The German Americans, Essay Example

Introduction

German Americans are American immigrants of German origin. They account for the largest group of Americans of about 50 million who have the German ancestry. The German Americans highest populations occupy the states of Texas and California, and more dense populations in the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota. This is American famous German Belt. The German Americans have had influence in science, sports, architecture, and politics in their participation in the labor movement, and entertainment.

The German Americans affected the labor union membership in America to improve the working conditions and further integrated as a whole the American society. Today the immigrants of German descent have fully been assimilated and naturalized into the common American culture. Today German Americans celebrate largely the Steuben Parade in the third Saturday of September in New York, Oktoberfest in Cincinnati, and the German American day in Milwaukee annually to keep up with their ancestral ties. The Cleveland, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Cincinnati metropolis still report majority German ethnicity to date (Gilbert 286).

Historical Background

The first settlement of German Americans in the USA, then the ‘New world’ was in 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia.  Later permanent immigrants settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania and Hudson Valley, New York, Ohio and Illinois. The immigrants, who were about eight million, migrated for a number of reasons including economic opportunity, political and religious freedom. The German migration came in phases which made the settlers more established in the chain migration.

Given the opportunity to own land the immigrants had to sell their own labor as servants. They were tobacco farmers, vintners and craftsmen but mostly preferred animal husbandry and grain farming. The Germantown in Pennsylvania was both the first colony and also the first immigrants’ religious center. This town preserved the German practices, traditions, religious ad political freedoms. They therefore opposed slavery and without slave labor were able to develop farms, factories, business and industry. Thousands of German soldiers settled in America since the British colony could not afford to send them back to Europe after the American Revolutionary war.

Cultural Background

The German immigrants had much less problems with the American Indians that any other American immigrant group. They also intermarried with other groups such as the Anglo-Saxon population (Myers 291). The involvement of German Americans in politics came after independence, and before that Germans, who barely spoke or learnt English were never interested in politics and as a tradition they didn’t participate in government. They lived in separate communities and as result aroused prejudice and suspicion. The immigrants primarily didn’t settle to the south apart from New Orleans due to the hot climate and the plantation farming methods that were not familiar to them. More particularly, the Germans who were opposed to slavery didn’t advocate for the south’s discrimination of black slaves, unlike the north that was for democracy and provided equal opportunity.

The German immigrations continued with figures of up to 125,000 yearly and were welcomed into unclaimed lands that were yet to be cultivated. They established seminaries for training teachers and German-speaking schools that kept the German tradition. America to date has inherited German school system of the kindergarten schools. The first German publishing company was established in late 19^th century to publish newspapers, magazines and books (Carlson 27).

After the First World War, English was enforced in schools which saw the opening of English speaking schools while the surviving German schools remained in their language islands. In the Second World War, the German migrated immensely to America as refugees to flee away from oppression, while a tension grew among the German Americans and other Americans due to the leadership and perpetration of violence by Hitler in their old motherland. Texan Garman Americans were diverse in customs, physical features and dialect.

Religion

The German Americans in colonial times were deeply religious. They consisted of the Protestant, Catholic and Lutheran denominations. The German reformed belonged to the Moravians and Mennonites sects and the Evangelicals who later formed the United Church of Christ that has a stronghold in the Midwest. Each colony had its own line of religious commitment. The rich religious life of Germans came also and established a strong musical culture. The American racial prejudice and discrimination didn’t leave out German Americans.

The Klu Klux Klan targeted them with hateful acts as well as their religions. The Lutherans established the Missouri Synod which was a leading denomination among the Saxon Germans. The German Methodists were against fraternal organizations and dancing unlike the Catholics and Lutherans who loved fun in dancing and drinking. The intellectual refugees introduced the atheist German American. The Christmas tree is a German custom adopted by the American society today (Ripley 24).

Food and Clothing

German Americans cuisines such as meats and sausages, pastries, hamburgers and wines narrow down throughout their traditions. Frankfurters were known to be wine makers who dominated the industry since 1850 and Germans from Hamburg brought with them the hamburger food. The German bratwurst and the potato salad still remain as the summer German dinners. The pickle ornaments of the Christmas tree formed part of German Americans traditions. German knickknacks were plaques of German sayings among colonial Germans. Among the successful German Americans in American history include actor Leonardo DiCarprio, the scientists like Albert Stein, and part of America’s ruling presidents like Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Milhous Nixon and George Bush and George W. Bush.

Works Cited

Carlson, A. “The Legacy of German-Americans.”Journal of Culture and Society. 6.2 (2003):22-27.

Gilbert, S. German American Culture. 3^rd Ed. New Jersey. Reading Publishers. 2005.

Myers, J.  Dominant-Minority Relations in America. 1^st Ed. Boston. Pearson Education Inc. 2006

Ripley, L. Germans in America. 3^rd Ed. Boston. Thayne Publishers. 1976.