German American Genealogy: Immigration to America (part 1)

By October 14, 2024
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Introduction: In this article – the first of a two-part series – Katie Rebecca Merkley focuses on the experiences of German immigrants, to help with your research on German American ancestors. Katie works as a researcher for Legacy Tree Genealogists. More information can be found at: https://www.legacytree.com/katieg.

About one out of every five Americans is descended from German roots. In two previous blog series (see links at the end of this article), we talked about German Americans. This next two-part series will focus on the experience of the German immigrant ancestor. Whether your German immigrant ancestors came recently or centuries ago, these articles are for you.

Illustration: German American Heritage Month.
Illustration: German American Heritage Month.

Illustration credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html

Migration Waves and Patterns

German emigration occurred in waves, with many Germans leaving their homes over several decades. Each wave had its own push and pull factors. The push factors in Germany were often concentrated in specific regions. The main cause of breaks between emigration waves was wars.

Colonial Waves

Between 1683 and 1776, most German immigrants arriving in America came from the southern areas of Germany, including the Palatinate and Phalz. Many settled in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana. It is estimated that a quarter million people arrived during this time.

The earliest German settlement in America was Germantown, Pennsylvania, which was settled in 1683 by a group of Mennonites from Krefeld, Germany. The next large-scale migration landed in New York in 1709 and 1710, but many of these immigrants moved to Pennsylvania. German Baptist immigrants arrived between 1719 and 1729. Germans began settling in Maryland as early as the 1730s. A group of Schwenkfelders consisting of 50 families came in 1754, settling in Bucks, Berks, and Lehigh counties in Pennsylvania. The high point of German immigration occurred in the late 1740s and 1750s.

After William Penn was granted the colony of Pennsylvania, he recruited settlers from Germany. Those who heeded his call and settled in Pennsylvania became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. The Mennonites were the first to accept Penn’s offer of land. After settling Germantown, they spread to Bucks, Berks, Lancaster, and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania. Most of the Germans who came to Pennsylvania were Lutheran or German Reformed. Areas outside of Pennsylvania where Germans settled became known as the Greater Pennsylvania region.

Early ports of departure from Germany were Rotterdam and Antwerp. Emigrants often traveled down the Rhine River to access these ports. Boston was the leading port of arrival in the U.S. until 1750. Philadelphia was the leading port after that. Immigrants also arrived at New York, New Orleans, and Charleston. Those coming into New Orleans could then sail up the Mississippi River.

Nineteenth Century Waves

The Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 slowed immigration, but it picked up somewhat after those conflicts ended.

Overall, though, emigration from Germany was low in the early nineteenth century until 1830. Even though wages were higher in the U.S. than in Germany, travel costs were too high for many poor Germans. In 1830, wages in Germany increased, and fares were reduced, making it easier to migrate to America.

Most immigrants in the early nineteenth century wave came from southern and northwestern Germany. Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Le Havre were popular ports of departure at this time. Railroads enabled travel to Le Havre, where tickets were cheaper. Popular ports of arrival during this time were New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston.

Later in the century, immigrants came from northern and eastern regions of (then) Germany, including Prussia, Posen, Silesia, Pomerania, and other areas. As the century progressed, Le Havre became less popular, and Bremen and Hamburg became more popular ports of departure. After the Erie Canal was dug, New York increased in popularity as a port of arrival. Immigrants arrived through Castle Garden after it was established in 1855. Castle Garden was rebuilt as Ellis Island in 1892.

Between 1820 and 1860, Germans were the second largest group of immigrants to the U.S. (after the Irish). Many of these immigrants came from Palatinate, Wurttemberg, Hessen, and Baden, arriving in small groups and as families.

There was a lull in immigration during the Civil War, which picked up again after it ended. Many in this wave came from Prussia, departing through Bremen and Hamburg and arriving in New York.

The heaviest immigration occurred between 1880 and 1899, with about 1.9 million arrivals. This was during the Industrial Revolution, and many immigrants made their way to the Midwest and large cities. The last wave of the nineteenth century went into the twentieth century up to the outbreak of WWI.

By the late nineteenth century, nearly 10% of New York City’s population had German origins. Many German immigrants settled in Kleindeutschland on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Push/Pull Factors

What caused these Germans to come to America during these different times? The decision to move usually entails leaving behind something unfavorable, coming to something favorable, or both. This was the case for Germans going to America.

Many German immigrants arriving during the colonial period were escaping religious and political oppression. Because William Penn had made Pennsylvania a place of religious freedom, Pennsylvania attracted many Germans and was mainly settled by religious people. Many German settlers were of the Lutheran faith and German Reformed Church, though others were Mennonites, Amish, German Baptists (Church of the Brethren or Dunkers), Schwenkfelders, and Moravians.

The availability of land in the U.S. attracted immigrants in the nineteenth century. Later in that century, the Industrial Revolution opened job opportunities in the United States. Meanwhile, Germany experienced political unrest after a failed revolution in 1848, driving many to emigrate. Economic and political conditions in Germany worsened as the century progressed.

Economic and environmental reasons also prompted many to emigrate. The eruption of an Indonesian volcano caused unusually cold weather in 1816 and 1817, which led to famine in those years. About 20,000 Germans left for the U.S. as a result. Crops in Germany failed in 1845 and 1846, driving people to emigrate. At the end of that decade, the California gold rush began, drawing immigrants to the U.S.

Regions of Germany that practiced partible inheritance saw tracts of land becoming smaller and smaller until they were too tiny to sustain the landowners. In other areas of Germany that practiced primogeniture (single-heir inheritance), the younger sons who didn’t inherit had to become rural laborers or buy their own farms. This became increasingly difficult as farmland prices increased and labor opportunities decreased. Both cases were a push factor for emigration.

In Prussia, the need for rural labor decreased due to competition from abroad. The threat of conscription into the Prussian army was another push factor for emigration. (Presumably, emigration to avoid military service would have been done illegally, without proper paperwork or permissions.)

The linen industry in northern Germany had to compete with cotton and linen manufacturers. Wages were depressed in areas of high population growth, driving out skilled laborers.

The panic of 1873, which affected both the U.S. and Germany, caused a decline in emigration from Germany. This was followed by an economic boom in the U.S. in the 1880s, during which farming in Germany became less labor-intensive. This gave small farmers less work outside their own farms to augment their income. Farmers in Germany sold their farms in hopes of buying new farms in the U.S. This continued until 1893, when an economic panic in the U.S. coincided with an economic boom in Germany, causing a sharp decline in emigration.

We just looked at the when, where, and why of emigration from Germany to America. Tomorrow’s article will focus on the general experiences of our German immigrant ancestors.

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Note on the header image: German and American flags. Credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html

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