In 1990 the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 57,985,595 people in the United States claimed some measure of German ancestry. This makes up almost a quarter of the U.S. population. German immigration started as early as 1607. The first three Germans to migrate to the U.S.
were, F.Unger, H. Keffer, and F. Volday who were followers of Captain John Smith who settled in Jamestown, Virginia. They started the first German colony, known as the damned dutch. From 1820-1970 they estimated about 6.9 million Germans came to the U.S. which were 15% of the total immigrants. The peak years of migration were 1854, when 215,000 people arrived, and 1882, when 250,000 people arrived.
Approximately 90 percent of all the people leaving Germany between 1835 and 1910 came to the United States. World Wars I and II interrupted the immigration of Germans to America. After World War I immigration picked up again from bad economic conditions in Germany, but during World War II there were immigration restrictions placed on Germans. The Germans emigrated to the U.S. for different reasons being that German immigrants were the most diverse in background of all major immigrant groups. The availability of land and the desire for religious freedom drew the first Germans to America. Germans were victims of overpopulation in the wine growing regions.
This caused too much competition for land and jobs. Plus the land wasnt too fertile, and the harsh winter of 1708-1709 forced people to leave. The taxes were high, and the people couldnt afford to pay. America was often advertised in Germany as In America everything is great! It was true to people looking for a lot of fertile land for not a lot of money. In 1829, a German named Gottfried Duden, who had spent three years living in Missouri, published a report praising the new land, where food and property were cheap, nature was beautiful and life was easy. This report enticed thousands of Dudens countrymen-including well-educated aristocrats, Other Germans left for religious reasons. Several groups among the mid-nineteenth century German immigrants saw America as a safe haven for religious freedom.
The Term Paper on United States Immigrants Immigration Americans
The end of the civil war and the beginning of the industrial revolution started an increase of immigration into the United States because of a need for low paid workers. Immigrants from around the world fled to America taking valuable jobs away from American citizens. This great amount of immigration halted the development of black improvement. The fault lies not on the immigrants, who sought out ...
About ten thousand Jews came to the United States from Bavaria in 1839 to escape the social and economic restrictions placed on Jews. Soon Jews from other German states followed. Around 1840, a number of Lutherans came as a result of their opposition to the forced unification of the Lutheran and Reformed churches by the state of Prussia. In the late 1870s, many Catholics, especially priests and nuns, left to escape Otto von Bismarcks anti-Catholic campaign, known as the kulturkampf. Leaving Germany was not hard to do, but the ride to the new world was, and it was expensive. Many Germans came to America as redemptioners. They were unable to pay for their own transportation, so they agreed to redeem their fare after arriving in America by being auctioned off as servants. Often times families would be split up.
The people would work as servants usually for about seven years, without pay, for people who would reimburse their transportation costs. After seven years, the people were free to leave and establish themselves on the frontier by farming. For children, the time for which they served was much longer. If they were separated from their parents, they were required to work up until they were twenty-one. If a husband or a wife died on the trip, the survivor had to pay or else serve out their spouses obligation. Even worse, if a childs parents died, they must serve out not only their term, but both parents terms as well.
German-speaking people have been in the U.S. for more than three hundred years. Lacking political unity, they were only united by culture and language. At first it was especially the language that separated German immigrants from their British counterparts. At the end of the Revolutionary War, it was even suggested that German be the new language to separate us from Britain. At that time 225,000 people were of German descent out of about three million.
The Essay on Hitler's Policies Were A Success For German People During The 1930s
I agree to a large extent that Hitler’s policies were a success for German people during the 1930s. Hitler’s economic and education policies were a success but his anti-Jewish policy/policy of using violence and intimidation was a failure. Hitler’s economic four-year plan in 1936 emphasized rearmament and the production of local substitutes for raw materials. Hitler’s first ...
As time went on German communities were all speaking English, because it was the native tongue, and people needed English to make economic advancements. Efforts to keep German culture alive lasted very shortly as the Americanization took over. Germans did contribute many familiar words into the English language such as blitz, kaffeeklatsch, kindergarten, pretzel, sauerkraut, and weiner. Also many towns in the U.S. and Canada are named after places in Germany, like; Heidelberg, Mississippi, Potsdam, New York, Berlin, Wisconsin, Bismarck, North Dakota, Bernardsdorf, Massachusetts, Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and German Americans for the most part are completely assimilated into the cultural mainstream of America. Being that today twenty-three percent of the population claims some German descent, proves almost total assimilation and exogamy.
Germans used to be found settling mainly in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio. They formed what was known as the German Triangle. Today New York still has a percentage of Germans(22%) and California are the most German populated states in the nation. Other states that have a high German community are Texas, and New Jersey. Throughout history Germans have experienced a degree of economic success, and tend to be more conservative. When Germans first came they were traditionally farmers.
Others were musicians, artists, and teachers. Soon Germans became involved in retail trading. They were involved as bakers, butchers, and especially bars. Germans established breweries, and German workers made the beer. Germans brought to America a taste for their national drink, beer. Today, Germans are found in all social classes, and at every aspect of the economic ladder.
Germans, traditionally took in high regard to education, introduced the first Kindergarten to the U.S. in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1855. Germans also promoted higher education by establishing free state universities, which would provide training in scientific and technical skills as well as the humanities at low prices. Michigan was the first state to establish such a system, and then Wisconsin. The Johns Hopkins University was also patterned on German universities. The German practice of research was stressed, and this set the pattern for graduated programs in America. The attitude toward Germans is positive being that most people have some German descent.
The Essay on The Grasslands Of North American Are Called As Prairies They
The grasslands of North American are called as prairies; they cover about 1.4 million square miles or 15% of the continent. They are widely scattered for about one thousand miles in the very center of North America, from the Rocky Mountains to Indiana. Accordingly to the amount of rainfall and temperature there are three types of prairies grasslands: tall grass prairie in the east, mixed grass ...
Germans felt some prejudice during World War I, when people called Germans Huns. They changed German-derived street names and even removed the books from famous authors from libraries. Americans refused to use the word sauerkraut and called it liberty cabbage. Hamburgers were called Salisbury steak, and dachshunds were called little liberty hounds. This prejudice was did not make sense as many of our army was of German descent, and served our country loyally and honorably. Our most famous American air ace was Eddie Richenbacher, who was German Americans make up the largest group of immigrants from one country. They have contributed in events ranging from the Revolutionary War to the building of the United States great cities.
They have been leaders and innovators like Carl Schurz, to Albert Einstein. They have had brilliant writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and Louise Erdrich, and extraordinary athletes such as Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig. German Americans have worked hard to become a part of the fabric of the United States, and make up some of the
Bibliography:
Works Cited Cook, Bernard.A. German Americans. Florida: Rourke Corporation, Inc., 1991. Furer, Howard.B.
The Germans in America 1607-1970. New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1973. Robbins, Albert. Coming to America. New York: Delacorte Press, 1981. Schouwiler, Thomas. Germans in America.
Minnesota: Lerner Publications Company, 1994..
