How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

The Continuation of the Laws of Jamaica, Passed by the Assembly, And Confirmed by his Majesty in Council, December 26th 1695. Being the Second Volume of the said Laws.
London: Printed for Charles Harper, and Samuel Crouch, 1698. First edition. Folio. (iv), 101, (3) pp. Full contemporary brown calf, stamped in blind, boards worn, scuffed, dry, and soiled, spine and joints dry and worn; all edges trimmed; ink stamps of the Library of the New York Law Institute on title-page and Index. ESTC R42084

One of the earliest printed references in English to members of a Jewish community living in the new world, listing them by name in the collected volume of laws of Jamaica. On pp. 8-10 is printed, "be it further Enacted and Ordained by the Authority aforesaid, that the Nation and People of the Jews Residing within this Island, Pay or cause to be Paid, toward the Raising of the said Sum of Mony (sic)...the full Sum of Seven Hundred and Fifty Pounds Currant Mony of this Island, to be rated, Assessed, Taxed, Collected and Paid in by Solomon Ararii, Jacob de Leon, Moses Toiro, Jacob Mendez Guteres, Jacob Henriques, Jacob Rodrigues de Leon, Moses Jesuram Cardoso, Samuel Gabay, Jacob Lopes Torres, Isaac Coutinho, Isaac Nunes Gonsales and Abraham Nunes..."

While Jews, or those of Jewish descent, had been living in Jamaica since at least the 16th century, mainly of Portuguese and Spanish descent, it was not until the English capture of the island in 1655 that a more organized and intentional community began to take root. Other Jewish communities in the New World had sprung up earlier in the 17th century, among the first considered to be in Recife, Brazil in the latter 1630s, with others in Barbados, Suriname, and Martinique, but it was Jamaica that increasingly became a safe haven for them to openly practice their faith and customs, attracting settlers from Europe and elsewhere. Bolstering this emigration was the island’s religious tolerance, and the English Crown’s granting of citizenship. As the above law demonstrates though, while the Jewish community maintained civic rights, they were nonetheless discriminated against and taxed at a higher rate than their Christian neighbors. The above act relates to the repulsion of a French attack on the island in 1693, with four thousand pounds being subsequently levied, a fifth of which was requisitioned by the Jewish community on the island, and to be paid by their wealthiest and most prominent members (the 12 listed). Failure to pay by the designated date would result in a fine, the confiscation of slaves or other property, or arrest. Other similar taxes followed in the years hence. Despite this oftentimes onerous taxation, the Jewish community continued to thrive, reaching nearly 3,000 in the early 18th century.

Rare. ESTC locates only two other copies, at Harvard University and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.