Cotton Capitalists - 9781479879700

Cotton CapitalistsAmerican Jewish Entrepreneurship in the Reconstruction Era\nAuthor(s): Michael R. Cohen\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: New York University Press, United States\nImprint: New York University Press\nISBN-13: 9781479879700, 978-1479879700\nSynopsis\nHonorable Mention, 2019 Saul Viener Book Prize, given by the American Jewish Historical Society\n A vivid history of the American Jewish merchants who concentrated in the nation's most important economic sector\n In the nineteenth century, Jewish merchants created a thriving niche economy in the United States' most important industrycottonpositioning themselves at the forefront of expansion during the Reconstruction Era. Jewish success in the cotton industry was transformative for both Jewish communities and their development, and for the broader economic restructuring of the South. Cotton Capitalists analyzes this niche economy and reveals its origins. Michael R. Cohen argues that Jewish merchants' status as a minority fuel.