From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America
Timeline 1700s

1492-1695 | 1700s | 1800s | 1900s | 2000s

Year	World Events	American Jewish Events	American Events
1700		Jewish population of America numbers between 200 and 300
1730		America's first synagogue, Shearith Israel (The Remnant of Israel) is built on Mill Street in Lower Manhattan
1733		Jews settle in Savannah, Georgia
1740			England grants naturalization rights to Jews living in the colonies
1749		Congregation Beth Elohim (The House of God) is founded in Charleston, South Carolina
1760	The Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, dies
1761		The first liturgy for the Evening Services for Rosh-Hashanah and Yom Kippur are published in New York
1763		The synagogue building of Congregation Jeshuat Israel of Newport, Rhode Island, (later known as the Touro Synagogue), the oldest synagogue building still in use in America, is dedicated
1770			Boston Massacre
1773			Boston Tea Party
1775		Francis Salvador, the first Jew to hold elective office in America, is elected to the South Carolina Provincial Congress	Paul Revere rides to alert fellow colonists that the British are coming
1776		Jewish population: between 1,000 and 2,500 (.04-.10 percent of the total population)	Declaration of Independence is adopted, proclaiming "all men are created equal"
1788		Jews are permitted to hold federal office	U.S. Constitution is ratified
1789	French Revolution	Gershom Mendes Seixas, prayer leader of New York's Jewish congregation, is invited to Washington's inaugural	George Washington is inaugurated president
1790		George Washington replies to Moses Seixas's letter on behalf of the Newport Hebrew Congregation using the off-quoted phrase that the United States government "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance"
1791	France grants Jews privileges of full citizens Tsarist Russia confines Jews to Pale of Settlement, an area roughly between the Black and Baltic seas		States ratify Bill of Rights, including First Amendment guarantee that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"
1793			Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
1799	Rosetta Stone is found in Egypt