A Passover-Themed Post
Researching some basic Bolivian history for my Lithium article (I'm working on the second draft after having finished my first rough version last week), I stumbled upon a quick Exodus-like legend.
The city I'm currently residing in, Santa Cruz, was founded in the early 1500s. The Spanish had just started enslaving local populations and exploiting Andean silver mines to underwrite the Empire's currency. While Jews were being prosecuted at home and exiled during the Spanish Inquisition, fleeing opportunists arrived in Bolivia to cash in on Potosí's silver wealth. At the time, Potosí (the mining town I visited earlier in my trip) was the richest and most populous New World city. Along a major Spanish export route from Potosí to Buenos Aires, a large Jewish population settled and fed off of the Spanish silver wealth. They called this new city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
*Relying on Wikipedia and Blogs, I still need to fact check this, but either way, it's a perfect Passover- themed story.
The city I'm currently residing in, Santa Cruz, was founded in the early 1500s. The Spanish had just started enslaving local populations and exploiting Andean silver mines to underwrite the Empire's currency. While Jews were being prosecuted at home and exiled during the Spanish Inquisition, fleeing opportunists arrived in Bolivia to cash in on Potosí's silver wealth. At the time, Potosí (the mining town I visited earlier in my trip) was the richest and most populous New World city. Along a major Spanish export route from Potosí to Buenos Aires, a large Jewish population settled and fed off of the Spanish silver wealth. They called this new city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
*Relying on Wikipedia and Blogs, I still need to fact check this, but either way, it's a perfect Passover- themed story.
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