Contents
German American
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Deutschamerikaner
Frederick Muhlenberg · Carl Schurz · John D. Rockefeller
Marlene Dietrich · John Pershing · Herbert Hoover
Dwight D. Eisenhower · Babe Ruth · Albert Einstein
Norman Schwarzkopf · Wernher von Braun · Henry Kissinger
John Steinbeck · H. L. Mencken · Leonardo DiCaprio
Total population
German Americans
50,271,790
16.5% of the US population (2008) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Throughout the United States. Especially the The Midwest and Pennsylvania[2][3]
Languages
Religion
Christian:
Protestant (Lutheran, Reformed, Mennonite, Amish, and others)
Roman Catholic
Jewish
Others
Related ethnic groups
Ethnic Germans
Austrian Americans
Danish Americans
Norwegian Americans
Swedish American
Dutch American
German Mexican
German Canadians
German Brazilians
German diaspora
German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner) are Americans of German descent. They form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, outnumbering the Irish and English.[4][5] They account for 50 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population.[6] California and Texas have the largest populations of German origin, although upper Midwestern states, including North Dakota and Wisconsin, have the highest proportion of German-American population.[4]
None of the German states had overseas colonies, so not until the 1680s did the first significant groups of German immigrants arrive in the British colonies, settling primarily in New York and Pennsylvania. Immigration continued in very large numbers during the nineteenth century, with some eight million arrivals from Germany. They were pulled by the attractions of land and religious freedom, and pushed out of Europe by shortages of land and religious or political oppression. Many arrived seeking religious or political freedom, others for economic opportunities greater than those in Europe, and others simply for the chance to start fresh in the New World.
German Americans have been influential in almost every field, from science to architecture, industry, sports, entertainment, government, and the military. German-American Generals John Pershing, Dwight Eisenhower, and Norman Schwarzkopf commanded the United States Army in the First World War, the Second World War, and the Persian Gulf War respectively. Many German-Americans have played a prominent role in industry and business, including names like William Boeing, Walter Chrysler, and Donald Trump. Some, like Brooklyn Bridge engineer John A. Roebling or architect Walter Gropius, left behind visible landmarks. Others, like Albert Einstein and Wernher von Braun, set intellectual landmarks. Still others, like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jack Nicklaus, Doris Day, and Leonardo DiCaprio became prominent athletes or actors.[7]
German-Americans established the first kindergartens in the United States, [8] introduced the Christmas tree tradition, [9][10] and originated popular American foods such as hot dogs[11][12] and hamburgers.[13][14][15][16] German-Americans have also dominated beer brewing for much of American history beginning with breweries founded in the 19th century by German immigrants Eberhard Anheuser, Adolphus Busch, Adolph Coors, Frederick Miller, Frederick Pabst, and Joseph Schlitz.[17]
German-American celebrations are held throughout the country, one of the most well-known being the German-American Steuben Parade in New York City, held every third Saturday in September. There are also major annual events in Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, St. Louis and other cities. Like many other immigrants that came to the United States overwhelming number of people of German or partial German descent have essentially become Americanized.
History
Colonial Era
The first English settlers arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, and were accompanied by the first German American, Dr. Johannes Fleischer. He was followed in 1608 by five glassmakers and three carpenters or house builders.[18] The first permanent German settlement in what became the United States was Germantown, Pennsylvania, founded near Philadelphia on October 6, 1683.[19]
Large numbers of Germans migrated from the 1680s to 1760s, with Pennsylvania the favored destination. They migrated to America for a variety of reasons;[19] Push factors involved worsening opportunities for farm ownership in central Europe, persecution of some religious groups, and military conscription; pull factors were better economic conditions, especially the opportunity to own land, and religious freedom. Often immigrants paid for their passage by selling their labor for a period of years as indentured servants.[20]
Large sections of Pennsylvania and upstate New York attracted Germans. Most were Lutheran or German Reformed; many belonged to small religious sects such as the Moravians and Mennonites. German Catholics did not arrive in number until after the war of 1812.[21]
Palatines
In 1709 Protestant Germans from the Pfalz or Palatine region of Germany escaped conditions of hardship, traveling first to Rotterdam and then to London. The Queen helped them get to her colonies in America. The trip was long and difficult to survive because of the poor quality of food and water aboard ships and the infectious disease typhus, or Palatine fever. Many immigrants, particularly children, died before reaching America in June 1710.[22]
The Palatine immigration of about 2100 people who survived was the largest single immigration to America in the colonial period. Most were first settled along the Hudson River in work camps, to pay off their passage. By 1711, seven villages had been established in New York on the Robert Livingston manor. In 1723 Germans became the first Europeans allowed to buy land in the Mohawk Valley west of Little Falls. One hundred homesteads were allocated in the Burnetsfield Patent. By 1750, the Germans occupied a strip some 12 miles (19 km) long along both sides of the Mohawk River. The soil was excellent; some 500 houses were built, mostly of stone, and the region prospered in spite of Indian raids. Herkimer was the best-known of the German settlements in a region long known as the "German Flats".[22]