There is some evidence that Christopher Columbus may have been of Jewish ancestry, and may have been motivated to find a Jewish haven. The ostensible motive was finding a new route to Asia. There was profit to be made in trade, but the overland route was problematic. Every little ruler and warlord along the way wanted tribute or worse.
But new distribution networks normally do not move us to set off in 3 rickety wooden boats pointed towards
terra incognita, then listed on maps as
hic sunt dracones ("here be dragons.") So a higher motive is at minimum very plausible.
In 1654, 23 Jewish refugees from Recife, Brazil arrived in NY (then New Amsterdam). They were not exactly welcomed with open arms by the Dutch. But in 1664, the Brits took control of NY. It happened that Charles II had just issued an edict granting full citizenship to Jews, which applied to those in NY. From that time forward, Jews in America generally had full rights, including voting and holding public office.
Brown U. historian Gordon S. Wood writes: "[George] Washington went out of his way to make Jews feel they were full-fledged Americans." In 1790, President Washington wrote a famous letter to Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island.
https://www.tourosynagogue.org/histo...ning/gw-letter
Quote:
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“May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants.”
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All of this should be kept in mind in this era where some would like to drag USA backwards. (Disclosure: I am not of Jewish ancestry, raised Protestant, but entirely non-religious now).