GermanAmericanHistory1

German-American History 1

        The Silent Majority
                            By Karl Hausner

The 1990 United States census reported that about sixty million Americans consider
themselves of German ancestry. Based on the fact that many German Americans have
felt the pressure and bigotry so much, they changed their names and, of course, many
have not reported that they were of German ancestry. Estimates go as high as seventy
million or one out of four Americans who is of German descent.

If you look at the occupations of these German Americans, they are in farming, in
technical occupations, mechanics and engineering. You will find them in medicine and the
sciences, but you do not find them in the media.   You rarely find them in politics. Out of
all the presidents, only two, Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower, were of German
ancestry, both of whom had changed their names in order to be less Germanic.

Wisconsin, for example, with over fifty-two percent of its citizenry of German descent,
does not have, at this time, one senator or one mayor of major cities, very few
representatives in Washington or in the State Houses, and even the governors are not of
German descent. This is true throughout the United States.

In contrast, the Irish represent a much smaller ethnic group, yet they produced numerous
presidents, such as Clinton, Kennedy, Reagan, McKinley, just to mention some Senators,
governors, representatives in all forms of politics, such as Mayor Daley of Chicago are of
Irish descent.

An even greater contrast is the Jewish population. Perhaps two percent of the American
population are Jewish, yet they have an enormous impact on the American culture and
politics. They basically control the media, the film industry, television, radio and, of
course, are intensively involved in politics. Some of the more prominent ones were Henry
Morgenthau during World War II, Henry Kissinger, Madeline Albright and so on. The
only other ethnic group which is equally so poorly represented in the media and in politics
are the Afro-Americans. Why is this?

         Historic Review

At the time Britain, France, Spain and even smaller nations like Belgium, Holland and
Portugal were busy carving up the world--Africa, America, Asia and Australia, the German
people were arguing about the correct interpretation of the Bible. This dispute finally led
to a bloody war between the reformers, known as Protestants and the Catholic Church.
The Protestants were supported by Swedish and Danish troops who moved southward
burning churches and destroying idols. The Catholics, on the other hand, were suported by
Italian and Spanish troops.

In my homeland, for example, during the Thirty Year's War between 1618 and 1648,
troops occupied the area three times. When the war was over, there was no victory except
enormous bloodshed, and what the fighting didn't kill, the plague and various diseases did.
In the peace treaty, the Protestants established themselves as the Lutherans and the
Catholic Church remained.

However, those Protestants who did not conform to the Lutheran theology found
themselves again between the two
newly established State supported and controlled churches. Thus, about forty years later,
the first group of Quakers from Germany moved to the United States and established
Germantown near Philadelphia. In the succeeding years, the Protestants groups, such as
the Mennonites, the Amish, the Hutterites, the Moravians and those who are called
Pennsylvania Dutch came from Germany. The United States was not yet established, but
it was open for small, perhaps eccentric, religious groups.

There were other Germans in the United States region, that is the territory which was
under British or French domination. They were either adventurous missionaries or
mercenaries. At the time of the Declaration of Independence, the text was first published
in the German languaghe papers. Also, the first Bible, which was printed in this continent,
was in the German language, and perhaps the Amish Bible, which is still printed in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, may be the successor of that initial attempt.

After the Declaration of Independence, the British Army was rather successful in crushing
the revolutionaries. A Prussian General, Baron Friedrich Von Steuben, was engaged by
George Washington to establish a military academy to train and organize the
revolutionary army. Von Steuben founded West Point and the code of the American
military was, until very recently, identical to the Prussian military code. Without this
disciplinary organization of the revolutionaries, the British would have succeeded in
defeating them.

There was a mistake made by the British. They did not want to shed their own blood, so
they brought to this country perhaps more than twenty thousand Hessians and
Braunschweigers who were practically white slaves. They were purchased from the
various principalities, trained, put into British uniforms and sent into combat to fight the
revolutionaries. Von Steuben realized the situation, infiltrated the Hessians and
Braunschweigers, promised them land and freedom if they succeeded, and that was the
downfall of the British. It is not known how many deserted, but it is estimated that well
over ten thousand survived and were later settled in Upstate New York, Pennsylvania or
moved farther westwards. Thus, the German element was enormously helpful in winning
the revolution and also involved in the creation of the United States of America.

A few decades later, after the French Revolution, an uprising occurred in Austria and
Prussia, respectively Germany. This uprising of 1848 was finally crushed in 1849 by the
military of Austria and Germany so that those rebels fled or were executed.
Approximately ten thousand of these 1848ers, as they are known, fled via Switzerland and
came to the United States between 1849 and 1854. Most of them were intellectuals, some
were socialists, others were liberal educators and, of course, there were the freedom
fighters. When they came to the United States and found slavery in the South and
contract servitide in the North, they were vigorously opposed.

Over a thousand German language newspapers were founded, many by the 1848ers,
wherein they fought for the abolishment of slavery and servitude. The lawyer, Abraham
Lincoln from Springfield, Illinois, was heavily inspired by these 1848ers. He purchased
the largest German language newspaper. Finally, the Republican Party elected Abraham
Lincoln as president of the United States. This, as we all known, led to the Civil War.
However, what is not known and has been kept secret, is that these 1848ers were the
driving force in abolishing slavery. They organized, often at their own expense, twenty-
six cavalry regiments and sent them into battle to help the Union.

Friedrich Hecker of Illinois and Karl Schurz are just two well-known names of German
descent. Karl Schurz became Secretary of the Interior, while his wife founded the
Kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin. Hans Kudlich was another 1848er, and the list
goes on.

After the Civil War, the time for German immigrants was extremely promising. Many
states, such as Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana sent recruiters to the various states in
Germany encouraging not just farmers, but draftsmen, journeymen and even intellectuals
to immigrate to the United States. Those immigrants wrote back and told of the great
freedom and opportunities this country offered. These were the golden years of freedom
for German Americans.

    The Anti-German Era

It is stated that, after the victory of the Revolutionary War, the German language was
considered to be the prominent one in this country. Supposedly, it was defeated by just
one vote. Why then, all of a sudden, the anti-German movement? After the
reconstruction era, the United States rapidly became or strived toward industrialization.

At the end of the Nineteenth Century, President McKinley decided to become a world
power. In contrast to the Monroe Doctrine of Defensive Neutrality, President McKinley
wanted to expand deep into both the Atlantic and Pacific. Thus, the colonial power of
Spain, which was already the weakest, was the target. Americans were told that
Christianity had to be brought to the Phillipines and, of course, to Cuba and beyond into
the regions of the other islands. This resulted in the Spanish-American War and the
German-Americans, who had come in recent decades, did not want anything to do with the
military or war. They had had enough of it, because in their homeland war was part of
every generation. So, they spoke against it and thus, became the target of persecution.

The congressional military complex became the leading force in American politics. Big
industry realized that war was big business, where ships, cannons and guns could be built
and thus, profits could be made without competition. This was known to the European
Nations, and Americans did not waste time learning the same trade.

Then came the second major problem with the German Americans. Their culture was
involved with Biergartens and Weinstuben. Entertainment and meals were always
associated with a glass of wine or a stein of beer. However, the Republican Party wanted
to get the vote of women who were just about ready to be emancipated, so they proposed
and enacted, finally, the anti-alcohol prohibition. This was the second issue which hurt the
German American image and the German American culture in the United States.

When World War I started, initially between Austria and Serbia, Britain and France
declared war on Austria, Germany was forced to declare war on England and France due
to a treaty. President Wilson also wanted part of the action. Again, it was the
congressional industrial military complex which pushed the United States into mobilization
and action. Again, the German American voices were loud and clear, "Don't get involved
in European Wars, remain neutral".

Here again, the attack on the German Americans followed. Well over one thousand
propagandists were launched by the Wilson Administration to explain to the Americans
why war was necessary. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. It was the first
attempt at a global government.

Finally, in 1917, the United States entered World War I. All of the German newspapers
had to stop publishing. The German language school books were publicly burned, and the
ambassador to Germany publicly stated that if the German Americans rebel against the
government, there are plenty of lanterns in the cities, on which to hang them. This
resulted in a mob action against German Americans. In Cleveland, for example, a person
was hung, and many, many more were harshly treated.    In Jersey City, New Jersey, a
German-American was shot to death in a train for reading a German newspaper. And
Germans residing in Hoboken, New Jersey were forced to relocate from Hoboken to the
Jersey City Heights. Many more Germans were interred in camps until the conclusion of
the war; but because of harsh treatment in the camps, quite a few were killed. The
German-Americans were scared, even priests and pastors were afraid to say Mass or
have worship service in the German language, even though millions of German Americans
could not speak English.   In Hudson County, there were nine German Language Schools
which were forced to close, never to open again. And in Union City, New Jersey, the
turnhall building of the Union Hill Turn Verein located on 38th Street, mysteriously burned
down.   The site later became the Hudson Dispatch building.

It was the entrance of the United States into World War I which brought about the terrible
blunderous Treaties of Saint Germain and Versailles, destroying the German and Austrian
Empire, creating states such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. These creations, plus all
the other stupid nationalistic ane socialistic dictates led to Adolf Hitler in Germany, to
Mussolini in Italy and finally to World War II. German Americans again had to suffer.
Hitler produced sufficient evidence, which was amplified and even distorted.

Thus, the German American element just about disappeared. By the end of World War II,
as a result of the Yalta and Potsdam Agreement between Churchill, Roosevelt, Truman
and Stalin, sixteen million Germans from Eastern Europe were expelled. Millions died
during that era between 1945 and 1948. Perhaps six million or more served in forced labor
camps in France, Britain, in Germany under American rule and, of course, the majority
were in Eastern Europe. It is estimated that more people died after World War II than
during the war.

The Nazi animosities and ill treatment of the Jews, without dispute, was the century's
biggest crime, but the expulsions and what happened in Russia are simply an equal match,
not just to the German people, but also to the various East European people under the
dictates of Bolshevism. All of this could have been prevented if wisdom, instead of hatred,
would have prevailed within American and British leaders.

Over a thousand Nazis were executed and certainly some deserved it. Many more served
years in prison. Of course, the whole nation was subjected to and willing to compensate
victims of Nazi regimes and terror. On the other hand, to date, all of the crimes committed
by the Allies in Eastern Europe have not been brought to justice. As a matter of fact,
some of these very criminals, during the Bolshevik regime, are still in government in
Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and, of course, in the Balkan region, which was
known as Yugoslavia.

At the end of the Twentieth Century, over fifty years after World War II, the Holocaust is
the number one issue and is still used to intimidate, to even persecute the German element
in the United States and in Germany as well. This is regrettable and unwise, because all it
can do is lead to radical elements and even anti-Semitism. We could learn a lesson from
Northern Ireland or from Bosnia.

The Contributions of German Americans

Especially in the Eastern and Midwestern States, but also in Tennessee, the Carolinas,
Texas and even in California, German Americans contributed significantly to the success
of this great nation. Many technical colleges were founded by German Americans --- in
Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, just to mention a
few.

Great industrial pioneers founded Chrysler, General Electric and the many, many
companies which have merged, in the meantime, were originally established by German
craftsmen or engineers. One out of ten boks published in this world is in the German
language; however, one out of three books in science, technology, medicine, etc.. are
published in the German language. Yet, very few Americans, even German Americans,
master that important language today.

For example, Elmhurst College was founded in 1870 by a German immigrant, and in 1998
has about three thousand students. All through these years the German element has
prevailed, yet in the graduating class of 1998 only five students majored in the German
language!

It os pitiful to see that engineers, doctors in medicine, even physicists educated in the
United States, do not speak German, while most European counterparts speak German
and English fluently. Thus, many scientific discussions are not available to Americans. If
you look in American research centers, you will find a significant number of immigrants
and foreigners, while the majority of Americans pursue more profitable occupations, such
as law, journalism and entertainment of all kinds.

But even in the arts, the classical arts, the German culture is the richest. How would
opera, how would symphonic works exist without Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bach and
all the other German composers?   Yet, we have thrown away one of the greatest assets
this country had--the German language and the German culture, and replaced it with a
commercialized ideology.

During World War I and thereafter, many German structures were renamed, and in many
instances, even demolished. Chicago, for example, has only the Germania Clubhouse left,
which is surrounded by a ghetto of decaying buildings. In Indianapolis, the situation is
more pleasant, but the beautiful Deutsche Haus was renamed Athenaeum. This is also
true in Baltimore, Cincinnati, New York and throughout the region..

From the once one thousand German newspapers, there are about six left, with a very
small circulation. Many German and Austrian Jews have kept the German language and
make their children learn it because they know the value of it.

The criminalization of the German people, as Professor Ralph Raico, history professor at
New York State University, Buffa.l, Writes, is not only unfair, it actually stimulate the
radical right wing elements, not just in Germany, but throughout Europe

The melting pot ideology, which was initiated in this country at the beginning of the
Twentieth Century, has failed. It has also failed in Russia, where the Soviet Union tried to
make Russians out of Latvians, Estonians, Ukranians, etc. Not only has the Soviet
System failed, but even the empire has broken apart because of it.

Yugoslavia is another example of how radical nationalism develops when certain nations
are deprived of their independence and given unfair recognition. The greatesty positive
example is Switzerland. They have four nationalities and the German majority has never
intruded or infringed on the small Romanic or the somewhat larger French minorities.
They had seven hundred years of neutrality and many decades of unparelleled prosperity
and unparelleled civil rights.

Our schools should go back to teaching science and languages. Congressman Henry Hyde
of Illinois just issued a report whereby he writes that fifty percent of Americans are semi-
illiterate and thirteen percent are totally illiterate. My own experience in the medical field
shows that many engineers cannot write a report as required by law and even doctors
often have difficulty in doing so. We have spent too much time, effort and money in our
educational system to propagandize and, of course, to advance extremely liberal social
agendas. This is also reflected in the crime rate, and with that I would like to conclude.

The German majority in the United States produces the smallest number of criminals. If
you look into American prisons you will find one of the lowest percentage of prisoners is of
German American heritage.

After you read this essay, you may say I am making too much out of this situation. Thus,
I propose that you conduct your own research by asking the following questions of your
relatives, friends, neighbors, acquaintances or others you feel represent the average.

1. What is the basis of t\he English language? Ninety percent either don't know or will
say, "Latin", when, in fact, the English language is Germanic.

2. Who are the Pennsylvania Dutch? The answer you will get from a great majority of
people will be, "Immigrants from Holland". This, of course, in only partially true, because
the Pennsylvania Dutch did depart from Holland where they stayed a short time. They
come from the Black Forest, the Alsace an d Palatine Regions. They are German, and
they still speak the Middle Age German language. Why do we call them Dutch? The
word "Dutch" is derived from "Deutsch", but our propaganda does not want to give due
credit.

3. Who was General Von Steuben? Over ninety percent don't know, never heard the
name, and perhaps two or three percent would know the truth.   He was the drill master for
George Washington's army. He founded West Point, established the military code,
trained the Revolutionary War troops, and without him the British would have won the
war, and not the Revolutionaries. Yet American schools rarely teach the truth.   A few
years ago, one commentator who was reporting on the Steuben Parade, said "Von
Steuben; I haven't got a clue. Wasn't he a corporal or something?

4. Name the inventor of the automobile. Ninety-five percent will say, "Henry Ford".
This is wrong because Henry Ford never claimed that he invented the automobile. He
invented the assembly line, building automobiles, after Karl Benz had introduced the first
automobile almost twenty-five years before Henry Ford got started.

5. Who started World War I? The majority may not know, but if they guess, they would
say, "Germany and the Kaiser". This was the turning point in American history against
the German Americans.

6. Who started World War II? Ninety-eight percent will say, "Adolf Hitler and
Germany", when in fact, it was Hitler and Stalin, under a treaty, who jointly attacked
Poland and divided it. Britain declared war on Germany, as did France, but they did not
declare war on the Soviet Union. Why not? Because there were plans made, already
then, between Roosevelt and Stalin to join hands.

7. During the Twentieth Century, which leader and nation committed the biggest crimes
against humanity? Ninety-eight percent would say, "Germany", without mentioning Stalin
and the Soviet Union or Mao and Red China. In both instances, two, three or four times
more people perished in the Soviet Union and Red China compared with the brutal crimes
committed by the Nazis. Why does the Holocaust stress the Nazi crimes without
mentioning the crimes of the Allies throughout the Twentieth Century?

8. Count the number of Holocaust references on Radio, television and newspapers during
a period, perhaps a week, and then compare this with reference to the crimes committed
by Stalin, Mao or the other Allies. Even now, when President Clinton and the United
States are deeply engaged in business relations with Red China, it is estimated that about
fifty million Chinese are either in forced labor camps and prisons, or are otherwise forced
to perform work with little or no pay, yet no mention of this is made in the media. Rarely
do Christians bring up the subject.

             References:

1. Arthur Ponsonby, Member of Parliament, "falsehood inWartime - Propaganda Lies of
the First World War", 1928, London, George Allen and Unwin.

2. "The Failure of American Foreign Wars", Future Freedom Foundation, Fairfax, VA.

3. Ralph Raico, "Nazifying the Germans", January 1997 paper.

4. George Morgenstern, "Pearl Harbor - The Story of the Secret War", 1947, Bevin-
Adair Co.

5. Theodore N. Kaufman, "Germany must Perish". 1939, Argyle Press, Newark, NJ.

6. Ralph Franklin Keeling, "Gruesome Harvest - The Allies' Postwar War Against the
German People", 1947, The Institute of American Economics, Chicago.

7. "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace", 1953 , The Caxton Printers, Ltd, Ladwell, Idaho.

8. Arthur R. Butz, "The Hoax of the Twentieth Century", 1976, England, Library of
Congress call number D 804.34.B88.

9. David Irving, "Apocalypse 1945 - The Destruction of Dresden", 1995, Veritas
Publishing Co., Pty, Ltd.

10. David Irving, "Nuremberg - The Last Battle", 1996, Focal Point Publications, London.

11. Joseph Halow, "Innocent at Dachau", 1993, The Noontide Press.

12. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, "Interview with Dr. Dobson", Focus on the Family, Colorado
Springs, CO (Audiotape).

13. Karl Hausner, "1945 in Memory", "The Great Expulsions of 1946", "Hitler's
Cross", "Let Bygones Be Bygones", "Concentration Camps, Myths and Realities".

14. Dr. Erwin Lutzer, "Hitler's Cross", Moody Press, 1995, Chicago.

Pennsylvania Dutch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch, Pennsylvania
Germans or Pennsylvania Deutsch) are the descendants of German immigrants who came
to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. According to Don Yoder, a Pennsylvania German expert
and retired University of Pennsylvania professor, the word "Dutch" in this case owes its
origin to an archaic meaning where the word "Dutch" designated groups that are today
considered German and Dutch - prior to the Thirty Years' War, the Netherlands were part
of the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch were generally regarded as one of several
German peoples. Although Yoder rejects other explanations, other sources, such as
Hostetler (1993) give the origin of "Dutch" as a corruption or a "folk-rendering" of the
term "Deitsch".[2] It is worth noting that the adjective "German" is "Deutsch" in the
German language and "Duits" in the Dutch language. Also some southern German
dialects still pronounce "Deutsch" as "Deitsch" ([Daɪtʃ]). The difficulty is enlarged by the
fact that the oldest native term for the Dutch language happens to be Dietsch, a stem that
also shows up in the derivation of Plautdietsch. Plautdietsch developed on a mixed Dutch /
Low German substrate, according to the Dutch linguist Ad Welschen (2000), which is
certainly not the case with Pennsylvania Deitsch. So Deitsch etymologically means
'German', while Dietsch means 'Dutch' [3].

Pennsylvania Dutch were historically speakers of the Pennsylvania German language.
They are a people of various religious affiliations, most of them Lutheran or Reformed,
but many Anabaptists as well. They live primarily in southeastern Pennsylvania in the area
stretching in an arc from Bethlehem and Allentown through Reading, Lebanon, and
Lancaster to York and Chambersburg. They can also be found down throughout the
Shenandoah Valley (the modern Interstate 81 corridor) in the adjacent states of Maryland,
Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina, and in the large Amish and Mennonite
communities in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in Ohio north and south of Youngstown and
in Indiana around Elkhart. Their cultural traditions date back to the German immigrations
to America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Only then did German immigration from various
parts the southern Rhineland, Palatinate, the southern part of Hesse, Baden, Alsace and
Switzerland gain momentum, and soon dominate the area. But the Pennsylvania Dutch
language is ultimately a derivative of Palatinate German.

Contents [hide]
1 Pennsylvania Dutch from the Palatinate of the Rhine
2 Pennsylvania Dutch Identity
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
5.1 In Pennsylvania German

Pennsylvania Dutch from the Palatinate of the Rhine

Many Pennsylvania Dutch are descendants of refugees from the Palatinate of the German
Rhine. For example, most Amish and Mennonite came to the Palatinate and surrounding
areas from the German speaking part of Switzerland, where, as Anabaptists, they were
persecuted, and so their stay in the Palatinate was of limited duration.[4]

                            Allentown's Center Square.
                   Allentown and Kunkeltown is one of the
larger centers considered part of the Pennsylvania Dutch area.

                             Pictures from Old-Germantown.
                              Shown here is the first log cabin
                                     of Pastorius about 1683,
                           Pastorius' later house about 1715,
                    print shop and house of Caurs about 1735,
                            and the market square about 1820.

However, for the majority of the Pennsylvania Dutch, their roots go much further back in
the Palatinate. During the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97), French troops, under King
Louis XIV, pillaged the Palatinate, forcing many Germans to flee. The War of the
Palatinate (as it was called in Germany), also called the War of Augsburg, began in 1688
as Louis took claim of the Palatinate, and all major cities of Cologne were devastated. By
1697 the war came to a close with the Treaty of Ryswick, and the Palatinate remained free
of French control. However, by 1702, the War of the Spanish Succession began, lasting
until 1713. French expansionism forced many Palatines to flee as refugees.

The first major emigration of Germans to America resulted in the founding of the Borough
of Germantown in northwest Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania in 1683-1685. Mass
emigration of Palatines began out of Germany in the early 1700s. In the spring of 1709,
Queen Anne had granted refuge to about 7,000 Palatines who had sailed the Rhine to
Rotterdam. From here about 3,000 were sent to America either directly, or through
England, bound for William Penn’s colony. The remaining refugees were sent to Ireland to
strengthen the Protestant presence in the country. By 1710, large groups of Palatines had
sailed from London, the last group of which was bound for New York. There were 3,200
Palatines on 12 ships that sailed for New York and approximately 470 died en route to
America. In New York, under the new Governor, Robert Hunter, Palatines worked for
British authorities and produced tar and pitch for the Royal Navy in return for their safe
passage. They also served as a buffer between the French and Natives on the frontier and
the English colonies. In 1723, some 33 Palatine families, dissatisfied under Governor
Hunter’s rule, migrated from Schoharie, NY, to Tulpehocken, Berks County, PA, where
other Palatines had settled. During the American Revolution most of the Pennsylvania
Dutch were loyalists.[5] They feared that their royal land grants would be in danger with a
new republican form of government.

Pennsylvania Dutch Identity

Recently due to loss of the Pennsylvania German language in many communities, as well
as to intermarriage and increased mobility, especially in the more secular communities,
Pennsylvania Dutch ethnic consciousness is often very low, especially among younger
Pennsylvania Dutch. Many young Pennsylvania Dutch consider themselves only
descendants of Pennsylvania Dutch and it is not part of their personal identity. However
many of those raised in the immediate area, or those who have close ties there, still hold
those ties close even if their parents don't emphasize those ties. In some communities the
Pennsylvania Dutch name is reserved only for members of the Amish and traditional
Mennonite communities.

References on the below subjects will be explained on this & additional pages:

Marian exiles
Amish
Mennonite
Hans Herr
Schwenkfeldian
Old German Baptist Brethren
Rumspringa
Pennsylvania German language
Hex signs
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine
German American
German Texan
Germany Valley, West Virginia
Helen Reimensnyder Martin
Anna Balmer Myers
Fraktur (Pennsylvania German folk art)

External links:

The Pennsylvania German Society
Lancaster County tourism website
Overview of Pennsylvania German Culture
German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA in Washington, DC
German-American World Historical Society, Inc.
Irish Palatine Association
Nolt, Steven, Foreigners in Their Own Land: Pennsylvania Germans in the Early
American Republic, Penn State Press, 2002 ISBN 0-271-02199-3
"Why the Pennsylvania German still prevails in the eastern section of the State", by
George Mays, M.D.. Reading, Pa., Printed by Daniel Miller, 1904
The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
Johannes Rammund De Balliel-Lawrora

In Pennsylvania German:

Deitscherei.org - Fer der Deitsch Wandel
Hiwwe wie Driwwe - The Pennsylvania German Newspaper
Pennsylvania German Encyclopedia
[show]v • d • eVarieties of German spoken outside Europe

Pacific Unserdeutsch

Southwest Africa Namibian Black German

South Africa Nataler Deutsch

North America Hutterite German • Pennsylvania German • Texas German

South America Alemán Coloniero • Belgranodeutsch • Riograndenser Hunsrückisch

No specific region Plautdietsch

Northern Europe British (English · Scots-Irish · Scottish · Welsh) · Danish · Estonian ·
Faroese · Finnish · Icelandic · Irish · Latvian · Lithuanian · Norwegian · Swedish

Western Europe Belgian · Dutch (Frisian) · French (Acadian · Cajun) · Luxembourg

Central Europe Austrian · Czech · German (Pennsylvania Dutch) · Hungarian · Polish ·
Slovak · Swiss

Eastern Europe Belarusian · Bulgarian · Romanian · Russian · Rusyn · Ukrainian

Southern Europe Albanian · Basque · Bosnian · Catalan · Croatian · Cypriot · Greek ·
Italian (Sicilian) · Macedonian · Maltese · Montenegrin · Portuguese · Serbian · Slovene ·
Spanish (Hispano · Isleño)

Caucasus Armenian · Azerbaijani †

Other Jewish · Roma · Turkish

† Azerbaijanis of the Azerbaijan republic, Iranian Azeris live outside Europe.

[show]v • d • eGerman Diaspora

Africa Namibia

Asia Kazakhstan

Europe
Eastern Europe Baltic states · Belgium · Bulgaria · Caucasus · Croatia · Czech Republic
(Sudetenland) · Denmark · Hungary · Moldova · Poland · Romania (Transylvanian
Saxons, Danube Swabians, Banat Swabians, Dobrujan Germans, Satu Mare Swabians,
Transylvanian Landler, Zipser Germans, Regat Germans) · Russia (Volga German,
Russian Mennonite) · Serbia · Slovakia · Turkey · Ukraine (Black Sea Germans,
Bukovina Germans, Crimea Germans) · United Kingdom · former Yugoslavia

Americas Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Canada · Chile · Colombia · Mexico · Paraguay ·
Peru · Puerto Rico · United States (Pennsylvania Dutch, German Texan, German
Palatines, Hutterite) · Venezuela - Oceania and Australia

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                 Introduction

The Germans were the largest non-English group in colonial America. . . . Pennsylvania alone
had 100,000 Germans by 1776, and many thousands more had settled on the frontiers of
Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. . . . By 1709 some 13,000 destitute German Palatines had
arrived in England. But England was only a temporary stopping place, and nearly half of them
went on to
New York, North Carolina and
Pennsylvania.

The first wave of German immigrants
brought mostly German Quakers;
Mennonites; Baptist Brethren, or
Dunkers; and other small sects. . . . A
second wave after 1730 consisted largely
of Lutherans and Calvinists. . . .

Most German immigrants were poor, and
families were often broken up by purchasers
of their indentures. 1

A primary objective of this research paper is to describe some of the eighteenth century
governmental policy of England in regard to the thousands of immigrants who came from the
general area of Germany known as the Palatinate. The approach to be used herein will be to
identify the geographical location of the Palatinate, summarize some of the major historical
events preceding early eighteenth century emigration from Germany, describe some the political
and social conditions which existed as Palatines left their homeland, identify some of England's
official reaction to German immigration, and to generalize some conclusions relating to
motivations which inspired so many human beings to take a dangerous journey toward an
uncertain future in a new part of the world--a journey immortalized by John Greenleaf Whittier
in "The Palatine," a poem which describes the fate of a ship by the same name: "Into the teeth
of death she sped: . . ."

Geographical Location of the Palatinate

In German history, the Palatinate included those lands which were governed by a "count
palatine--a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire."2 Boundaries of the
Palatinate varied depending on the political powers and military successes or defeats of its rulers.
Usually identified in terms of an "Upper" and "Lower" Palatinate, the Palatinate includes
territories on both sides of the Rhine River between the Main and Neckar tributaries and on both
sides of the Naab River.

A Brief Political History of the Palatinate

The Holy Roman Empire existed primarily from the ninth through the eighteenth centuries. It
originally included territory in what is now known as "Germany, Austria, western
Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, eastern France, the Low Countries, and parts of northern and
central Italy."3 Its main component was Germany and German speaking territory. The Germanic
area of Central Europe in the year
1700 was a patchwork of some three
hundred loosely organized sovereign
territories wherein the delusionary
concept of the divine right of kings
was accepted, rulers reigned
supreme within their own borders,
and an emperor prevailed overall.
The Empire was further structured
into nine districts which were under
jurisdiction of governors or
"electors" who chose the emperor.
"Originally allied with the papacy,
the empire became involved in a
long struggle with the popes for the
leadership of Christian Europe."4

Beginning with the sixteenth century
impact of Martin Luther and the
Reformation, serious conflict erupted between the Roman Catholic Emperor and numerous
German rulers, in the various territories, who became Protestants. A compromise was
established "in the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 and confirmed and expanded in the Treaties of
Westphalia of 1648. . . . This gave each sovereign the choice of one of the three churches as the
official faith in the area over which he ruled."5 The three established churches in the Holy
Roman Empire were Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed (Calvinist). Dissenters such as
Anabaptists, who objected to infant baptism, and separatist Pietists, who looked to the Bible
(rather than to a church, creed, or hierarchy) for 4 authority, were not tolerated. Therefore, the
history of official religion in the Palatinate has been described as follows:

The Electoral Palatinate had become Lutheran in 1556, and then Reformed in 1560. From 1576 to
1583 a new elector reintroduced Lutheranism, only to have this faith replaced by the Reformed
until 1620. During the Thirty Years' War, the Spanish and Bavarian Catholics were twice
dominant, but the treaties of Westphalia placed a Reformed Elector on the throne. After each
change, the new party attempted to repress completely the other faiths. In other words, within
the space of one hundred fifty years the official religion had been changed eight times!6
Seventeenth century military confrontations included the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), which
began "when the future Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II, in his role as King of Bohemia,
attempted to impose Roman Catholic absolutism on his domains, and the Protestant nobles of
both Bohemia and Austria rose up in rebellion."7 In 1685 France's Roman Catholic king, Louis
XIV, revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had given safety to the Huguenots; protestant refugees
began to leave France for England, Holland, and the Palatinate. Then followed the War of the
Grand Alliance (1689-1697) which was precipitated by Louis XIV when in 1688 his armies
marched into the Palatinate. The Palatinate was again devastated as the armies of both sides
plundered the area:

In February, 1689, . . . [General] Melac, blew up the walls of Heidelberg and its castle towers, and
laid half the city in ashes. . . . Some of the inhabitants who tried to rescue their goods were slain.
Every where were found the corpses of wretched men frozen to death. The citizens of Mannheim
were compelled to assist in destroying their fortifications, and were then driven out, hungry and
naked, into the winter cold, and their city was burned. . . .

. . . At the peace of Ryswick, October 30, 1697, . . . the famous Ryswick clause was included, by
which the churches were to stand as they had been during the hostile occupation. . . . The
Protestants . . . lost their churches, and the Catholic service was restored in entirely reformed
communities.8

Lord (Thomas Babington) Macaulay described the devastation in the Palatinate this way:

The French commander announced to near half a million of human beings that he granted them
three days of grace, and that, within that time, they must shift for themselves. Soon the roads
and fields, which then lay deep in snow, were blackened by innumerable multitudes of men,
women, and children flying from their homes. Many died of cold and hunger; but enough
survived to fill the streets of all the cities of Europe with lean and squalid beggars, who had once
been thriving farmers and shopkeepers. Meanwhile the work of destruction began. The flames
went up from every market-place, every hamlet, every parish church, every country seat. . . .
The fields where the corn had been sown were ploughed up. The orchards were hewn down. . . .
The magnificent Cathedral of Spires perished, and with it the marble sepulchres of eight Ceasars.
The coffins were broken open. The ashes were scattered to the winds.9

The eighteenth century began with the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). In 1707 a
French army under Marshall Claude-Louis-Hector Villars marched through the Palatinate
spreading terror and death. Along with oppressive taxation and religious turmoil, life for
Palatines was once again filled with suffering. Then came a blow which broke the native spirit of
many a Palatine; it was delivered by the wrath of nature when the winter of 1708-09 was
extremely harsh and long.

       Mass Migration

In the spring of 1709 thousands of Palatines left their families and homelands, boarded small
boats on the Rhine River, and traveled to Rotterdam, Holland. From there the journey for one of
those refugees ended this way: "Early in the morning of June 13, 1710, the ship Lyon drew into
New York harbor. . . . On board the Lyon were 402 ‘poor Palatines,' among them thirteen-year-
old Conrad Weiser."10 Weiser wrote in his autobiography:

In . . . 1709 my Father moved away from Great Aspach on the 24th of June, and took eight
children with him. My eldest sister, Catrina, remained there with her husband, Conrad Boss, with
whom she had two children. My father sold them his house, fields, meadows, vineyard and
garden, but they could only pay him 75 gulden, . . . so it was made a present to them. In about
two months we reached London in England, along with several thousand Germans whom Queen
Ann, of glorious remembrance, had taken in charge, and was furnishing with food. About
Christmas day we embarked, and ten shiploads with about 4,000 souls were sent to America.11

The first objective of the departing Palatine was simply to escape from the Palatinate, but the
ultimate goal was to find a new life somewhere else on the earth. By taking one journey at a
time, hopeful Palatines yielded themselves and their families to the promises and schemes of
others, as well as to the obvious risks of travel. Although through the years Palatines did
immigrate to other countries, England offered a specific welcome. There is no doubt Queen
Anne's assistance was humanitarian in nature, but it is also true that England's empire hoped to
gain materially by advantageous use of the Palatine sojourners.

Queen Anne, whose husband (the Prince of Denmark) was of German stock and a Lutheran, was
personally concerned about the distressed Protestants of Germany, as was England's Parliament.
England regarded itself as the champion of the Protestant cause in Europe. Besides, England
could use these people to protect its American frontier. In 1708 an "Act was passed . . . for the
naturalisation of all foreign protestants"12 for the purpose of encouraging newcomers. Transport
ships were provided to bring the Palatines to England, where they waited for disposition by the
government. In 1709, as Palatines were arriving in Rotterdam, the British Resident at the Hague,
James Dayrolle, wrote to London:

Upon the continuation of H. M. [Her Majesty's] Bounty or any other encouragement, you may
have half Germany if you please, for they are all flying away not only from the Palatinate, but
from all other countrys in the neighborhood of the Rhine. . . . The expenses may be great but are
necessary, if you are in want of these people for the plantations, as my Lord Townshend seems to
be of opinion you are, otherwise they must perish where they come to lye at Briel.13

Problems and Solutions

The following is a description of what the English people became quickly aware when thousands of
Palatine immigrants arrived in London:

The citizens of London were astonished to learn, in May and June, 1709, that 5,000 men, women
and children, Germans from the Rhine, were under tents in the suburbs. By October the number
had increased to 13,000, and comprised husbandmen, tradesmen, school teachers and ministers.
These emigrants had deserted the Palatinate, owing to French oppression and the persecution by
their prince, the elector John William, of the house of Newburgh, who had become a devoted
Romanist, though his subjects were mainly Lutherans and Calvinists.14

Of course, in the English Parliament,there was political reaction and controversy as to what to do
with the Palatines:

The Tory mind was, at the outset, affected against the cause of those refugees and opposed to the
assisting hand of the government. . . .

. . . The blame for the wholesale immigration was laid on the Naturalization Act of 1708, a
measure passed by the Whigs after the arrival of Kockerthal with the first company from the
Palatinate. . . . It is a curious fact that, though . . . people came in crowds during the next year,
yet it is doubtful whether the act had anything to do with that popular movement. Very few of the
Palatines sought to be naturalized in London, and probably a still smaller number of them were
attracted thither by a knowledge of that act. The bait which drew them was in the tidings of the
kindness shown to Kockerthal and his companions, and in the prospect of being sent to America.
15

England's public records and documents relative to the colonial history of New York provide
numerous examples, through written accounts which clearly record the story, as to conditions and
events of the time, during the early part of the eighteenth century, wherein so many Palatines
chose to leave Germany.

April 20, 1708:

1442. i. . . . Joshua de Kocherthal to the Queen. Most Serene, and Most Potent Queen, Most
Gracious Princess and Lady! Your Royall Majesty will most graciously be pleased to have laid
before you, in all humility, in what manner a number of the people that dwelt in High Germany
upon the Rivers Rhine and Neckar, have, by the present warr, but particularly by the French
ravages in those parts, 1707, been ruined and utterly spoyled, in such manner that, according to
the judgement and opinion of man, they cannot possibly attain unto sufficient means of
livelyhood during the hard times, which still continue in those parts; in which their miserable
condition, after many consultations had on that account, they have lastly, in the name of the
Great God, taken the resolution, to committ themselves to your Majesty's most generous
protection, and to seeke for shelter and assistance under your most glorious and all the world
renowned Government. . . . The whole Colony consisting of 41 persons, and in the name of all of
them, their Evangelical Minister . . . Joshua De Kocherthal.16

April 22, 1708:

1445. Council of Trade and Plantations to Mr. Secretary Boyle. Having discoursed Mr. Kocherthal
. . . , we must take notice that we find their persons are reduced to such a necessity that they are
not able to subsist themselves without H.M. immediate relief.17

April 28, 1708:

1456. i. . . . Council of Trade and Plantations to the Queen. Report upon the petition of Joshua de
Kocherthal. These 41 poor Lutherans are in the utmost want, not having at present anything (but
what they get by charity) to subsist themselves; they have been reduced to this miserable
condition by the ravages committed by the French in the Lower Palatinate, where they lost all
they had; . . . therefore we humbly propose that they be sent to settle upon Hudson's River in the
province of New York, where they may be usefull to this Kingdome, particularly in the production
of Naval Stores, and as a frontier against the French and their Indians. . . . And in case your
Majesty shall approve of their going to New York, we humbly represent that the cheapest way of
transporting them will be in the man-of-war and transport ship that shall be ordered to go with
Lord Lovelace. . . . And we further humbly offer that they be supplyed here with the necessary
tools for agriculture, to be sent with them, to enable them to begin and make settlements. . . .
We further offer that before their departure they may be made denizens of this Kingdom.18

May 10, 1708:

1472. Order of Queen in Council. The poor Lutherans . . . are to be made free Denizens of this
Kingdom.19

June 10, 1708:

1533. Copies of Mr. Popple's and Mr. Kocherthal's receipts . . . being 50 days' allowance for 40
poor Protestant Refugees from the Palatinate.20

June 23, 1708:

1568. W. Popple, jr., to Wm. Lowndes. Since my letter of June 16, the Council of Trade and
Plantations have discoursed with several persons about the transportation of the Lutherans to
New York. . . . Col. Nicholson and Mr. Micajah Perry, who have been versed in these matters, are
willing, if required, to undertake the buying the tools and necessaries for the said Lutherans, so
soon as my Lord High Treasurer shall please to issue the mony.21

May 3, 1709:

485. The Earl of Sunderland to the Council of Trade and Plantations. The Queen being informed
that some hundreds of poor German Protestants are lately come and more are coming from the
Palatinate with intentions to settle in H.M. Plantations in America, H.M. being convinced that it
would be much more for the advantage of Her Kingdoms if a method could be found to settle
them here in such manner as they might get a comfortable livelyhood. . . . They are for the most
part husbandmen and labouring people, which renders it the easier to dispose of them to the
advantage of the publick.22

May 5, 1709:

491. The Earl of Sunderland to the Council of Trade and Plantations. H.M. being graciously
disposed to relieve the necessities of the German Protestants . . . , you are forthwith to . . . report
to H.M. . . . what it may be necessary for their present support, till they be either settled here or
sent to H.M. Plantations.23

May 9, 1709:

495. John Tribbeko and George Ruperti to the Council of Trade and Plantations. According to
your Lordships' order, we have made a particular enquiry into the condition of the poor
Protestant Palatines. . . . These poor distressed people, who most humbly implore H.M. most
gracious protection, have desired us to represent, (1) That those of 'em who had some substance
when they left their country, have during their journey been obliged to assist the others who had
nothing by which means all of 'em (except some few) are now reduced to great want. (2) That
they finding themselves under great straits and having already some sick among 'em for want of
necessary sustenance, and many of 'em going allmost naked, they pray some speedy relief, lest
the vigorous young men might lose their health and strength, and so not be serviceable in the
Plantations. . . . (4) That your Lordships would be pleased to order that they might not be
overcrowded in the ships in their voyage to the Plantations, they having been in great misery,
and had severall children died in their passage from Holland for want of room. (5) That about 100
more of their countrymen having been obliged to stay behind at Rotterdam, they cannot pay their
transport hither, and leave it to your Lordships' generosity. . . .

495. i. . . . A great many of the poor Palatines begin to be very sikly, and several are dead here
already, because (1) they are pakt up in such great numbers, we having found very often 20 to 30
men and women together with their children in one room; (2) when they fall sick they are
destitute of all comfortable assistance, and many really want bread. Pray for some speedy relief
for their great necessity.24

May 23, 1709:

527. Mr. Taylour to Mr. Popple. My Lord Treasurer desires the opinion the Council of Trade and
Plantations, in what manner the German Protestant Refugees may be most properly disposed of.
. . .

527. i. Mr. Coleby to the Lord High Treasurer. There are 1100 more of the German Protestants
come over, and 600 more lye at Rotterdam for passage. They are very poor and sickly, and if they
are not quickly disposed of, will breed a sickness in the City, etc.25

June 1, 1709:

553. Council of Trade to the Earl of Sunderland and the Lord High Treasurer. As to the
settlement of the poor Palatines here, ‘tis certain that . . . many hands contribute to the increase
of trade, and the increase of trade naturally tends to the increase of wealth. And of this we have
a famous instance in Queen Elizabeth's reign, when many Dutch and Walloon families, to avoid
the persecution of the Duke of Alva etc., were seated at Norwich etc. But then ‘tis to be observed
these families brought with them considerable stocks to set up a new manufacture of bays, says,
stuffs and serges; which England till then was unacquainted with. The case of the poor Germans
is quite different: they have neither stock nor manufacture, most of them women and children; a
great many of them, through age and infirmities past their labour, others (not a small number)
not come to it; some of them more fit for alms-houses than work-houses; there are 2000 already
arrived, besides others that are expected, and many more that will probably follow, unless some
discountenance be given to the transporting of them hither, until those already arrived be
disposed of.26

Obviously, in the Spring of 1709 arrival of people into Rotterdam and then into England was
immediate and massive. The stream flowed on until, by July, it had become a flood that alarmed
London. Even though hundreds of tents were immediately provided, overall accommodations
could not be arranged fast enough. Disease threatened. The labor market was glutted. The
government became alarmed. By the end of the year, plans were made to transport thousands of
Palatines to New York.

November 11, 1709:

842. i. Earl of Sunderland to the President of the Council of New York. The Queen having
thought fit to order the sending of 3000 of the poor Palatines to New York, has commanded me to
tell you that they are to sail from hence about Dec. 15, to the end that you may consult with H.M.
Council there upon the proper measures to be taken for providing for these poor people at their
arrival in your parts, both as to lodging and provisions.27

November 30, 1709, Colonel Robert Hunter to the Lords of Trade:

The number to be transported being 3000 and housing for 'em at their landing being very
uncertain, and no cover to be expected where they are to be planted untill they build themselves
Hutts, I presume your Lordships will think it necessary that there be 600 tents at least sent
along. . . .

The stores formerly sent to New York being exhausted by the intended Expedition to Canada, and
that People being to be planted on the Frontiers it will be absolutely necessary they be armed
with 600 Firelocks & Bayonetts at least, from Her Majesty's Stores here, and a proportionable
quantity of powder and shott, and other ammunition stores according to custome. Having upon
this occasion particular reasons for managing the Indians it will be necessary that what Presents
at least have been heretofore made to them, may be at this time renewed, as well for their good
will in parting with these Lands that we may possess, as to ingage their assistance for the
Defence of our Infant Colonies.28

December 1, 1709, Colonel Hunter to the Lords of Trade:

When your Lordships have determined in what place the Palatines are to be planted, You would
be pleased to consider in what manner the lands are to be granted them, in what proportions and
under what reservations, or whether it be not advisable that they be servants to the Crown for a
certain Term, or at least 'till they have repaid the Expences the Crown is at in setting them to
work, and subsisting them whilst they can not subsist themselves.29

December 5, 1709, report of the Board of Trade on the plans for settling the Palatines:

That the Province of New Yorke being the most advanced Frontier of Your Majesty's Plantations
on the Continent of America, the Defence and Preservation of that place is of the utmost
importance to the Security of all the Rest; And if the said Palatines were seated there they would
be an additional strength and Security to that Province, not only with regard to the French of
Canada, But against any Insurrection of the Scattered Nations of Indians upon that Continent,
and therefore we humbly Propose that they be sent thither.

By the best Information we can gett, the most proper Places for the seating of them in that
Province, so as they may be of benefit to this Kingdom by the Production of Naval Stores, are in
the Mohaques River, and on Hudson's River, where are very great numbers of Pines fit for
Production of Turpentine and Tarr, out of which Rozin and Pitch are made. . . .

That the Governor be likewise Directed to grant . . . 40 Acres per head to each family, after they
shall have repaid by the produce of their labour the charges the publick shall be at in settling and
subsisting them there. . . .

Lastly We humbly offer that the said Palatines upon their arrival there be Naturalized, without
Fee or Reward, that they may enjoy all such Privileges . . . of that Province.30

               Palatine Baptists

In the above example of Palatinate German Protestants whom England allowed to sail to
America, specific attention is given to a group of Lutherans. As noted in the opening paragraph
of this paper, one of the other religious groups (classified among the separatists and pietists)
which left the Palatinate during the early eighteenth century was the German Baptists (also
known as Brethren, Dippers, Dunkers, Dunkards, Church of the Brethren). Of them, Brethren
historian Donald F. Durnbaugh writes:

Our fathers were labeled heretics early in their history because they rejected the dogma, the
teaching, and the practices of the established order. As such they were objects of bitter
persecution by the provincial governments and the state churches of Germany. Forced to leave
that country almost en masse, they left nearly everything behind--including practically all
records of their beginning.31

Among the original eight founders of the Brethren were five men and three women:

Finally, in the year 1708, eight persons agreed together to establish a covenant of a good
conscience with God, to accept all ordinances of Jesus Christ as an easy yoke, and thus to follow
after their Lord Jesus . . . as true sheep in joy or sorrow until the blessed end. These eight
persons were five brethren and three sisters, as follows: first, George Grebe, from Hesse-Kassel;
second, Luke Vetter, also from the state of Hesse; the third was Alexander Mack, from
Schriesheim in the Palatinate between Mannheim and Heidelberg; the fourth was Andrew Boni,
from Basel in Switzerland; the fifth, John Kipping, from Bareit in the state of Wurttemberg; the
three sisters were: first, Joanna Nothiger, or Boni; second, Anna Margaret Mack; and third,
Joanna Kipping. These eight persons united with one another as brethren and sisters in the
covenant of the cross of Jesus Christ as a church of Christian believers.32

The chosen Brethren leader was Alexander Mack who baptized the other seven near
Schwarzenau. Because of his newly found religious enthusiasm, Alexander Mack and his
immersionist followers journeyed to Marienborn in the Ysenburg territory of Count Charles
August who was of the Reformed faith. The following is an example of persecution upon those
who dared differ from the religion of the ruler, as recorded in official court minutes:

Inasmuch as Eva Elizabeth Hoffmann allowed her daughter to be baptized by Alexander Mack on
the twenty first of last month in the river at Dudelsheim, according to the reports submitted by
the honorable Pastor Rosa and Deputy Administrator Winter, the above mentioned women were
summoned today. After they had appeared, the illegality of their action was made clear to them.
Then the official . . . told the mother that because of the above-mentioned situation, . . . the
[count's] protection was withdrawn by virtue of the decree of His Grace of July 14, 1710. She
must therefore betake herself from the territory. It shall also be made clear to Alexander Mack
that he should avoid this territory. To this end, all of the villagers were ordered that no one is to
shelter him, under penalty of arbitrary punishment.33

Under constant threat of being banned and imprisoned as others of the Brethren were, in 1720
Alexander Mack led his Baptist followers to Holland where he resided until he chose to join those
of the Brethren already in America. He arrived in England's colony of Pennsylvania at
Philadelphia on September 27, 1729, aboard the ship Allen which also carried four others of the
first Brethren congregation. Another of the original eight was Lucas Vetter. He arrived on
September 21, 1731, aboard Britannia. The following is a typical account recorded for new arrivals:

At the Courtho. of Philadia, Sept. 21st 1731. Present: The Honble PATRICK GORDON, Esqr., Lt.
Govr. . . .

A List was presented . . . of One hundred and Six Palatines, who with their Families, making in
all Two hundred & sixty nine Persons, were imported here in the Ship Britannia, of London,
Michael Franklyn, Mr., from Rotterdam, but last from Cowes, as by Clearance from that Port.
The Master being Examined said that he had no particular License for their Transportation. They
were then called in, & having declared that their Intentions were to settle & live Peaceably in
this Province, the several persons whose Names are subjoyned, did repeat and sign the
Declaration inserted in the Minutes of the 21st of Septr., 1727, & likewise took and subscribed
the Declaration of Fidelity & Abjuration.34

                          Summary

The above examples of Palatine emigration merely provide a few particulars in this brief review
of the total Palatine story. Pennsylvania historian Wayland F. Dunaway writes:

The earlier German immigration to Pennsylvania is largely the story of those German sects who
came to America in search of religious liberty. . . . The vast majority of German immigrants after
1727, however, came as indentured servants in extreme poverty.35

Thus, untold are many stories about the risks taken, including tragic tales of death and human
bondage. Nevertheless, through the grace of England, eighteenth century Germans came to
America. They came on ships, sailing ships. As Edwin C. Guillet writes:

The slowness of navigation made the Atlantic crossing unpleasant even for those who could afford
the best accommodations; while the poor and wretched made the passage in vessels generally
unsanitary, verminous, and unseaworthy. But many came with health and high resolve, and tales
of heroism and devotion stand out amidst the murky background.

The conditions under which the great mass of emigrants left the Old Land were a reflection of
the times. Famine, unemployment, poverty, and the brutal arm of the law hastened the exodus,
and the unwary were exploited and cheated at both ends of the journey and frequently bullied and
starved aboard ship as well. But there is a sense of racial destiny in the march from the Old
World to the New.36

While there can be little doubt about the major motivations which describe the great emigration
from eighteenth century Germany, including the matter of religious freedom, just how
significantly did the existence of the promise and hope for religious freedom in America
influence German emigrants? At least, as Marcus Lee Hansen writes, "it was the all-important
fact to those congregations and sects which sought relief from ecclesiastical domination."37
Moreover, there is strong support for the position taken by historian S. H. Cobb:

These men were men of principle, who had suffered much for principle and stedfastness therein.
The very poverty, which to some critics seems suggestive only of opprobrium [disgrace], had
come upon them for such steadfastness. Their story rightly told must tell of statecraft and church
polity, of the movements and campaigns of armies. It must speak of sufferings which approach to
martyrdom, of the dark crimes possible to kings and priests, of the oppressions wrought by
unbridled power and the passive resistance offered by a steadfast adherence to truth. The Pilgrim
Fathers were not the only company who sought in this western world "Freedom to worship God."
The fact is that, if ever a body of emigrants came to America from under the hand of the
oppressor, such were these Palatines; and if ever the thought of religious liberty constrained men
to leave their native land for hoped-for freedom in America, such hope was powerful with these
children of the Palatinate.38

   Further, in 1876, C. Z. Weiser wrote:

With liberty for our watchword, we must give notice to the world that the German race here on
this Western Continent will not permit or countenance any measures that interfere with a man's
rights of conscience, that every man shall have the right to pursue any honorable calling and to
worship God in any form of religion without prejudice to his civil or political rights. In other
words, let the world know that the blood of the German race is to-day what it was in the forests of
Germany before Europe knew what liberty was--free--that they are now in favor of Constitutional
Liberty, and are determined that this shall be in deed the land of freedom, restrained only by law.
39

If there was one certain motivation which described the yearning of many of the poor Palatines
who braved the Atlantic, it was the desire to be free from the religious tyranny of their
birthlands. For example, many of the first Palatines to immigrate into America were Quakers
who came due to the seventeenth century invitation and encouragement of William Penn; and
later, when C. Z. Weiser wrote "the land of freedom, restrained only by law," he specifically
acknowledged the "Constitutional Liberty" stipulated in the 1787 Constitution for the United
States of America which clearly states that "no religious test shall ever be required."40

NOTES:

1 Richard B. Morris, The Life History of the United States (New York: Time-Life Books,
1963), 120-121.

2 The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "Palatinate."

3 Ibid., s.v. "Holy Roman Empire." 4 Ibid.

5 Donald F. Durnbaugh, European Origins of the Brethren (Elgin, Il.: The Brethren Press,
1958), 28.

6 Ibid., 30-31. 7 Britannica, s.v. "Thirty Years War."

8 Charlton T. Lewis, A History of Germany (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883), 462-
463.

9 Lord Macaulay, The History of England (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company,
1900), 3:121.

10 Paul A. W. Wallace, Conrad Weiser (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1945), 1.

11 C. Z. Weiser, The Life of (John) Conrad Weiser (Reading, Pa.: Daniel Miller,
Publisher, 1876), 441.

12 Thomas Pitt Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional History (London: Sweet &
Maxwell Ltd., 1946), 757.

13 Walter Allen Knittle, Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration (Philadelphia:
Dorrance & Company, 1937), 56.

14 Donald E. Smith, ed. The New Larned History for Ready Reference Reading and
Research, (Springfield, Mass.: C. A. Nichols Publishing Company, 1924), s.v. "Palatines,"
by A. D. Mellick, Jr.

15 Wolfgang Menzel, Germany from the Earliest Period, trans. Mrs. George Horrocks
(New York: Peter Fenelon Collier & Son, 1902), 3:196-198.

16 Public Record Office, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West
Indies, 1706-1708, June, ed. Cecil Headlam (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office,
1916), 720-721.

17 Ibid., 721. 18 Ibid., 723-724. 19 Ibid., 727.

20 Ibid., 745. 21 Ibid., 757.

22 Public Record Office, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West
Indies, June 1708-1709, ed. Cecil Headlam (London: HMSO, 1922), 290.

23 Ibid., 295. 24 Ibid., 295-296. 25 Ibid., 307.

26 Ibid., 322-323. 27 Ibid., 515.

28 John Romeyn Brodhead, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of
New-York, ed. E. B. O'Callaghan (Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons and Company, Printers,
1855), 5:113.

29 Ibid. 30 Ibid., 117-120.

31 Durnbaugh, 9. 32 Ibid., 121. 33 Ibid., 161.

34 Samuel Hazard, ed., Colonial Records of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: T. Fenn & Co.,
1831-1840; reprint, Philadelphia: Jo. Severns & Co., 1852), 3:414.

35 Wayland F. Dunaway, A History of Pennsylvania (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1948),
67.

36 Edwin C. Guilett, The Great Migration (New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1937), vii.

37 Marcus Lee Hansen, The Great Migration 1607-1860 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1940), 161.

38 Sanford H. Cobb, The Story of the Palatines (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897),
11-12.

39 Weiser, 439.

40 Constitution, art. VI, sec. 3.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Primary Sources:

Brodhead, John Romeyn. Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-
York. Vol. 5. Edited by E. B. O'Callaghan. Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons and Company,
Printers, 1855.

Durnbaugh, Donald F. European Origins of the Brethren. Elgin, Il.: The Brethren Press,
1958.

Hazard, Samuel, ed. Colonial Records of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: T. Fenn & Co., 1831-
1840; reprint, Philadelphia: Jo. Stevens & Co., 1852.

Taswell-Langmead, Thomas Pitt. English Constitutional History. London: Sweet &
Maxwell Ltd., 1946.

U.K. Public Record Office. Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West
Indies, 1706-1708, June. Edited by Cecil Headlam. London: HMSO, 1916.

________. Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, June,
1708-1709. Edited by Cecil Headlam. London: HMSO, 1922.

Secondary Sources
Cobb, Sanford H.. The Story of the Palatines. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897.

Dunaway, Wayland F. A History of Pennsylvania. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1948.

Guillet, Edwin C. The Great Migration. New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1937.

Hansen, Marcus Lee. The Atlantic Migration 1607-1860. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1940.

Knittle, Walter Allen. Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration. Philadelphia:
Dorrance & Company, 1937.

Lewis, Charlton T. A History of Germany. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883.

Macaulay, Lord. The History of England. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900.

McHenry, Robert, ed. The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Fifthteenth Edition. Chicago:
Encyclopedia, Inc., 1993.

Menzel, Wolfgang. Germany From the Earliest Period. New York: Peter Fenelon Collier
& Son, 1902.

Morris, Richard B. The Life History of the United States. New York: Time-Life Books,
1963.

Smith, Donald E. ed. The New Larned History For Ready Reference Reading and
Research. Springfield, Mass.: C. A. Nichols Publishing, 1924. S.v. "Palatines," by A. D.
Mellick, Jr.

Wallace, Paul A. W. Conrad Weiser. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1945.

Weiser, C. Z. The Life of (John) Conrad Weiser. Reading, Pa: Daniel Miller, Publisher,
1876.

Copyright 1999 Gene Garman