What was the attitude of southern Jews toward slavery?

Answer 1

This is a very complicated question. Jews in the south were a small minority in a predominantly Christian part of the country, and many Jews seemed to feel it was best to keep quiet about social issues or risk being persecuted themselves. There have been a few sources that claimed Jews were widely involved in the slave trade, but these sources have been shown to be biased and inaccurate. However, there is certainly reliable evidence that many southern Jews accepted the social norms of the south, and did not object to slavery; and there were also a small number who did keep slaves. (Jewish historians find this period in history very troubling, and several good books about it have been written. Eli Faber's "Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade" might be a good place to start.)

Historians, both Jewish and Christian, have noted that while a small number of Jews were participants, most southern Jews were not slave-owners. We also know that some of the Jews who did own slaves were not comfortable with the idea, and arranged for them to be set free after the owner had died. And finally, we know that certain rabbis did speak out against slavery, and risked becoming very unpopular for doing so. However, the truth is that like most southern Christians, southern Jews did not say much in public about slavery, and generally did not take a stand about it one way or the other.