they not just ran the transatlantic slave trade, ran the plantations and cotton and sugar industries etc. but also owned a disproportionately large amount of slaves themselves. In 1860, the peak of slavery, the total free population of the United States and its territories was 27,489,561. A total of 393,975 people owned 3,953,760 slaves. http://www.civilwarhome.com/population1860.htm http://www.civil-war.net/pages/1860_census.html **That's just 1.4% of the total population that owned slaves** While 40% of jews in the US owned slaves. Pic related. This is a jew source. Other sources have it MUCH higher (85%+). There were 200,000 jews in the US in 1860. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-population-in-the-united-states-nationally 40% of 200,000 = 80,000 So around 80,000 jews owned slaves. 393,975 - 80,000 = 313,975 non-jews owned slaves. 80,000 jew slave owners 313,975 non-jew slave owners Thus, at a minimum, well over 20% of all US slave owners were jews, despite being statistically insignificant 0.7% of the population at the time. The actual percentage was likely much higher.