Rodney persecutes St Eustatius's Jewish community

Rodney arrived with names of merchants believed to have aided the Americans. Most of the intended targets are described as Jewish, while the island's Jewish community formed about ten percent of the population; this does not imply that every Jewish resident supported the rebellion. After the capture, Rodney treated Jewish merchants more harshly than French, Dutch, Spanish, or American merchants. He imprisoned adult Jewish men and took personal possessions because he believed the community had helped finance the American war. Antisemitism is presented as a possible contributing factor whose period language is difficult to weigh, while the discriminatory conduct itself is clear. Contemporaries criticized his actions, Rodney worried that they set a precedent the French might copy, and he survived parliamentary censure in a vote described as following party lines.