8/13/2019 Hebrews of the Caribbean
2/3
new nation of *merica
:is ships sailed from !hode &sland to uracao, )arbados, and
Surinam in the aribbean5hese Jewish merchants operated a triangular
trade
Sla(es were ta.en from *frica to the West &ndies and were
traded for molasses 5hemolasses was shipped to the olonies
@"ewport, harleston, Sa(annahA and con(erted torum 5he rum and
manufactured goods were shipped bac. to *frica
&n Surinam alone, there were nearly 100 Jewish families by
1700 5hey owned more than60 estates and ,000 sla(es )y 1730, Jews
owned 118 plantations and dominated thesugar e port business which
sent out 21,B 0,000 pounds of sugar to 9uropean and "ewWorld
mar.ets annually
O+ ,A+- # RA !S
5he most infamous and feared Jewish pirate predated the aribbean
and plundered the)arbary oast @"orth *frica A :e was Sinan $the
reat Jew,$@d 186BA !edbeard s second
in command Sinan was such a s.illed na(igator that he was
belie(ed to be a practitionerof the )lac. *rts :e successfully led
B,000 troops against the Spanish fortress at 5ripoli,Libya :e $put
the garrison %%all sa(e a few %% in chains, and carried them off to
grace histriumph $
*nother lesser .nown, but nonetheless daring pirate, was /oses
ohen :enri'ues &n1B2 , :enri'ues 4oined forces with *dmiral
-iet :ein who was with the ?utch West&ndies o 5he duo was able
to pull off a gold and sil(er heist from the Spanish "a(y9mboldened
by the raid, :enri'ues and :ein continued raiding Spanish ships off
the
uban coast 5hey successfully relie(ed the Spaniards of the old
and Sil(er that was bound for the "ew World
* short time after, :enri'ues led a Jewish contingent to )ra=il
where he established hisown pirate island /oses also became an
ad(isor to :enry /organ, arguably one of themost famous pirates of
all time /oses :enri'ues managed to e(ade capture throughouthis e
ploits and was ne(er held to answer for his crimes
!A* /A' !
Jean Lafitte s family name was was Lefitto 5he Lefitto family
li(ed in the &berian-eninsula for generations Jean and brother
-ierre were born in -ort%*u%-rince, Saint?omingue and raised by
their Sephardic Jewish grandmother
?uring the "apoleonic period, Lafitte relocated to +rench Santo
?omingo until a sla(erebellion forced him to flee to "ew
#rleans
Jean and his brother -ierre sailed the ulf of /e ico and learned
to na(igate the ma=e ofwaterways 4ust below the city of "ew #rleans
9(entually, he became a pirate, but healways called himself a
pri(ateer because that label has a more legal ring to it
:e carried a letter from artagena, @.nown today as olombiaA
authori=ing Lafitte andhis buccaneers @.nown as the )aratarians
because of the area where they operatedA to
8/13/2019 Hebrews of the Caribbean
3/3
capture Spanish ships and ta.e any goods and sla(es on board
:owe(er, the $ artagenaLetter$ was not recogni=ed by the >nited
States, and Lafitte and his 1,000 followers werenot welcome in the
>nited States
&n 1 18, Lafitte warned the *merican forces that the )ritish
would attac. from the ulfof /e ico :e .new this because he had been
approached by the )ritish first *ndrew
Jac.son accepted Lafitte s help?espite o(erwhelming manpower on
the )ritish side, the ragtag irregular army of
eneral Jac.son was (ictorious eneral Jac.son saw that Lafitte
was pardoned for hisacts of piracy, and made his family > S
iti=ens +or all of his heroics or (illainy, he isre(ered to this
day as an *merican hero
