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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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German Americans seem more assimilated in the culture than in other British-founded colonial nations around the world. In Australia they were treated better than Southern Europeans and non-Europeans, but, especially during the World Wars, were still viewed with suspicion. I'm wondering if this was the case in the early years of the Thirteen Colonies, or later on, and when were German Americans seen as equals to British Americans?
I saw a thing where they traced Stephen Colbert's German ancestors and they said in colonial times Ben Franklin complained about Germans. Looking it up...
"Why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion." Ben Franklin
My grandmother is irish and my grandfather in german. they both lived in cultural enclaves in NYC in the 40s and she said her parents didn't want her marrying a German, she had to marry an Irish. Thats how it was back then. But she married a German obviously. Its kinda like today how some white parents dont want their kids marrying a non white person, and black parents not wanting there kid to marry a non black person, but now a days even that is going away. But back as recently as the 40s not only did people not want their kids to marry out of their race but they didnt want their kid marrying out of their nationality. We have come a long way.. Sorry if that didn't fully answer your question. It just shows that back then people were very closed minded so its quite possible that germans were treated different by different nationalities back then in America..
Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me during and after the wars. Before the wars I don't know, since Germans played a large role in settling French Louisiana along with Italians, Spanish, etc. What's funny is that most of the ethnicities/races/nationalities in this region got along just fine until the "Anglo-Americans" started to arrive during the late 19th-early 20th centuries.
The period between WWI and WWII, inclusive, was not a good time to be German in the U.S. It was especially bad during WWI. All adult male Germans who were not U.S. citizens were required to register as alien enemies. Many German families anglicized their surnames. Anti-German sentiment was also used to bolster the cause of prohibition, especially since so many breweries here were owned by Germans. During and shortly after WWI, opposing prohibition was painted as tantamount to being pro-German. IMO the Allied effort to reconcile with Axis nations after WWII went a long way toward repairing the German image here, as did the willing participation of many former Nazi scientists in developing our aerospace program. A deluge of VW Beetles was the cherry on top.
Odd bit of trivia: until the mid-1800s, French was the primary language spoken in Wisconsin. It wasn't until it was settled by Germans who then took on English rather than French as their second language that Wisconsin finally became a solidly English-speaking state.
Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me during and after the wars. Before the wars I don't know, since Germans played a large role in settling French Louisiana along with Italians, Spanish, etc. What's funny is that most of the ethnicities/races/nationalities in this region got along just fine until the "Anglo-Americans" started to arrive during the late 19th-early 20th centuries.
In my neck of the woods of the Louisiana Purchase, the French and Germans got along just fine, they both looked down on the Anglos, both the French and Germans considered them to have no culture. Ste. Genevieve, Missouri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The German and English cultures were similar enough that when the Germans started speaking English they were hard to tell apart. From fairy tales to foods, cultural memes were recognized and shared when the linguistic barrier fell. The same goes for Scandinavian Americans.
To a lesser extent, the same can be said for Franco-Americans due to the fact that in Europe, the English and Germans had been adapting French bourgeois influence for centuries.
Only during the World Wars (WWI in particular) did holding onto 'Germanisms' pose a problem between German-Americans and the Anglophilic mainstream American culture.
Since the english settled the new englnad colonies that might have been true there. In Texas and ohre rareas they became amoung the most productive settlers and their culutre was much admired and still is.
Since the english settled the new englnad colonies that might have been true there. In Texas and ohre rareas they became amoung the most productive settlers and their culutre was much admired and still is.
Same in Missouri!
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