German Immigrants
Reasons for Immigration
German immigrants were among the first Europeans to set foot in North America. They helped establish England’s Jamestown settlement in 1608 and the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam--now New York--in 1620. German adventurers could be found roaming the farthest reaches of the New World for many years afterward. It was religious tolerance, though, that first brought large numbers of Germans to North America.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, many European powers forced their subjects to follow an official state religion. Therefore, when William Penn toured Germany in 1677, spreading the word of a new kind of religious freedom in the American colonies, he found a receptive audience. Many Germans, especially Protestants, were persuaded to join him in his colony of Pennsylvania. Members of smaller sects, who were often persecuted in Europe, were especially eager to escape harassment, and German Mennonites, Quakers, and Amish emigrated in substantial numbers.
By the middle of the 18th century, German immigrants occupied a central place in American life. Germans accounted for one-third of the population of the American colonies, and were second in number only to the English.
By far the largest number of German immigrants went to America in search of an improved standard of living. German immigration boomed in the 19th century. Wars in Europe and America had slowed the arrival of immigrants for several decades starting in the 1770s, but by 1830 German immigration had increased more than tenfold. From that year until World War I, almost 90 percent of all German emigrants chose the United States as their destination. Once established in their new home, these settlers wrote to family and friends in Europe describing the opportunities available in the U.S. These letters were circulated in German newspapers and books, prompting "chain migrations." By 1832, more than 10,000 immigrants arrived in the U.S. from Germany. By 1854, that number had jumped to nearly 200,000 immigrants.
German Customs and Practices
As Germans became one of the predominant immigrant groups of the 19th century, it was only natural that they would come to have a powerful influence over the development of American culture. Some German contributions to U.S. life are easy to pinpoint--sauerkraut, for example, or the tuba, or the national fondness for light, fizzy beer. However, the German influence on life in the United States runs much deeper, influencing many of the institutions, traditions, and daily habits that many today think of as being quintessentially American.
For example, the U.S. education system, from the lowest grades to the highest, would be unrecognizable without ideas championed by German immigrants. German culture has long cultivated a strong commitment to education, and Germans brought this dedication with them to their new home. In 1855, German immigrants in Wisconsin launched the first kindergarten in America, based on the kindergartens of Germany. Germans introduced physical education and vocational education into the public schools, and were responsible for the inclusion of gymnasiums in school buildings. More important, they were leaders in the call for universal education, a notion not common in the U.S. at the time.
Traditions that one many think of as being fundamentally American, as being part of the nation's heritage since time immemorial, were either introduced or popularized by German immigrants in the 19th century. Several of the most familiar elements of the American Christmas celebration, from the Christmas tree to the gift-giving Santa Claus, were gifts from the Germans, as was the Easter bunny.
Products brought to the United States from Germany
Some of the foods and products that came to America from Germany are, chocolate, hot dogs and many other sausages, the hamburger, the Christmas tree, and sauerkraut. These are just a few of the contributions German Americans have made to our culture.
