They Came for Good - A History of the Jews in the United States - Present at the Creation, 1654-1820

Actor: Amram Nowak
Studio: SHANACHIE
Category: DVD

List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $9.86
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 6 reviews
Sales Rank: 65762

Format: Black & White, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 60 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.5

UPC: 016351098498
EAN: 0016351098498
ASIN: B00005A1TG

Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Release Date: April 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new and factory sealed. Most orders shipped within 24 hours directly from our warehouse.
They Came for Good - A History of the Jews in the United States - Present at the Creation, 1654-1820

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Customer Reviews

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5 out of 5 stars They Came for Good    July 21, 2008
Phyllis H. Pajka
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

The second in a series of the History of the Jews coming to US. I bought this for one of the troops I support. He had requested it and I was glad to find it.


5 out of 5 stars Very Important Documentary    January 18, 2008
Kay Ross (Banning, CA United States)
They Came for Good, a history of the Jews from 1654 to 1820 in the United States, is an important documentary. I appreciate all of the research that was done to produce this DVD. I will definitely recommend it to others.


4 out of 5 stars A video history of Jews in the U.S. (part 1 of 2)    March 3, 2007
Kim Boykin (New York, NY)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This hour-long video is the first part of a two-disc series on the history of Jews in the United States. This part covers the period from 1654, when the first Jews arrived in North America, to 1820, the beginning of the massive wave of Jewish immigration from Germany and Central Europe. (The second part, "Taking Root," covers the period from 1820 to 1880.) Both parts are informative and interesting.

One complaint: Like another reviewer, I found it strange that the film refers to North America prior to European colonization as "empty" and "unexplored." Also, one commentator in the film says that "there was very little anti-slavery sentiment in the colonies," but I imagine there was plenty of anti-slavery sentiment among the slaves, who constituted something like fifteen percent of the population by the time of the Revolution.

Chapter titles:
- 23 Brazilian Jews land on Manhattan
- Asher Levy fights for equal rights
- First Jewish synagogue built in 1720
- Rhode Island welcomes Jewish settlers
- Jews and the Revolutionary War
- Influence of Mordecai Manuel Noah
- Rebecca Gratz's life of public service
- Uriah Levy versus the U.S. Navy
- Next exodus of European Jews begins

Another good video on Judaism in the U.S. is "A Life Apart: Hasidism in America." And an excellent book on the history of Judaism in the U.S. is Jonathan Sarna's "American Judaism: A History."


3 out of 5 stars Lots of good info, but a glaring error    November 24, 2002
6 out of 11 found this review helpful

This documentary is filled with lots of good information and many interesting stories. I learned much from it. However, at one point, the narrator refers to North America at the time of European colonization as an "Empty Continent". Such a gaff calls into question the perspective of the entire program. In describing the oppression of the Jewish people and their struggle to overcome it, the program does an immense disservice to that struggle by implicitly denying the oppression of another people - an oppression that all Europeans contributed to.


4 out of 5 stars A historical documentary worth seeing.    April 27, 2001
Dr Abdelfattah Toukan (Amman,Jordan)
9 out of 14 found this review helpful

A documentary of the Jewish history during and after the creation of the United states of America.

It speaks about the role of the Jews in the American life and history.

Whether during the constitution or civil war they were always there as American Jews. Soldiers ,philosphers ,lawyers and economists .

A worth watching tape.