The first concerns burial practices observed in Charleston. Not uniquely American by any means, but I think it's interesting to see that it was also practiced in America:
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The second is a joke at the expense of Quakers and Jews, although I think the Quakers come out a little better:
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Finally, although this has nothing do with America at all, here is a 1739 mock advertisement by Jonathan Swift in the Gentleman's Magazine for a work on "Composing and Resolving Anagrams," written "by a Professor of universal learning, and a descendent of the renown'd cabalist Rabbi Levi ben Iarchi."
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"Terra sancta" is still a custom at Shearith Israel.
ReplyDeleteA nice little book which mentions the subject is "Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian" by James T. de Kay.