Jews and Judaism played a significant role in the history of the expansion of Europe to the west as well as in the history of the economic, social, and religious development of the New World. They played an important role in the discovery, colonization, and eventually exploitation of the resources of the New World. Alone among the European peoples who came to the Americas in the colonial period, Jews were dispersed throughout the hemisphere; indeed, they were the only cohesive European ethnic or religious group that lived under both Catholic and Protestant regimes, which makes their study particularly fruitful from a comparative perspective. As distinguished from other religious or ethnic minorities, the Jewish struggle was not only against an overpowering and fierce nature but also against the political regimes that ruled over the various colonies of the Americas and often looked unfavorably upon the establishment and tleration of Jewish communities in their own territory. Jews managed to survive and occasionally to flourish against all odds, and their history in the Americas is one of the more fascinating chapters in the early modern history of European expansion.

When Columbus arrived in the Americas there were, it is believed, as many as 2,000 distinct, mutually unintelligible tongues spoken in the western hemisphere, encompassing the entire area from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. This astonishing fact has generally escaped the attention of historians, in part because many of these indigenous languages have since become extinct. And yet the burden of overcoming America's language barriers was perhaps the one problem faced by all peoples of the New World in the early modern era: African slaves and Native Americans in the Lower Mississippi Valley; Jesuit missionaries and Huron-speaking peoples in New France; Spanish conquistadors and the Aztec rulers. All of these groups confronted America's complex linguistic environment, and all of them had to devise ways of transcending that environment - a problem that arose often with life or death implications. For the first time, historians, anthropologists, literature specialists, and linguists have come together to reflect, in the fifteen original essays presented in this volume, on the various modes of contact and communication that took place between the Europeans and the "Natives." A particularly important aspect of this fascinating collection is the way it demonstrates the interactive nature of the encounter and how Native peoples found ways to shape and adapt imported systems of spoken and written communication to their own spiritual and material needs.

When Columbus arrived in the Americas there were, it is believed, as many as 2,000 distinct, mutually unintelligible tongues spoken in the western hemisphere, encompassing the entire area from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. This astonishing fact has generally escaped the attention of historians, in part because many of these indigenous languages have since become extinct. And yet the burden of overcoming America's language barriers was perhaps the one problem faced by all peoples of the New World in the early modern era: African slaves and Native Americans in the Lower Mississippi Valley; Jesuit missionaries and Huron-speaking peoples in New France; Spanish conquistadors and the Aztec rulers. All of these groups confronted America's complex linguistic environment, and all of them had to devise ways of transcending that environment - a problem that arose often with life or death implications. For the first time, historians, anthropologists, literature specialists, and linguists have come together to reflect, in the fifteen original essays presented in this volume, on the various modes of contact and communication that took place between the Europeans and the "Natives." A particularly important aspect of this fascinating collection is the way it demonstrates the interactive nature of the encounter and how Native peoples found ways to shape and adapt imported systems of spoken and written communication to their own spiritual and material needs.

This impressive volume shows that the history of minorities - specifically that of a diaspora - can open up completely new perspectives on the 'great' questions and developments of general history." . Zeitschrift fur Geschichtswissenschaft ..". this magnificent and much-needed volume ... is remarkably free, factual or interpretive." . American Jewish History "The age-old tension between value-free history and history with a moral is implicit throughout this fine volume." . The Jerusalem Report "A substantial contribution to the scholarship on Indian Native-American]-European relations ... Specialists will find new nuggets to challenge existing interpretations, while readers new to the topic will find useful introductions and more detailed case studies that give some idea of the current issues under scholarly debate. All readers will experience the benefits of looking at one topic comparatively across vast amounts of space and time." . Itinerario Jews and Judaism played a significant role in the history of the expansion of Europe to the west as well as in the history of the economic, social, and religious development of the New World. They played an important role in the discovery, colonization, and eventually exploitation of the resources of the New World. Alone among the European peoples who came to the Americas in the colonial period, Jews were dispersed throughout the hemisphere; indeed, they were the only cohesive European ethnic or religious group that lived under both Catholic and Protestant regimes, which makes their study particularly fruitful from a comparative perspective. As distinguished from other religious or ethnic minorities, the Jewish struggle was not only against an overpowering and fierce nature but also against the political regimes that ruled over the various colonies of the Americas and often looked unfavorably upon the establishment and tleration of Jewish communities in their own territory. Jews managed to survive and occasionally to flourish against all odds, and their history in the Americas is one of the more fascinating chapters in the early modern history of European expansion. Paolo Bernardini was a Fellow of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study and of the Royal Historical Society. Currently he is Resident Director of the Padova Program, Boston University. Norman Fiering is the author of two books that were awarded the Merle Curti Prize for Intellectual History by the Organization of American Historians and of numerous articles. Since 1983, he has been Director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University."

In January 1804, the once wealthy colony of Saint-Domingue declared its independence from France and adopted the Amerindian name "Haiti." Independence was the outcome of the extraordinary uprising of the colony's slaves. Although a central event in the history of the French in the New World, the full significance of the revolution has yet to be realized. These essays deepen our understanding of Haiti during the period from 1791 to 1815. They consider the colony's history and material culture; its "free people of color"; the events leading up to the revolution and its violent unfolding; the political and economic fallout from the revolution; and its cultural representations.

Simon Bolivar was without a doubt the most famous and most controversial leader of the Spanish American wars of independence. Much is known of his biography: he led an army that liberated an expanse of South America equivalent to that conquered by Napoleon; crafted the union of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador into the republic of Gran Colombia; outlined the plan for a defensive league of former Spanish-American colonies; and wrote the first Bolivian constitution. He also died in exile after the rejection of his arbitrary and dictatorial rule in Colombia. This volume takes a step back from both glorification and vilification to reassess Bolivar's life and legacy. A distinguished group of historians takes a fresh look at the impact of "the Liberator" as warrior, political thinker and leader, internationalist, continentalist, reformer, and revolutionary. They make a powerful statement about the importance of biography and the relevance of the individual in explaining historical events. A balanced yet critical appraisal of Bolivar's role in the Spanish-American wars of independence, this in-depth collection offers a persuasive explanation of why the Bolivarian legend and cult has persisted. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Simon Bolivar-the man and the legacy. Contributions by: David Bushnell, German Carrera Damas, Simon Collier, Judith Ewell, Ivan Jaksic, Lester D. Langley, John V. Lombardi, Karen Racine, Frank Safford, and Hermes Tovar Pinzon