{{Short description|Portuguese-born merchant, slave trader, and philanthropist}} {{for-multi|the PRI senator from Sinaloa|Aarón Irízar López|the former footballer|Aaron López (footballer)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Aaron Lopez | image = Aaron Lopez.jpg | image_size = 220 | caption = Mid-18th century portrait of Lopez | birth_name = | birth_date = 1731 | birth_place = Lisbon, Portugal | death_date = May 28, 1782 (aged 50-51) | death_place = Newport, Rhode Island | resting_place = Newport, Rhode Island | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = Merchant, slave trader | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | children = | parents = | relatives = }}
'''Aaron Lopez''' (born '''Duarte Lopez'''; 1731 – May 28, 1782) was a Portuguese-born merchant, slave trader, and philanthropist. Born in Lisbon into a ''converso'' family, he moved to British America, settling in the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Through his varied commercial ventures, Lopez became the wealthiest person in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1761 and 1762, Lopez unsuccessfully sued the colonial government of Rhode Island in an attempt to become a British subject.
==Early life==
Duarte Lopez was born in 1731 in Lisbon, Portugal.<ref name=Papers>{{cite web |url=http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=109195 |title=Guide to the Papers of Aaron Lopez (1731–1782) |access-date=September 29, 2018 |date=September 2017 |publisher=American Jewish Historical Society }}</ref> He belonged to a family of ''conversos'', Portuguese Jews whose ancestors had converted to Catholicism, although the family continued to practice Judaism in secret.<ref name=Feldberg-12/> In eighteenth-century Portugal, such families lived under the authority of the Inquisition, which investigated suspected “Judaizing,” including the private observance of Jewish rituals within the home. In 1750 Lopez married a woman named Anna, and within two years she gave birth to a daughter, Catherine.<ref name=Papers/> Anna died on May 14, 1762, at age 36. In the summer of 1763, Lopez took Sarah Rivera, the New York–born daughter of Jacob Rodriguez Rivera, for a wife. Sarah, 16 years Aaron's junior, would bear him 10 children.<ref>Chyet, 62</ref> Aaron's older brother José had left Portugal years earlier, settled in Newport, and began to openly practise Judaism, adopting the name Moses.<ref name=Papers/> Moses was naturalized in 1740 and granted a license by the General Assembly to make potash in 1753, and he became a successful merchant in Newport.<ref>Schappes, p. 573, citing Morris A. Gutstein, ''The Story of the Jews of Newport'' (New York: Block Publishing Co., 1936), pp. 55, 306.</ref> In 1752 Duarte and his family moved to Newport, where they were able to openly practice Judaism and reclaimed Jewish names, becoming Aaron, Abigail, and Sarah.<ref name=Papers/><ref>Kaplan, p. 13.</ref> This transition marked a shift from concealed religious life in Portugal to public participation in one of the largest Sephardic Jewish communities in British North America.
==Merchant and slave trader == [[File:Gilbert Stuart - Mrs. Aaron Lopez and Her Son Joshua - 48.146 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg|thumb|Lopez's wife and her son Joshua Lopez, painted by Gilbert Stuart]]
Lopez established himself as a shopkeeper in Newport shortly after his arrival. By 1755 he was buying and selling goods throughout Rhode Island and dealing with agents in Boston and New York.<ref>Kaplan, p. 18.</ref> One of Lopez's early business interests was the trade in spermaceti, a wax extracted from whale oil used in candle production. Lopez built a candle-making factory in Newport in 1756. By 1760, a dozen competitors had built similar plants in New England. Whalers could not supply the factories with enough spermaceti to meet demand, and the price of whale oil increased. In 1761, Lopez joined eight other merchants to form a trust to control the cost and distribution of whale oil.<ref>Kaplan, pp. 18–19.</ref> Lopez expanded his trade beyond the North American coastline and by 1757 had major interests in the West Indian trade,<ref>Schappes, p. 58.</ref> which was closely connected to plantation economies dependent on enslaved labor. He also sent ships to Europe and the Canary Islands.<ref>Kaplan, p. 19.</ref> Between 1761 and 1774, Lopez participated in the Atlantic slave trade as a financier and merchant investor.<ref>Friedman, pp. 123–127.</ref> Historian Eli Faber determined that Lopez underwrote 21 slave ships during a period in which Newport sent a total of 347 slave ships to Africa.<ref>Faber, p. 138.</ref> These voyages formed part of the triangular trade system, in which vessels carried goods from New England to the West African coast, where they were exchanged for captive Africans, who were then transported across the Atlantic in the Middle Passage and sold into slavery in the Caribbean and the Americas.<ref name="Eltis">David Eltis, ''The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas''.</ref> According to historical studies of the Middle Passage, enslaved Africans were typically confined in overcrowded ship holds for voyages lasting several weeks to months, with mortality rates on many voyages reaching 10–20 percent due to disease, malnutrition, and conditions aboard ship.<ref name="Eltis"/><ref>Stephanie E. Smallwood, ''Saltwater Slavery''.</ref> By underwriting such voyages, Lopez provided capital, supplies, and commercial backing that enabled these operations to take place. By the beginning of the American Revolution, Lopez owned or controlled 30 vessels engaged in European and West Indian trade and in whale fisheries.<ref>Jacobs, ''et al.'', p. 294.</ref> By the early 1770s, Lopez had become the wealthiest person in Newport; his tax assessment was twice that of any other resident.<ref name=Davis>{{cite web |url=http://www.projo.com/extra/2006/slavery/day2/ |title=Plantations in the North: The Narragansett Planters |access-date=May 11, 2008 |last=Davis |first=Paul |date=March 13, 2006 |work=The Providence Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315195226/http://www.projo.com/extra/2006/slavery/day2/ |archive-date=March 15, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Pencak, p. 88.</ref> His success was attributed to the breadth of his commercial activities, which included the manufacture of spermaceti candles, ships, barrels, rum, and chocolate, as well as investments in textiles, clothing, shoes, hats, and bottles.<ref>Kaplan, p. 21.</ref> These enterprises operated within an Atlantic trading system that included and profited from enslaved labor and slave-produced commodities such as sugar and molasses.<ref>Brown University, ''Slavery and Justice Report''.</ref> Ezra Stiles, the Congregational minister in Newport and future president of Yale College, described Lopez as "a merchant of the first eminence" and wrote that the "extent of [his] commerce probably [was] surpassed by no merchant in America".<ref>Marcus and Saperstein, p. 94.</ref> In the mid-1770s, with growing tensions between Britain and its North American colonies, Lopez's fortunes began to decline. The Continental Association enforced a boycott against trade with Britain. In October 1775, a Royal Navy force anchored outside Newport's harbour and the population began to evacuate the city. In early 1776 Lopez relocated to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, then to Providence, Boston, and finally to Leicester, Massachusetts. Historian Marilyn Kaplan describes Lopez's losses during the American Revolution as "monumental."<ref>Kaplan, p. 22.</ref>
==Philanthropy== thumb|Aaron Lopez painted by an anonymous 18th century American artist Lopez supported a number of charitable causes in Newport. He purchased books for the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. He contributed lumber to help build the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (which later relocated to Providence and eventually became Brown University),<ref>Pencak, p. 92.</ref> and he donated land to establish Leicester Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts. It has been said about him that he was 'a man of eminent probity and benevolence whose bounties were widely diffused, not confined to creed or sect.'<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hJBOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA313|title=The Narragansett Historical Register: A Magazine Devoted to the Antiquities, Genealogy and Historical Matter Illustrating the History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ...|date=1885|publisher=Narragansett Historical Publishing Company|page=313|language=en}}</ref>
Lopez was a leading contributor who helped build the Touro Synagogue, and he was given the honor of laying one of its cornerstones.<ref>Pencak, p. 95.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fau.edu/library/brody7.htm |title=Aaron Lopez - Merchant King Who Kept The Revolutionary Army Supplied |access-date=May 11, 2008 |last=Brody |first=Seymour |year=1996 |work=Jewish Heroes and Heroines in America from Colonial Times to 1900 |publisher=Florida Atlantic University Libraries |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517040213/http://www.fau.edu/library/brody7.htm |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }}</ref>
During the American Revolution, Lopez harbored Jewish refugees in his Leicester home. Referring to those sheltered by Lopez, a friend wrote in jest that "your family at present are in a number only 99 and still there is room for one more".<ref>Pencak, p. 100.</ref>
==Citizenship== In 1761, Lopez applied to the Rhode Island Superior Court to become a naturalized citizen.<ref name=Feldberg-12/> Under the Naturalization Act 1740, any foreign Protestant who had resided in Britain's American colonies for seven years could become a British subject; while Catholics were excluded by the law, special provisions were allowed for the religious scruples of both Quakers and Jews. Although he met the conditions set by law, Lopez's request was denied by the colonial government of Rhode Island.<ref>No record of the decision has survived, so the court's rationale is unknown. Feldberg, p. 12.</ref> Another qualified Jew, Isaac Elizer, was also denied citizenship.<ref name=Feldberg-12>Feldberg, p. 12.</ref><ref name=Smith-3>Smith and Sarna, p. 3.</ref>
Lopez and Elizer appealed to the Rhode Island General Assembly. The lower house approved their request and required that the men return to the Superior Court to take an oath of allegiance, but the terms of their citizenship would be limited: Jews could become citizens of Rhode Island, but they would not be allowed to vote or serve in public office.<ref>Feldberg, pp. 12-13.</ref>
Lopez and Elizer fared worse in the upper house of the legislature. There they were told that the British Parliament had given the courts, not the legislature, jurisdiction over naturalization. If they wished to become citizens, Lopez and Elizer would have to appeal to the Superior Court.<ref name=Feldberg-13>Feldberg, p. 13.</ref>
The Superior Court heard the pair's appeal on March 11, 1762. Their application was denied a second time. The court reasoned that the 1740 act was intended to increase the population of the colony, and since the colony had grown crowded the law no longer applied. The court also noted that under a 1663 Rhode Island law, only Christians could become citizens.<ref>According to Marcus and Saperstein, the law was enacted around 1699, not 1663 (p. 93).</ref> Lopez and Elizer could not become citizens of Rhode Island.<ref name=Smith-3/><ref name=Feldberg-13/><ref>Marcus and Saperstein, pp. 92–93.</ref>
Determined to become a citizen, Lopez made inquiries to learn whether he could become naturalized in another colony. In April 1762 he moved temporarily to Swansea, Massachusetts.<ref name=Feldberg-13/> On October 15, 1762, Lopez became a citizen of Massachusetts and then returned to Newport. Historians believe Lopez was the first Jew to become a naturalized citizen of Massachusetts.<ref>Marcus and Saperstein, p. 92.</ref>
==Death== On May 28, 1782, while returning with his family from Leicester to Newport, he drowned when his horse and carriage fell into a pond.<ref>Marcus and Saperstein, pp. 94–95.</ref><ref>Pencak, p. 109.</ref> He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Newport.<ref>Jacobs, ''et al.'', p. 295.</ref><ref>Marcus and Saperstein, p. 95.</ref>
==See also== {{Portal bar|United States|Rhode Island|Judaism|Biography}} * History of the Jews in Colonial America * Jewish views on slavery * List of Rhode Island slave traders
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Chyet |first=Stanley F. |title=Lopez of Newport: Colonial American Merchant Prince |year=1970 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |location=Detroit |isbn=0-8143-1407-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/lopezofnewport00stan }} * {{cite book |last=Faber |first=Eli |title=Jews, Slaves, and the Slave Trade: Setting the Record Straight |year=1998 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-8147-2638-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/jewsslavesslavet00fabe }} * {{cite book |editor-last=Feldberg |editor-first=Michael|title=Blessings of Freedom: Chapters in American Jewish History |year=2002 |publisher=American Jewish Historical Society |location=New York |isbn=0-88125-756-7 |chapter=Aaron Lopez's Struggle for Citizenship }} * {{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Saul S. |title=Jews and the American Slave Trade |url=https://archive.org/details/jewsamericanslav0000frie |url-access=registration |year=1998 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, N.J. |isbn=0-7658-0660-6 }} * {{cite book |last=The Historical Research Department of the Nation of Islam |title=The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews |year=1991 |publisher=Latimer Associates |location=Chicago |isbn=0-9636877-0-0 }} * {{cite book|last=Jacobs|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Jacobs|author2=L. Hühner|author3=Max J. Kohler|editor=Isidore Singer|editor-link=Isidore Singer|editor2=Cyrus Adler|editor2-link=Cyrus Adler|title=Jewish Encyclopedia|access-date=May 11, 2008|year=1906|publisher=Funk & Wagnalls|location=New York|chapter=Newport|chapter-url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=N&artid=257}} * {{cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Marilyn |editor=George M. Goodwin |editor2=Ellen Smith|title=The Jews of Rhode Island |year=2004 |publisher=Brandeis University Press |location=Waltham, Mass. |isbn=1-58465-424-4 |chapter=The Jewish Merchants of Newport, 1749–1790 }} * {{cite book |last=Marcus |first=Jacob Rader |author-link=Jacob Rader Marcus |author2=Marc Saperstein |title=The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book, 315–1791 |orig-year=1983 |year=1999 |publisher=Hebrew Union College Press |location=Cincinnati |isbn=0-87820-217-X |chapter=Rhode Island Refuses to Naturalize Aaron Lopez, March 1762 |url=https://archive.org/details/jewinmedievalwor00marc }} * {{cite book |last=Pencak |first=William |title=Jews & Gentiles in Early America: 1654–1800 |year=2005 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor, Mich. |isbn=0-472-11454-9 }} * {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Ellen |author2=Jonathan D. Sarna |author2-link=Jonathan Sarna |editor=George M. Goodwin |editor2=Ellen Smith|title=The Jews of Rhode Island |year=2004 |publisher=Brandeis University Press |location=Waltham, Mass. |isbn=1-58465-424-4 |chapter=Introduction: The Jews of Rhode Island }}
==Further reading== * {{cite journal |last=Bigelow |first=Bruce M. |date=October 1931 |title=Aaron Lopez: Colonial Merchant of Newport |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=IV |issue=4 |pages=757–776 |doi=10.2307/359587 |jstor=359587 }} * {{cite book |last=Gutstein |first=Morris Aaron |author-link=Morris Gutstein |title=Aaron Lopez and Judah Touro: A Refugee and a Son of a Refugee |url=https://archive.org/details/aaronlopezjudaht00guts |url-access=registration |year=1939 |publisher=Behrman's Jewish Book House |location=New York |oclc=2848361 }} *{{Cite journal |last=Platt |first=Virginia Bever |author-link=Virginia Bever Platt |date=1971 |title=Tar, Staves, and New England Rum: The Trade of Aaron Lopez of Newport, Rhode Island, with Colonial North Carolina |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23518220 |journal=The North Carolina Historical Review |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |jstor=23518220 |issn=0029-2494}} *{{Cite journal |last=Platt |first=Virginia Bever |date=1975 |title="And Don't Forget the Guinea Voyage": The Slave Trade of Aaron Lopez of Newport |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1919556 |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=601–618 |doi=10.2307/1919556 |jstor=1919556 |issn=0043-5597|url-access=subscription }} * {{cite book |last=Schappes |first=Morris U. |editor=Morris U. Schappes |title=A Documentary History of the Jews of the United States 1654-1875 |orig-year=1950 |year=1976 |publisher=Schocken Books |location=New York |isbn=0-8052-0488-1 |chapter=Merchant in Exile }}
==External links== *{{Cite web |url=http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=109195 |title=Guide to the Papers of Aaron Lopez (1731-1782), 1752-1794, 1846, 1852, 1953 P-11 |editor-last=Snyder |editor-first=Holly |editor2-last=Elder |editor2-first=Tanya |website=Center for Jewish History |access-date=August 16, 2018 |editor3-last=Lang |editor3-first=Leanora}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Aaron}} Category:1731 births Category:1782 deaths Category:18th-century American Sephardic Jews Category:18th-century American slave traders Category:18th-century Portuguese businesspeople Category:American people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Category:Brown University people Category:Businesspeople from Lisbon Category:Deaths by drowning in Rhode Island Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States Category:Immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Category:Portuguese emigrants to the United States Category:Portuguese slave owners Category:Portuguese slave traders Category:History of slavery in Rhode Island