How Did the Role of the Jewish People Change During the Second Industri

The Jews in Europe were treated very poorly until a reform began in the late eighteenth century. The Jews lived in ghettos where they were not even considered citizens. The Jewish Enlightenment questioned this treatment. Emancipation is defined as, "the legal process, which began in Europe with the French Revolution, or granting to the jews equal civic rights in the countries in which they reside." The Jewish emancipation occurred during the Second Industrial Revolution due to the rise of nation-state and mercantilism (Calgary). The Jewish emancipation began at the end of the eighteenth century. It offered jews social, economic, and political opportunities, but it challenged traditional jewish life and values by making available new avenues of integration (Cornell). The Enlightenment was a "jewish ideological movement that aimed at modernizing Jewish life and thought" (Calgary). During the enlightenment some reforms were made. In 1782, Joseph II gave the Jews of the Habsburg Empire equal treatment as the Christians. France gave citizenship to Jews in 1789. Also during this time places such as Italy and Germany were treating Jews and Christians equally. An exception to the fair treatment was Russia. Russia continued to discriminate against Jews until World War I. The Russian government controlled the publication of Jewish books, the areas Jews could live in, and excluded them from receiving a higher education. The government even started riots in the Jewish communities. This was when many Jews decided to leave Russia and move to the United States. At the time they had all the legal rights as others, but they did encounter prejudice in the United States. Life seemed to improve greatly for t... ...ere treated equally in Europe made the transition more difficult when the discrimination began again. The treatment of Jews became very bad in the years preceding the First World War and they did not improve for many more years of pain and suffering. Borneman, John and Jeffery M. Peck. Sojourners. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,1995. Caron, V. Cornell University. March 1, 1998. www.cornell.edu/Academic/Courses97/csas/as1359.html. Colby University. March 3, 1998. www.colby.edu/personal/rmscheck/GermanyB4.html. Glatzer, Nahum Norbert. C.A.N.D.L.E.S. March 15, 1998. www.candles_museum.com/antsem.htm. Greenberg, Louis. The Jews in Russia. Ed. Mark Wischnitzer. New York: Schocken Books, 1976. Segal, Eliezer. University of Calgary. February 27, 1998. http://acs6.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/02_Emancipation.html.