipation efforts, elite Jews achieved Britishness, and were granted full civil and political rights as a result. Chair: ____________________________ Signature M.A. Program: History Sonoma State University Date: __________________ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Histories are not the sole product of the people writing them, and this one is no exception. First and foremost, I thank my thesis advisor and chair, Dr. Kathleen Noonan. Dr. Noonan has helped me gain the historical and writing skills necessary to work in the profession, while fostering my interest in Anglo-Jewish women during my time at Sonoma State University. I thank her for all of the support, help, and time that she has put into my research and writing, both in and out of the classroom and for this project and others. For all of that I am extremely grateful. I would like to thank Dr. Michelle Jolly for being a member of my thesis committee and for working with me during my Master’s program. Her enthusiasm and support helped me continue with this project even when I began to have doubts, while the writing and editing tools she has provided me have made this, and any future, project both a possibility and a reality. I also want to say thank you to Dr. Cynthia Scheinberg not only for sitting on my thesis committee along with Dr. Noonan and Dr. Jolly but for lending her expertise on Victorian Anglo-Jewish women writers to my thesis drafts which has strengthened my work. I want to acknowledge Dr. Randall Dodgen for the writing and editing help he has given me in his classes at Sonoma State University, which over the years have made me a better writer and historian, and I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Cynthia Scheinberg, Dr. Linda Colley, Dr. Michael Galchinsky, Dr. Nadia Valman, and Dr. Todd Endelman. Their collective works in the fields of Anglo-Jewish literature and Modern British and Modern Anglo-Jewish history sparked the ideas in my head as an undergraduate that led to this work, and for that I say thank you. To my friends and cohorts in the History Club, History 510, and History 597 at Sonoma State, I say thank you for all the much-needed trips to candy stores, museums, restaurants, and the campus pub, for the fun times, and for sticking with me during the length of this project when I was running on large amounts of stress and little sleep. I specifically want to thank my History 597 friends for being like the cast of Cheers. I enjoyed having a group of classmates and friends where “everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came,” and who also did not mind me quoting theme songs from 1980s television sitcoms. I appreciate you all putting up with my endless and never- ending thesis drafts last semester, and your suggestions, questions, and comments have all helped make my thesis what it is. Finally, I want to recognize my non-Sonoma State friends and family, especially my mom. Thank you for all of the love and support you all have provided me and for all the adventures and jalapeño poppers we have had over the years. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Introduction………………………………………………………………….....1 II. Chapter 1: Economics and Education…………………………...………...…..21 III. Chapter 2: Society and Culture…………………………………………..……45 IV. Chapter 3: Politics………………………………………………..……………67 V. Conclusion…………………………………………………………….........…97 VI. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………105 vii 1 Introduction Anglo-Jewish historians have interpreted Jewish emancipation (1828-1858) as a Jewish men's movement. Meanwhile Victorian women's historians have examined how and why British women became politically active during the Victorian period, but did not integrate Anglo-Jewish women into their histories.1 My work is important to the fields of Anglo-Jewish and British history because it integrates Jewish women into the history of emancipation and the broader world of Victorian politics. My objective is to bring these women, whose works and actions were almost forgotten, to the forefront.2 Anglo-Jewish women did in fact have a public role in the Jewish emancipation movement, and their participation and efforts, along with Jewish men’s, led to Anglo-Jewish political and civil emancipation in 1858. The Anglo-Jewish communities of 1790 and 1860 were two very different communities. There were twelve to fifteen thousand Jews living in Britain at the beginning of the nineteenth century.3 Most lived in London, and except for the small 1 See pages 12-20. 2 Michael Galchinsky, "Engendering Liberal Jews: Jewish Women in Victorian England," in Jewish Women in Historical Perspective (Second Edition), edited by Judith R. Baskin (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1998), 208-209. 3 Todd M. Endelman, The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002), 41. Anglo-Jewish historian Todd Endelman nicely explained why Jewish historians use the terms 'Anglo-Jewish' or 'Anglo Jews' when referring to