German Immigration Research Paper

In terms of economics, politics, and even geography, Germany is at the heart of Europe. It is the second most populous European country, with approximately 82.2 million residents. It is bordered by 9 other countries; Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Germany’s capital and largest city is Berlin, and its president is Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

About seven million Germans have immigrated to North America since the eighteenth century. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 46.5 million people claimed German ancestry, which is 15.2% of the population. A push factor that may have caused Germans to move to America was to leave the Old World in response to historical events in

However, 13 families of Germans seeking religious freedom arrived in Pennsylvania almost 80 years later in 1683, led by a man named Franz Pastorius, they purchased 43,000 acres of land and founded a place named Germantown, six miles north of Philadelphia. This further elaborates on a pull factor being religious freedom. With about 65 to 70% of the German population being Christian (29% Catholic) they likely came to escape religious persecution, similar to English settlers.

Immigration from Europe to the United States increased dramatically in the mid-1800s. 1,301,000 out of 4,736,000 U.S. residents of foreign birth were from Germany. By the 1850s, New York had become the foremost port of arrival for German immigrants.

Yet, in the 1840s, nativist groups, or people who supported the rights of native-born in opposition to immigrants, took up anti-immigrant, mostly anti-Catholic, campaigns. One of the main organizations was the “American Party”, who promoted “traditional American ideals” and stated immigrants were “threatening to destroy American values and democracy.” German Americans likely became the targets of the nativists because of their large numbers in immigration to the U.S. With a different language, customs, and in common cases, a different set of religious or political beliefs, Germans were viewed by many as foreign and therefore