The California gold rush enticed many Jewish merchants west in search of prosperity in the mid-19th century, but their success drew unwelcome attention from state legislators, who passed laws requiring all businesses to close on the Christian Sabbath. Meanwhile, in the early Jim Crow South, Jewish peddlers and landowners faced resentment and violence, sometimes lethal.

Featuring: Jeremy Zeitlin, David Sehat, Rachel Kranson, Zev Eleff, Jonathan Sarna, and Patrick Mason

Narrated by Mark Oppenheimer

Written by John Turner and Lincoln Mullen

This series is made possible with support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the David Bruce Smith Foundation.

Antisemitism, U.S.A. is a production of R2 Studios at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.