‘American history is not somebody else's history’

Brandeis Stories

'American history is not somebody else's history'

By Judy Jaeger
June 16, 2026

Jonathan D. Sarna '75, MA'75, H'25, is University Professor and the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History Emeritus at Brandeis University. He also is the past president of the Association for Jewish Studies and Chief Historian of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, where a new exhibit - "The First Salute" - presents the role Jews played in the American Revolution. Sarna and Elisha Gordan '25, who also worked on the exhibit, recently spoke to approximately 120 alumni and friends at a special Brandeis event on June 7 at "The First Salute" exhibit. Guests included members of every Brandeis decade from the 1950s up to the incoming class of 2030, members of the Brandeis National Committee and parents.

The first salute, Sarna explains, harkens back to a book by historian Barbara Tuchman and refers to the Andrew Doria, an American vessel that came to the port of St. Eustatius, a Caribbean Island with a Jewish community that played an outsized role in the American Revolution. The ship, which arrived post-Declaration of Independence, saluted the port, and the port saluted back. That was the first time that the United States received a salute from a foreign power, Sarna says.

Here, Sarna discusses "The First Salute" exhibit and argues "it's very important for American Jews to know that American history is not somebody else's history. It's their history, too."

Tell me about "The First Salute" exhibit at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History - what story does it tell?

The exhibit talks about a small, largely forgotten Caribbean Island named St. Eustatius that played an oversized role in the American Revolution. On St. Eustatius about 30 percent of the white population was Jewish. It had a synagogue; it was a much more significant Jewish community than any of those in the American colonies.

St. Eustatius was a Dutch colony. The Dutch, at that time, were antagonistic to the British and were very happy to help the Revolution. St. Eustatius became a very significant smuggling arena for the American troops. They needed materiel, weapons, clothing and so on, and a lot of it came from St. Eustatius.

St. Eustatius really becomes important for another two reasons.

First, Admiral Rodney, the British Admiral, believed that if it had not been for St. Eustatius, and what it was doing, the British would have defeated the colonists a long time before. He invaded St. Eustatius and despoiled its Jews. He exiled all the Jewish males - and we have descriptions of the cruelty used - because he was absolutely persuaded that they were hiding lots of money. Every pillow was cut through, and all the men were stripped so that they could be searched, and so on.

Then two other things happened. The first is it was the rule in England that you could keep most of what you despoiled if you were an admiral. He sticks it all on a boat, but the boat was captured by the French. But even more important, Rodney was so busy despoiling Jews on St. Eustatius, he didn't pay sufficient attention to blocking the French fleet from supplying the American troops. Indeed, the French fleet kind of goes around Rodney, and sails into Yorktown. And that, some historians believe, is why the British had to surrender.

The exhibit tells us about the Jews who fought in the Revolution and then loops forward to themes that are going to be very important in making America the largest and greatest diaspora Jewish community in the world today. It had its beginnings in 1776, even though it's in the 19th and early 20th centuries that so many Jews are going to make the decision to make America their home. So, all three of those themes - the First Salute, the Jews who contributed to the Revolution struggle, and the long-term implications of the American Revolution upon Jews - are in the exhibit, and I hope people will visit.

What are some of the interesting artifacts and first-person accounts in the exhibit that help bring this piece of history to life?

We have two letters from Jonas Phillips, who was a Jew and a leader. One, he is sending his relative, Gumpel, in Holland. He writes him a letter in Yiddish and sends along a copy of this new Declaration of Independence. The letter describes that the Revolutionary forces have broken away from England, and he thinks that they have a good chance of winning, but the most important part is that there's a lot of money to be made from trading with the New Nation. Anyone who reads it can see he means smuggling in goods.

Long-term, European Jews learn about America, and the possibilities of America - a land where a Jew who works hard and enjoys good luck can leap from rags to riches - from letters like this. That is its historical significance and why letters like this going back to 1776 are so important.

Jumping forward, exactly one letter was sent to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, concerning religious liberty. It came from the same, Jonas Phillips, by then a leader in the synagogue, and asking for what he calls equal footing for the Jewish community. In other words, no Christian oaths, and no discrimination against non-Christians. That, too, is very important and a reminder of the key role that Jews played. Which was to ensure rights for non-Christians.

The proof of that in the exhibit is also George Washington's letter in 1790 to the Jews of Newport. What's important in that letter is not just the promise of 'to bigotry, no sanction. To persecution, no assistance' - but the other thing in the letter which people don't pay sufficient attention to is the idea that in America, we're not just talking about toleration as John Locke did. Toleration, Washington understands, implies that one group gets its rights "by the indulgence" of another.

He insists, by contrast, that religious liberty is "an inherent natural right." That's important because it totally distinguishes what happens in America from emancipation in Europe. In Europe, it's a quid pro quo. We'll give you rights, but you've got to change. And if you don't change, we take your rights away.

Washington is saying that when the Declaration of Independence refers to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, liberty embraces religious liberty. That's what made America different when it came to Jews. Religious liberty can never be taken away.

What has been your role in mounting this exhibit?

I've been the chief historian of that museum for decades. We had a small committee of scholars: Myself, Professor Laura Leibman of Princeton University, and Professor Pamela Nadell of American University, and we made suggestions about content. We carefully reviewed captions and made sure about historical accuracy.

It so happened that when the exhibit got going, the head of the museum asked me, 'do you have any good students who can work on this?'

Providentially, that week a student who was graduating mid-year, Elisha Gordan '25, came to see me looking for a job.

Elisha had not only taken my course in American Judaism, but the next year as a senior, he helped in the administration of the same course as an undergraduate teaching assistant. Then I discovered that he lived in Philadelphia as well!

It couldn't be a better example of what President Levine now wants, that students come out of the university with practical experience as well as humanities training. Elisha, now on his CV, can talk about his experience working as a researcher on that exhibit. He was able to do that because of what he learned working on the exhibit and what he had studied at Brandeis, where he majored in history and Jewish studies.

Why is this piece of history important to bring forward and make known?

It's a complete mistake to imagine that, 'Oh, there weren't any Jews in America back then.' There not only were Jews, but they made a difference. Moreover, one can see certain themes already emerging in 1776 that explain how America became the central diaspora community so many years later.

That really is a reminder of the founders' sense that this was going to be a land of many faiths and no faiths. Thomas Jefferson explicitly in his arguments in Virginia says, it does me no harm if you have 20 gods or no god. That was absolutely heretical to a believer in the Ten Commandments and to many Christians. But in many ways, the founders came to believe that that would not only be best for the country but would be best for religion as well.

What do you hope visitors take away from "The First Salute?"

That they'll learn something new about St. Eustatius, and put American history in a larger transnational context, and remember that others (like the Jews in Holland and St. Eustatius) helped.

That they'll learn about aspects of Jewish history that are not in most textbooks. About Jews at the time of the Revolution, Jews in the Caribbean, and future themes in American Jewish life.

And I hope they will glimpse at themes that help to explain what subsequently happens and explain why, perhaps two generations later, somebody might have said, 'yeah, I'll make a new start in America. I'll immigrate.' Millions of European Jews came to America - they didn't go to Greenland. Why? I think this exhibit begins to show how ideas about America, about religious liberty, about opportunity, began in 1776 and proved impactful for generations afterward. It's quite astonishing.