Daniels, Chapt 4, Euro immigration to America

When we think of immigration to the United States, up until recent years, the majority of people who flocked to this country (then colonies) were mainly Europeans from the Western or Northern-most countries. While the first were English, about two fifths of the rest that came around 1790 were from elsewhere in the British Isles. Other groups migrated from Germany, Swedan, and parts of France. I was fascinated by what it took for these continental Europeans to make it all the way to the American colonies and the attitude that helped them through the toughest times.

At the time, Germany was nothing more than a few scattered states with people of diverse backgrounds, ranging from Austrian to Russian. Each of these groups were divided according to their religions (Protestant, Catholic, and Judaism) which proved to be difficult to determine what ethnic groups the German immigrants belonged to, especially the so-called "Deutsch" people who come either from the Rhineland or Switzerland. Colonial Americans were under the impression that these German groups left their country to escape religious persecution, but that was not the case. During the early 18th Century, many Rhinelanders were suffering from the War of Spanish Succession as King Louis XIV's forces went after Germans who sided with the British. The promise of new opportunities in the "New World" gave German immigrants enough incentive to escape their political turmoil. Many ended up in various parts of New York, but more went to Pennsylvania where few immigrants had settled in, so this was a great delight for propietors and European agents to attract more newcomers to the colony. What really shocked me was not just the vastness of Germans in Pennsylvania, but what they really cared for despite the hardships they endured to get to America.

In each family, every person was entitled to a contract of paying for their passage to the New World and to what length of service they'll go into. Children had to work until they were 21 and the adults would serve for three to six years, causing a great separation between family members. When one or more of the family dies en route to the colonies, the surviving members were responsible to pay the fares for not just themselves, but for their deceased parents or relatives as well. Despite these payments, many German immigrants prefered "being slaves in America to being free townsmen" in their home country. The situation back home was that awful enough to keep Germans out for good. In contrast to their English and Irish counterparts, German indentured servants generally had better working and living conditions. Some freely went into that line of work, while others were sold to make good on their contracts of travel. Often, free family members used some of the money they earned from work to help their "unfree" relatives be successful in the American colonies. How well German immigrants handled their rough transition into America says a lot to what it can take for any newcomer, who arrives in this country with the attitude to start a better life, no matter what obstacles they may face coming to or just being in the United States.