Racial and Ethnic Groups
Week 3, Day 7
Danielle Jackson
Eth125
The ethnic groups that I belong to are German, Russian and Ukrainian. The group that I identify most with would be German.
Germans began immigrating to America in 1709. The reasons were not the same as with other countries. The reasons the German’s immigrated to the United States of America were quite different. Unlike most immigrants, German immigrants did not immigrate for political reasons. In fact, the country was repeatedly being attacked by armies of various nationalities. Inhabitants of the southwestern part, especially, were constantly robbed and tortured. Entire villages were often burnt down and their inhabitants killed. There were many factors that caused Germans to immigrate to America. Some of those are poverty, persecution by their government, and overcrowded population growth. One of the first German ships to come to America was the Concord. The development of a settlement by Germans immigrating to America began already in the 17th Century. Francis Daniel Pastorius, born in Sommerhausen Germany, together with 13 Mennonites & Quaker families from Krefeld, was the first German immigrant to enter and set foot in the North American Continent.
Research shows no evidence of Germans facing prejudice, segregation, racism or any combination of the three until World War I. According to two sources researched, Wagner, A, and Immigration a journey to America, once German immigrants came into America they sought out farmlands and blended in with the population. The Germans were easily accepted as ‘white’ and they kept to themselves. Throughout America ‘Little Germanys” were popping up for those Germans who wanted to remain close to others of their ethnicity ,but most were content to live the farm life. During World War 1 was when German’s, considered alien residents, were most discriminated against. Because the enemy was Germany all German males living in America during...