fcmv germany

BACKGROUND

Germans were the largest group of non-English speaking Europeans to settle in colonial America. Between 1683 and 1776, roughly
120,000 German-speaking immigrants arrived in the colonies. Most came from the southwestern states of the Holy Roman Empire,
particularly the Palatinate, Baden, and Württemberg on the middle and upper Rhine River.

The chief port of entry for German immigrants was Philadelphia, and from here they spread into the countryside in search of land.
Many of the early arrivals settled in southeastern Pennsylvania near Philadelphia, but others pressed further west, beyond the
Susquehanna River and south into Maryland. Over time, German-speaking colonists found their way into the Great Valley of the
Appalachians and by the 1730s, across the Potomac River into the northern Valley of Virginia. In the decades that followed German
settlers and their American-born descendents continued moving south and west, leaving a distinctive mark on American culture
wherever they settled.

PEOPLE

The German-speaking immigrants who settled colonial America were mainly peasant farmers and rural artisans. Most were Lutheran or
Reformed in their religious belief and practice. A smaller number were members of Anabaptist sects such as the Mennonites and
German Baptists, that left the Holy Roman Empire to escape religious intolerance. Many of those living in the territories along the Rhine
River had relocated there from the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland in the years following the conflict known as the
Thirty-Years War.

Much of the population in southwestern Germany lived in small, compact villages of several farms surrounded by open fields and
pasture. The landlord might be the territorial prince, a member of the local nobility, a bishop, or the governing council of a nearby
imperial or provincial city. The landlord had ultimate authority over his domains, and was paid by the residents with a portion of the
annual harvest or with services, such as hauling or road maintenance. Local affairs were administered by his warden or a village council
composed of the heads of households. Councils dewtermined which crops would be grown, how much wood could be taken from the
local forests, as well as minor disputes among villagers.

FARMING PRACTICES

Farming was the primary peasant occupation and mixed agriculture was commonly practiced. Farmers raised grain crops such as spelt,
rye, barley, wheat, and oats along with small numbers of livestock and fowl. Local custom usually mandated a three-field crop rotation,
which meant that a third of the village fields were always unproductive. Most peasant-farmer households kept vegetable and herb
gardens, and sometimes cultivated a few fruit trees. Farming in these peasant households was for subsistence; whatever was grown and
harvested over the course of the season was consumed by the household. Surplus produce paid in-kind taxes and dues.

Traditional peasant farming became increasingly difficult during the 1700s. Population growth, and the practice of dividing farmland
among all family heirs resulted in smaller farms and forced many families to practice a part-time craft to survive. Weaving, blacksmithing,
and woodworking were common crafts practiced in peasant households.

LIFE IN THE GERMAN FARMHOUSE

The houses of German peasant-farmers were usually small and crude. Before the 1700s, peasants owned little or no furniture or other
household items beyond the practical. This changed as the size of peasant houses increased, and interior spaces were divided into
rooms. One room that became more common in peasant houses was called, the Stube, which had a tile or masonry heating stove that
kept it warm and largely smoke-free. With the appearance of such rooms, peasant-farmers began investing in more and better
furnishings. Pewter, glassware, and textiles were found in peasant households in greater numbers than before. A distinctive style of folk
furniture also appeared, with chests, bedsteads, tables, benches, and chairs as the most common forms.

In addition to be the warmest and best furnished room in the house, the Stube was used for domestic chores. Flax was widely grown in
southwestern Germany and many peasant women spun flax into linen thread there, often as part of a group of village women. The
Stube also served as a social space, where the family gathered for meals, games, prayers, and conversation.

Meals in the peasant farm house were prepared in the Küche (kitchen), which featured a raised hearth. The raised hearth made it
possible to cook without stooping and bending over hot logs and flames. Small fires were built under individual earthenware or metal
cooking pots and frying pans that rested on iron trivets, conserving scarce firewood. Porridge with animal fat or drippings added, with
vegetables from the garden and bread from the village bake oven was a common meal in German peasant households. Salted and
shredded cabbage was packed into tubs or crocks, and left to ferment in brine to make Sauerkraut. Plums were cooked in large kettles to
make plum butter, which was stored for future use in stoneware crocks.

IMMIGRATION

German migration to colonial America was a small component of the great Auswanderung, in which over a million Germans left their
villages in the century after 1683 in search of a better life. Heavy taxation, overbearing rulers, frequent famines, and a shortage of
farmland made life in the Empire's southwestern territories difficult for the peasant population, and migration to less populous lands was
an inviting prospect. Most migrated in family groups, though single male immigrants to America were increasingly common after 1760.

The journey to America was long, difficult, and expensive. Emigrants needed the permission of the local authorities to leave, and to pay a
manumission fee, since peasants were still serfs legally bound to their territorial ruler. The first leg of their journey was the trip down the
Rhine River to the port of Rotterdam, where they secured passage aboard a British immigrant ship bound for America. The transatlantic
voyage to America was seven to fourteen weeks in crowded quarters. Many German emigrants traveled on credit. Those without family
or friends in America who would pay their debt were sold as servants for a set period. These individuals were called "Redemptioners,"
because they had been redeemed.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN CULTURE

Germans carried their language and culture with them to the colonial American backcountry. In many places, including the Valley of
Virginia, traditional German culture persisted through the mid-1800s before many of its traces faded. Pottery, painted furniture with
lavish decoration, and the Pennsylvania, or "Kentucky," Rifle were among the most dramatic German contributions. Germans also
valued the freedom they found in America, though liberty was more personal than political for them, and they valued independence for
their communities over public service.