The German Spirit of America

Among the many immigrants who came to the British colonies of North America in the newly created United States, about 150,000 came from German - speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. They made up the largest European group to emigrate to these colonies, and their numeric primat has continued throughout the XIX century and much of the XX century. About 350,0004 colonial immigrants and many others in the post-independence period settled in Philadelphia; most remained in Pennsylvania or the vicinity of the state, where family life was shaped Pennsylvania Dutch, meaning a specific culture of German brand. As a group, these migrants and their heirs contributed significantly to plasma the demographic, economic, political, social, and cultural effects of the British colonies before and of the following United States. There were protagonists of crucial stages of American history, among which the conquest of territories inhabited by American natives, slavery, fighting for (or against) independence. As immigrants, many made wealth in new lands, many others did not. At some given at least, they were the foreman of millions of other Europeans who later came to North America. In the colonial era and in the first period of independence, these immigrants built and maintained a special ethnic identity, particularly based on language, religion, and settlements, as results in partly evident today.

The Old World that immigrants left behind was made up of customs, beliefs, and reports that continued to inform the lives of immigrants even after they were placed in the ocean. In the colonial era, the majority of German - speaking immigrants came from the southwest German territories along its Rin and Swiss cantons. The years ranging from 1714 to 1792 were years of relative peace and prosperity for these lands after decades of disastrous wars. In the 18th century, social changes occurred: the growing rural population faced lack of land, while modern states were coming to structure themselves. Agrarian reforms and development of rural manufacturing partially improved living conditions. Many young people found work as villagers and artisans in an attempt to increase their income in these difficult times. Others opposed the aristocrats, who sought to deny agreements made in the XVIth century, in the time of Bauernkryg (the peasant revolution that caught fire between 1524 and 1526 in the Holy Roman Empire). These villagers, many of whom were noble servants, were very clear about their rights and were willing to protect them. Many Swiss villagers and southwestern German territories did what individuals and families had done for centuries in difficult times: leaving their homes and lands in search of a better future. Many of those who migrated to faraway lands went to Eastern Europe, especially Russia, new territories acquired by Prussia or Banat, Transylvania, Hungary, and elsewhere in the South East. For centuries, in difficult times the villagers of the South West had emigrated to Eastern Europe and continued to do so during the 16th century. It was only after the Nazi wars that North America became a destination for most German immigrants. However, beginning at 7000, in the South German West and Switzerland, it was the voice that North America, especially Pennsylvania, was another good option. As tens of thousands of villagers began to emigrate across the country by relying on family networks, village or religious. Letters and books from America describing wide open spaces and relative freedom regarding a reduced government presence attracted many villagers, who chose for a drastic choice in the attempt to give a turn to their lives.

While many immigrants were absorbed in the new context, relatively quickly losing their identity, remaining European, and immersed in the vast and miniature landscape of America, many others created communities with a well-designed ethnic profile. Most of them were in Pennsylvania, but as the state was torn apart by continued migration and natural growth, many Germans (or Teutschen, as they called themselves), began to establish new colonies elsewhere, some pushing as far as North and South Carolina. Family, village, and religion remained the fundamental canons of these settlements, which recreate communities of immigrant origin on American soil. Although less than 10% of new arrivals belonged to small groups of radical Pietists (such as the Amish, Mennonites or Moravians), these small minorities remained stubbornly united. In addition, the new Calvinist and Lutheran communities created in the colonies attracted many immigrants and their descendants, though from other continents and emigrated for different motives from religious ones. The result was the creation of stable German communities, which exercised strong religious influences in the large, composite American universe. The 16th century British America was presented to immigrants from Central Europe as land of opportunity, but in reality mass migration made the new environment extremely competitive. In fact, who did and who failed in the New World? Those who succeeded were those who brought with them considerable wealth (that is, a small minority) and who followed a so - called <x0) collective strategy»; and who came to poor believed only in his own forces, so he stayed well behind. Those who trusted in the family network, territorial and religious, had the advantage of receiving direct support, including helpful and detailed advice on how to emigrate, where to report to authorities, how to handle other crucial issues of life in an unknown environment. On the contrary, many of those who emigrated outside these networks became forced laborers, wanting them to work for years in half - slave care to pay their debts before they sought luck. Most former servants considered this situation a safe prospect of bankruptcy in America, while those who reached with little or nothing, but could count on support, enjoyed loans and favourable work conditions in their debut. For these people, social climbing was a tangible option. Over 40% of immigrants were women or girls. While in most cases men chose to emigrate to America to seek some form of opportunity or freedom, many women set out because their husbands, fathers, or other male figures wanted them with them. In addition to hard work, this represents another major element in a phenomenon, that migraine, often considered «rium «, ». For example, in 1739 a Lutheran woman named Maria Barbara Knoll arrived in a Morvian community near Frankfurt after enjoying her style of life and the opportunities this context offered to women. But as soon as he entered it, the leaders of the group married a doctor who needed a woman and was destined for a mission to America. It was a specific standard of the Moravians that was sent across the country, when possible, married couples, so Knoll was found in America in pursuit of her husband and her will. Moreover, the displaced women were more vulnerable, especially if they were not well integrated into a family network or another type. In 1738 Maria Barbara Kobe emigrated with their newly married husband and child to Pennsylvania. He lost his son on the journey, and after arriving, the couple failed to raise the money needed to pay their debts, so that both of you were sold as servants to two different masters. Kober had a difficult life as a servant away from Philadelphia, and only many years later she learned that her husband had died a few days from separation. At times, however, migration to America could be liberating for women, especially if patriarchal asphyxiating structures left behind and avoided falling back into similar conditions in the new context. In most cases, migrants and their daughters contributed widely to the growth of America's ethnic culture, regardless of whether they wanted to be found there or not.

The contribution of immigrants to the politics and political culture of the North American colonies and then to the United States was considerable. Left behind populated and controversial territories, they supported policies that facilitated the purchase and payment of land, not even its protection from American indigenous peoples, bureaucracy, and speculators. In the wake of the war for independence, these immigrants sought naturalisation to seal their property rights and voted on politicians who guaranteed them. The war itself represented an event of exceptional political importance for German immigrants, as did all other settlers. They had to make a basic choice: join the rebellion, support the monarchy, or stay out. The last option resulted unfollowable, as many became legalists, while many others joined the rebels. In Pennsylvania they played a central role in the radical push, which in 1776 produced one of the most democratic constitutions ever written. On the other side of the barricade, 30,000 German soldiers fought alongside British troops, suffering terrible losses. Of these, 5,000 defected and passed to Americans, remaining in the new country as <x0-migration». Between the end of 700 and the beginning of 8000, German culture and society thrived in the United States, continuing to prosper in the 20th century. In 1790 almost all immigrants and their descendants spoke German at home and in public, married other Germans, and went to German churches. Most of them lived in German neighborhoods. The German press was widespread and growing, while numerous Lutheran and Calvinist churches formed their clergy. Although the subsequent immigration wave from Germany far exceeded that original, German culture has survived and still exists in many respects today. Lutheran, Calvinist, or Moravian churches still exist and celebrate their history, though no longer in German. Amish and Mennonites have spread from Pennsylvania to Midwest, preserving their folklore (including German). In the colony and at the dawn of the republic, many Germans have contributed to the creation of a new, different and competitive America. In doing so, they are unabated by their origins. So, in a sense, it's America that's become a little German.