Portugal Decrees That Jewish And Dutch Settlers Have Three Months To Leave Brazil

The Inquisition responded to the Jews' prosperity in Dutch Brazil angrily. The Jews were accused for turning in Brazilian property for the Dutch "heretics". They were accused for being the utmost responsibles for the Portuguese political disaster during the Dutch regime in Brazil. Also, the rapid growth of the Jewish population in Pernambuco worried the Portuguese Christians. They wrote a letter in 1637 to the government requesting the immediate suspension of Jewish migration to the Captaincy. They called for the expulsion of all Jews and even accused some four "infamous" Jews of plotting a revolt of slaves. Even before the Portuguese regained the Dutch lands, many limitations have been imposed on Jews, "banning intermarriage, the building of new synagogues or charging more than 3 percent interest on loans." After the Portuguese got back the Dutch lands, in 1654, Jews fled to many other places. The New Christians, however, mostly stayed in Brazil and moved to the countryside, particularly into the the area which is now the State of Paraiba, to avoid the re-activation of the Inquisition in Recife. Nonetheless, inquisitors arrested and condemned many of these New Christians living in Northeast Brazil. Among the Jews that fled to the Caribbean and North America, 24 Jews arrived to New Amsterdam, which later became New York City, becoming the first Jews to arrive in the United States.

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