CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Mazza, Emily Alyse |
|---|---|
| Title | Assimilation and Tradition: American Jewish Responses to the 1911 Abrogation of the Russo-American Commerce Treaty |
| Summary | In 1911, U.S. Congress voted to abrogate the Russo-American Commerce Treaty of 1832. This treaty originally guaranteed that American businessmen living and working in Russia and Russian businessmen living and working in the United States would be granted the rights and privileges of the local citizens. However, at the dawn of the twentieth century it became evident that Russia was categorically denying visas to American Jewish businessmen. This led to the American Jewish Committee launching a campaign in the United States to abrogate the treaty with Russia on the grounds that Russia was violating the terms and disrespecting the American passport and, ultimately, the institution of American citizenship. One important element of this plan was a press campaign. This thesis examines the English-language and Yiddish-language press to compare the responses to abrogation across diverse Jewish communities in the United States. While this work focuses on a particular historical event, it also uses this moment to explore on a broader scale how Jews wrote about their relationship to their own Jewishness and Americanization across political, religious, and linguistic lines. |
| Supervisor | Iordachi, Constantin and Wilke, Carsten |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/mazza_emily-alyse.pdf |
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