The ‘First Salute’ is a Jewish story
In 1777, St. Eustatius, like many Caribbean islands, had large Jewish populations. Many Jews fleeing European countries, particularly antisemitic oppression in Spain, Portugal and Eastern European countries, migrated to more favorable countries, such as Holland.
Many continued onto Caribbean territories to take advantage of trading opportunities. Positioned along favorable Atlantic trade winds between Europe and Africa and the Americas, the Caribbean islands were essential and lucrative shipping ports.
St. Eustatius became a strategic military position for shipping military support from European allies to the American revolutionary effort, including weapons and gunpowder.
“There have been books written about St. Eustatius and its role in the Revolution,” said Laura Arnold Leibman, professor of American Jewish Studies at Princeton University, who consulted on the Weitzman exhibition.
“Those books, weirdly, have not told much about Jews,” she said, “which we think was a huge missed opportunity.”