Zion on Grand Island: America’s Almost Jewish Homeland

July 03, 2026
00:00 24:20
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In this episode, we follow a strange line from Lydia Maria Child’s The American Frugal Housewife into one of the oddest and most fascinating episodes in early American religious history. Mordechai Manuel Noah, one of the most prominent Jewish Americans of the early 19th century, imagined Grand Island in the Niagara River as Ararat, a city of refuge for the Jewish people. The plan failed almost immediately, but it still reveals an early form of proto-Zionism and the complicated place of religious minorities in the American project. #HistoryOfThePapacy #JewishHistory #AmericanReligiousHistory #GrandIsland #Zionism #Israel #ChristianZionism #Jewish #Judaism #MiddleEast #Palestine #MordechaiManuelNoah #ReligiousHistory #EarlyAmerica #HistoryPodcast

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Music Provided by:
"Sonatina in C Minor" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
"Funeral March for Brass" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
"Crusade Heavy Perfect Loop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Agnus Dei X - Bitter Suite Kevin MacLeaod (incomptech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Meet Your Host
Steve Guerra is a historian and podcaster who hosts three different shows. He started with the History of the Papacy Podcast in 2013. In 2017, Steve began Beyond the Big Screen, a podcast that delves into the fascinating stories behind films through lively interviews. His newest show, Organized Crime and Punishment, takes a deep dive into the roots, evolution, and impact of organized crime across different cultures and countries.
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