Mordecai Manuel Noah (July 14, 1785, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – May 22, 1851, New York) was an American sheriff, playwright, diplomat, journalist, and utopian. He was born in a family of Portuguese Sephardic ancestry. He was the most important Jewish lay leader in New York in the early 19th century, and the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence. His politically motivated reviews blasting plays and performers "of colour" at William Brown's African Grove Theatre led to his identification as the originator of the stereotypical black portrayed in American minstrel shows and as "the father of Negro minstrelsy". Career Noah engaged in trade and law. After moving to Charleston, South Carolina, he dedicated himself to politics. Racial politics Noah was a vocal proponent of slavery in the United States in the mid-1800s. Noah wrote that "To emancipate the slaves would be to jeopardize the safety of the whole country." The Freedom's Journal called Noah "the black man's bitterest enemy" Noah wrote a play called Fortress of Sorrento which was poorly reviewed and never staged by a white theater. However, the African Grove Theater staged and performed it. Being associated with the African-Americans whom he had dubbed eternal slaves made Noah very angry. He raided the theater, declared it illegal, and denounced black Americans as unfit to vote or hold office. Diplomat In 1811, he was appointed by President James Madison as consul at Riga, then part of Imperial Russia, but declined, and, in 1813, was nominated Consul to the Kingdom of Tunis, where he rescued American citizens kept as slaves by Moroccan slave owners. In 1815, Noah was removed from his position; in the words of U.S. Secretary of State James Monroe, his religion was "an obstacle to the exercise of [his] Consular function." The incident caused outrage among Jews and non-Jews alike. Noah sent many letters to the White House trying to get an answer as to why they felt his religion should be a justifiable reason for taking the office of Consul away. He had done well as consul and had even been able to accommodate the United States' request to secure the release of some hostages being held in Algiers. Noah never received a legitimate answer as to why the White House took the office of Consul away from him. The lack of a response worried Noah, as he was concerned that his removal