German Immigration to the U.S.

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses to what extent the Germans influenced life in the U.S.A. It shows that German immigrants to the United States influenced thought and culture in a variety of ways, but they nearly always managed to hold on to their own culture while adapting to their surroundings.

From the Paper:

"While America has always been a melting pot of different cultures blending to form a whole, Germans have always managed to blend into society while nevertheless retaining their own special culture and society. The Germans are one of the few races to hang on to their culture so powerfully, while still successfully merging with U.S. culture. One of the most important ways they held on to their culture was by continuing to speak German, especially in the homes, and raising their children to also speak the native language. They also tended to marry within their own culture. Even throughout the 19th century, third or forth generation German young people were continuing to marry Germans, rather than non-Germans (Spencer 149). They also tended to settle together, forming communities and towns populated mostly with Germans, often all from the same German town or area. This kept the culture from dispersing in large metropolitan areas, and helped keep the people together and their lifestyle much the same as it had been in Germany. The Germans were emphatic about creating better lives for themselves while maintaining their cultural identity, and they took strong steps to make sure this was so, even refusing to marry outside their culture."

More papers on German Immigration to the U.S.:

• Term Paper # 135209 : "Immigration and the German Immigrant"
• Research Paper # 46193 : "American Support of the Holocaust"
• Analytical Essay # 132227 : "Revisionist History and Free Speech in the Zundel Case"

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