Sample Student final exam answers 2016 (2016 final exam assignment) Part 3: Model Research Reports

LITR 4340     American Immigrant Literature (Model Assignments)

Chandler Barton

Deutschland Uber Alles; At Least, until it isn’t; A Brief Glimpse at the History of German-Americans and Their Relationship to Modern Immigrant Groups

The history of immigration of Germans to the United States is one marred with mixed emotions and convoluted perceptions. Although Germans were one of the first large group of non-Anglo[1] peoples to immigrate en-masse to America, they are less often remembered for their positive contributions—their efforts in aiding the abolitionist movement, for example—and more so for their perceived connections to the “evil empires” of Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich; though, even prior to World War I, German immigrants have been viewed with deep suspicion and disregard due to their lingual and cultural distinctions from the American dominant WASP culture. What therefore are the German-Americans, and how do they fit into the immigrant story of America; and why did they decide to discard their homelands to come into a land of open hostility, and ironically end up as one of the largest ethnic components of the American dominant culture?

For starters, German-Americans make up the largest single group of immigrants from Europe in comparison to any other[2], even before Scotch-Irish and English. In contemporary terms, it places “German” as the largest identifier of European-American heritage in the country. The immigration to America starting in the late 1600’s to Pennsylvania and Texas helped establish these states as well-known habitats of German peoples living in America. German culture and cuisine were soon to spread and seep into American culture, producing such modern food novelties as the hamburger and hotdog. Even into the late 1800 and early 1900’s, German was considered one of the foremost minority languages spoken by a sizable amount of the population. [3]

Despite this “minority monopoly” that Germans enjoyed—and continue to enjoy as the majority heritage of the contemporary White population of the United States—the early immigration of the Germans to America in the 19^th and 20^th century was marred with difficulty. The primary causes of this rocky transition was the language differences between German and English, (despite both being Germanic based languages,) and cultural ones, as America had developed largely out of a Scotch-Irish and English (WASP) tradition as opposed to a German one. Even though Germans and the English are both European peoples, Both Germanics one at that, the cultural divides, as well as historical conflicts and divisions between the German state, Britain, and France, seemed to have set a notable distaste of the “Dutchman”[4] in the New world.

The language barrier between the German immigrant and naturalized WASP American provides the first natural barrier between assimilation and acceptance. Though the origins of the German people and Anglo-Saxons are of common stock, the Angles and Saxons originating in the Jutland of Denmark and East Germany respectively, the divergence between them linguistically over the centuries, as well as culturally (which will be examined momentarily) offer a difficult conundrum to navigate, especially given the inherent xenophobic tendencies of Americans that they associate first and foremost with foreign tongues. Despite the common perception in the 21^st century of American xenophobia being associated historically largely with race, as far back as Benjamin Franklin’s time[5] one can easily ascertain that language—not skin color—was the primary motivator for mistrust of the immigrant, which also resulted in similar treatment for Irish and Italian folk[6].

From a cultural (and inevitably, historical) perspective, the modern German people have a distinct, noticeable break from their Anglo-Saxon brethren dating back to the migration of the Angles and Saxons of mainland Europe to the British Isles in the 5^th century. Though both groups—though it should be noted that the modern definition of “German” includes a multitude of different tribes, clans, and nations such as the Austrians, Bavarians, Prussians, Swiss, Swabians, etc—have common origins in the Germanic migration[7] and settlement of “Germania”[8] in Europe, it was at the genesis of the two groups’ forming identities as Europeans that saw their breaking apart, and as such, allowed a large degree of divergence in way of their identities as distinct peoples. Whereas the Anglo-Saxons settled the British Isles and were in turn influenced by native Celts, Romans, Vikings, Danes, and eventually French (thanks to the Norman Conquest), the Germanic tribes remaining in mainland Europe were left almost entirely unharrassed by outside influences, holding the rather notorious honor of being one of the only unscathed, unconquered European peoples by the Roman Empire, which failed at length to ever produce a successful, substantial campaign of conquest or expedition into the Germanic homeland of Central Europe.

This early historical context is paramount in order to understand how these two groups of people, so similar in origin and ethnicity, ended up on opposite ends of cultural and political perspectives. The divergence of language and culture having begun in the early 5^th-6^th century as noted was merely the beginning stage; the English and the Germans would continue to grow apart as the centuries progressed. The alignment of Germany and Austria-Hungary towards Central European ambitions and expansion in the early 20^th century, which was directly in conflict with the interests of Great Britain and the United States, lead to the First Worl War, one of the last and final events that officialized the break between the civilized Englishman with the barbarous “Hun”[9].

The hostility that arose during the eras of the World Wars only served to reinforce the prejudices and biases that Americans had of their German immigrant neighbors. It was bad enough that they were a people arriving with a different language and culture, but it was even worse that their home country would end up engaged in the two largest conflicts the modern world had ever seen with their new country. Xenophobic tendencies and discrimination of Germans simply as “immigrants”, a plight they shared with many others, would eventually evolve and morph into open hostility and suspicion during the era of both World Wars, where Germany was a combatant at the opposite end of the WASP world.

The earliest wave of Germans that arrived to America, around the 17^th and 18^th centuries, included religious groups such as the Pennsylvania “Dutch”[10], Anabaptists, Amish, and Mennonites. Though they largely remained outside the purview of official harassment and stuck largely to themselves (and still do in many ways to the present day) they still received their fair share of scrutiny and outside criticism due to their religious way of life and beliefs, as well as their use of the German language. The non-religious wave of German immigrants during this time was confined largely to Hessian mercenaries hired by George III to fight in the revolutionary war. The next wave of German settlers included exiles, outcasts, dissidents, and veterans of the 1848 revolution in Germany. This group was the first to receive major push-back from such entities as the American Party and other nativist groups who opposed non-WASP immigration into the United States. The final wave consisted of refugees, Jews, and other Germans fleeing the economic and social conditions of the World Wars. Again, these settlers were received with hostility, more so than their 17^th and 19^th century counterparts due to anti-German sentiment during the World Wars.

Though the conditions in the United States and the attitude of the public towards Germans ranged from apathetic and unnoticed at best, to accusations of treason and malfeasance at its worst, Germans continued to pour into America at fixed intervals and waves, and even would end up as the largest component of the dominant American culture. The great conundrum is how Germans and German-Americans today wound up at this point despite all of the historical adversities, differences with WASP culture and language, push-back from nativists and ill-feeling. One possible explanation is the “quiet” assimilation of the German people into dominant American culture; as a general rule, it was the tendency of German immigrants to form enclave communities and stick mostly to themselves, but in many cases integrating and accepting assimilation through the generations as opposed to fighting back against it. The only real noticeable exception here are such religious communities as the Amish, but even their separation remains shaky and questionable today, and most people if asked would probably regard the Amish as American as apple pie.

A final conjecture has to do with language and culture. Although it was readily established that the English and Germans broke apart at a very early age and saw both groups’ language and culture develop separately, their shared origins do not have the same substantial divide as say a Chinese or even an Italian would have, both of whom speak different languages—one of a different Indo-European language group and the other a completely different family altogether—but also have radically different cultures, religions, and so forth. The German therefore had the natural advantage of adopting and meshing into a language that was not too far off for them to pick up, and a culture that was not entirely foreign or incomprehensible. As such, within a single generation, the typical German was almost entirely “Americanized” given this short distance of assimilation, removing the primary barrier of discrimination: language and culture. The only remaining component that would linger around (albeit briefly) would be the historical apprehension between the WASP world and the Germans, which would itself become a thing of the past after World War II, as yet another generation would pass on and a further degree of assimilation would eradicate any perceived notion of an “us” vs. “them,” as the German-American became firmly rooted in American dominate culture society.

The most interesting and educational part of this tale has to be the radical shift in how the German people would leap from a hated “foreigner” to an integral, key component of the dominant culture. There is also some parallels to consider between the story of the German-American and the rise of the Hispanic identity and population in the United States, which itself seems capable of repeating the pattern of the Germans: arriving in high numbers, clumping together in enclaves, being feared and ostracized by “nativists”; yet, through only a few generations of adaptation and assimilation, to become a key, integral part of American dominant culture and identity. This “German Model” of immigration and assimilation can already be seen in the Hispanic population of the United States through the introduction, fusion, and adaptation of Hispanic cuisine, music, and other pop-culture components; increasing social mobility, political participation and representation; high levels of inter-marriage, as well as the increasing trend of second and third generation Hispanics to self-identify as White and with “White”/WASP culture.

If the trend continues on par with that of the German-American of before, this repeat of “dominant culture absorption” could very well be a possibility in the Hispanic community of America. For this reason, examining the history and result of mass waves of migration and settlement of immigrant groups, especially large and peculiar ones as the Germans, should be considered a helpful resource when considering the immigration and assimilation of other contemporary immigrant groups.

Works Cited

Bauman, Mark K. “On German American and American Jewish History.” Journal of American Ethnic History. Vol. 29, No. 1. 2009.

Franklin, Benjamin. Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. 1755. archive.org/stream/increasemankind00franrich/increasemankind00franrich_djvu.txt

"German Immigration." U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library, edited by Lawrence W. Baker, et al., vol. 1: Vol. 1: Almanac, UXL, 2004, pp. 221-246. U.S. History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3436800018/UHIC?u=gray02935&xid=efaf4636.

“German Immigrants.” Immigration to United States, http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/519-german-immigrants.html

Halsall, Guy. Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Härke, Heinrich. "Anglo-Saxon Immigration and Ethnogenesis." Medieval Archaeology 55.1, 2011.

Higham, Nicholas J., and Martin J. Ryan. The Anglo-Saxon World. Yale University Press, 2013.

Koster, John. "Hating The ‘Hun’ At Home." American History, vol. 51, no. 3. MasterFILE Premier.

Schutz, H. "Friedrich Gerstacker's Image of the German Immigrant in America." Journal of German-American Studies, vol 5, pg. 98-116. MLA International Bibliography, 1972.

Ueberhorst, H. "Turnvereine and The Experience of German Immigrants In America." In Proceedings - Annual Convention, 3d, North American Society for Sport History. 1975.

Weber, Peter C. "Ethnic Identity During War: The Case of German American Societies During World War I." Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly 43.1, 185-206. 2014.

Wilbers, Christian. "Saxon? German? American? Negotiating Germanness and Belonging in The United States, 1935-1939." German Studies Review 39.1 (2016): 82-110. America: History & Life.