Immigration.

The first Jews arrived in New Amsterdam, which would later become New York City, in 1654. Stereotypes of Jews as money-hungry and miserable arose from prejudices based on Jewish prominence in money and banking in medieval Europe.

In the middle of the 17th century until 1830, the first immigration of Jews from Europe to the United States occurred. A second period, with a higher level of immigration, occurred between 1830 and 1880. During this period, most of the German Jews and other Jews from Western Europe arrived. The third and largest influx of Jews took place between 1880 and 1924, when the majority of Jewish immigrants came from Eastern Europe. The pursuit of religious and political freedoms, as well as economic opportunities, was an important factor during each of these periods.