In the United States of North America ethnic groups are easily found everywhere. As a result, the American culture is a combination of many other cultures such as Irish, Latin, African, British, etc. However, one of the most significant of these is the German culture. German influence over this country is so strong that it goes through science, to architecture, to music, to sports and entertainment.
Germans left their homeland for several reasons such as, looking for an improved standard of living, and later looking for freedom from military connection and political oppression (1796-1815), etc. It is possible to say that Germans have been present in America since the United States belonged to Great Britain.
According to Eltis (2002), as
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However, the revolutions failed and resulted in even stricter regulations being placed upon the people.” (German Immigration, 1999) In order to avoid dictatorial governments, many people fled Europe and; consequently, America was a good option for them.
Germans, as many other ethnic groups, where willing to arrive in the “promised land” at any price, which can be noticed in what they had to do to come here. Eltis notes that since the voyage was long, difficult, and expensive, “indentured servitude […] allowed emigrants in effect to charge the price of the transatlantic fare until after their arrival in America.”(2002) At the time, it was pretty common that immigrant groups were bound to their ethnic lines; for example, German immigrants were bound mostly to German-American masters. In effect, German colonists financed the surge of German immigration –families and single young men, “Merchant with interests in developing the shipping of immigrants across the Atlantic into profitable business introduced the innovative adaptation of indentured servitude –a strategy which depended in large part on the willingness of German settlers to invest in the future labor of kin and former neighbors.” (Eltis, 2002)
Although German-speaking immigrants complained about indentured servitude concerning particular
As the country became established, immigration was encouraged and even advertised. There were few restrictions on who can enter and where they could live. Some states were in charge of their own borders and had some policies in place. It wasn’t until the late 1700s that some began to look at what the image of America should be. This was the basis of many early
Many germans migrated to the United States. Germans started to migrate in the 1870-1800 ish Migrate means to move from one area or country to settle in another, especially in search of work. In 1870 large groups started to move to Kansas.
Culture is part of special traditions and rites of passage. In this paper I am going to write about American culture compared to German culture. To do this I interviewed Michael Heidenreich, who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1943.
These economic reasons, along with religious and political motives, encouraged Germans to uproot their families and move to America.
There were many reasons motivating the immigrants to come to America. A few of them were mainly being free, and having better jobs. So economic opportunity, and religious or political freedom. They wanted to be around a free atmosphere, where they didn't have to be controlled and follow rules. Another reason was because they wanted to be reunified with their family. Some of their family had already ventured out to America before them, and told them about America's benefits and they decided to follow along. America's land was cheap, and had an abundance of hiring jobs. Once immigrants heard about this they were ecstatic and immediately planned on coming to America. For the abundance of jobs America was hyped up in many countries as the 'land of opportunity'. Really the motivation for
Between 1870 and the 1990s, over 11 million immigrants came to America in search of a better a life, coming from Southern and Eastern Europe such as Germany, France, Ireland, and immigrants from China as well. People came to America seeking sanctuary from their home land that did not allow them to be free, such as the Jewish people of Russia, who came to America because the Russian government was anti-Semitic. Jewish people were not allowed to have much property or security in Russia, simply because of their religion. In addition, the draft in Russia would take people away and force them to fight for 25 years, in wars that were pointless due to outdated weapons as well as the brutal discipline they were treated with when drafted. America was a place that allowed freedom of religion, something that was not common and many other countries, making America the ideal place to move and settle down, allowing immigrants to express their religion freely, without the consequences they faced back home. Immigrants also came to America in search of jobs that were scarce in Europe. Many small farmers were put out of jobs in Europe due to large scale mechanized
The WASPs also respected the Germans because the Germans were Protestant. The Germans also proved that they were extremely hardworking. They created many businesses, some of which still exist today. The Germans also brought over foods such as hot dogs, apple pie, and pretzels. Furthermore, the Germans came in quite small numbers, which the WASPs definitely appreciated. The Germans did not have to assimilate and live on their own, without the WASPs having to take care of them. Finally, the Germans were relatively welcomed when they arrived to America. The only stereotype given to them was a positive one, claiming that they were the model immigrants that every other immigrant group should aspire to be like. All in all, the six million Germans who came to the United States during the first wave were well liked by the WASPs and had a successful and smooth immigration into America.
Citizens from around the world have been migrating to the United States for centuries. During the 1880s all the way up to the 1920's, more than twenty-five million foreigners voyaged to America. After World War I ended on November 11, 1918, there had been a massive increase of immigrants. The result of numerous people migrating to the U.S. greatly impacted culture and society. The majority of immigrants were traveling from Eastern and Southern Europe. As immigration increased after World War I, some questions in need of answering are what were the significant reasons as to why European immigrants started coming to the U.S. during the 1920's through the 1930's after World War I? How were they able maintain their cultural identity? Immigrants decided to resettle in the United States in search of new beginnings, riches, and the
German immigrants tended to settle in Pennsylvania, where they made up a third of the population until the Revolutionary War. At least 500,000 Germans came to the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century including about 60,000 after a failed revolution in 1848.
Many came from eastern and southern Europe such as the Irish, Germans, Italians and Polish. Immigrants came to America with hopes and dreams of prosperity, freedom of religion, freedom from fascism and dictatorship with the possibility of wealth and security. Many if not all of the immigrants encountered the complete opposite. Hard labor, poor living condition, low wages and illnesses were the problems often faced by the
Germans, like the Irish, immigrated to the US due to hardships such as political revolutions
One of the main challenges these immigrants faced when moving to America was dealing with racism. They also had trouble assimilating into the American culture. In Document #1 you see a picture of a German man running a store with all German products. Then, you see the same man in America with the same store, but it’s been Americanized and devoid of all German culture. This shows how the immigrants were forced
The German immigrants made up most of the immigrants between 1820 and 1860. Most of the Germans traveled to America for economic
America, and what they faced after they landed on our shores. We will begin with the German immigrants who arrived after 1800. After 1800, Germans still poured into the United States, but for different reasons than previous generations. Modernization and population growth forced many Germans from their respective family businesses. In the United States, most Germans lived in the countryside. Large numbers could be found in the Midwest and Texas. Most of the West Coast farmers would sacrifice fertile land for a closer location to other Germans. They would cluster together to form communities not unlike the Chinatowns.
Germany is quite accepting of immigrants and they are very welcoming. Germany has the second largest immigrant population in Europe, United Kingdom is the largest. Immigrants have contributed greatly to the prosperity of the German economy. A representative study shows that “foreign workers in Germany significantly contribute to the Bundesrepublik’s prosperity” (Lorenz, 2017). At any rate, the German economy is suffering from labour shortage and is urgently in need of immigrants to “counter an ageing demographic”. Germany” needs its immigrants to be doing much more than making doner kebabs — it needs them in its banks, its government offices, universities, and IT companies” (Sampath, 2016). Based on data from the OECD and the German statistics office, the study shows that Germany’s cultural diversity happens to be a major contributor to its economic success. Immigrants make up “9.6% of the population and one in five Germans has a migration background. The fact that Germany’s immigration rate is so high only tells half the story though” (Lorenz, 2017). The number of foreign specialists in Germany’s main industries is what really stresses the importance of immigration. Studies have proven that “relatively poor performing Bundesländer, with fewer foreign workers, could positively influence innovation and economic success by attracting talented personnel from abroad” (Lorenz, 2017). Also, as stated by Movinga, “the impressive number of companies with risk capital and the number