according to the united states census bureau the largest ethnic group in the united states of america is german in 2019 a whopping 43 million americans describe themselves as being a full or partial german ancestry with pennsylvania alone accounting for 3. 5 million so there is no doubt that at some point in time there were a lot of german immigrants crossing the atlantic to reach america but what exactly was the reason what made so many germans decide to leave all they'd ever known and owned behind to start a new life in the united states of america the first notable wave of german settlers in the american colonies came near the end of the 17th century when william penn the founder of pennsylvania invited religious outcasts from germany to come and settle in his colony many facing religious persecution back home eagerly accepted the invitation for the following decades german immigration to the colony would steadily increase for the most part these settlers were emigrating from the more southwestern regions of germany such as baden wutenberg palatinate and the rhineland but they would not be the only germans to make their way to pennsylvania by midway through the 1700s these settlers had founded multiple cities such as germantown skipac and conestoga upwards of 65 000 germans that only recently made their way to the welcoming colony by the 1770s but unfortunately the influx of german immigrants would drastically decrease as the colonies inched closer and closer to the revolutionary war numerous of the tens of thousands of settlers had left germany not just for religious freedom but also to flee from the effects of the 30 years war and subsequent conflicts that plagued germany seeing such a large-scale war then break out in the new world the dream of a new safe and promising home was shattered for many for those who had already arrived in the colonies though life was not horrible though challenging it seemed that success in the new world was a true possibility for the hard-working immigrants according to the historical society of pennsylvania the typical german immigrant was a poor farmer or artisan who arrived around 1750 with a wife and two children they were most likely in debt for the passage across the atlantic but at family or friends already settled in america they were affiliated with the lutheran or reformed church but only loosely committed to an organized religion records indicate that they became prosperous members of the community however many were too poor to pay the transatlantic passage so as many as one-half to two-thirds of german immigrants came to pennsylvania as indentured servants or redemptioners as germans called them these redemptioners were essentially contracted servants for generally between two to seven years who would be forced to work for a particular employer to make up for the debts they owed and had incurred from their trip to america and by the time the german influx had slowed there were already according to some historians nearly 75 000 germans living in pennsylvania and many others had immigrated to the rest of the colonies or would come later on there had been an almost constant trickle of germans entering the new world ever since the founding of jamestown and even some of the german hessian soldiers that had been employed by the british during the american revolution had decided to stay in the united states at the end of the war during the early 1800s more germans had begun to make their way to america though not in as large of waves due to famine back home others would come a few decades later due to the political strife in germany and during the 1850s roughly one million germans arrived in the united states making the total number of german-born americans by the 1860s around 1. 3 million in the 1870s over 100 000 germans from russia found their way to america after the tsarist government stripped away privileges that had been granted to german farmers in russia hundreds of years prior the next decade would outshine all the rest though as around 1.
5 million germans came to the us just in the 1880s alone this would be the peak though as the number of german-born americans dropped from 2. 9 million to 2. 3 million between 1890 and 1910 immigration had gone down drastically and in 1920 the number had fallen even further now sitting at 1.
7 million and even with the side effects of displacement caused by world war ii americans born in germany still only added up to 1. 2 million after the start of the conflict germans would continue to immigrate over the following decades as they still do today but the number of them coming to america has nevertheless dropped remarkably in 1990 only 58 million americans claimed to be german or partially german even though others could be linked to german ancestors but still even if the number of germans coming into america had already reached its high point they have undoubtedly had a huge impact on the country and it does seem that german remains the most dominant ethnic group in the country the reasons for their migration are multiple one reason that is often overlooked though didn't account for the first wave of immigrants was the stories told by germans who had already made their new lives in america with great success from godfrey duden's book to simple letter correspondence between german immigrants and those they knew back home people in germany begun to hear about the opportunities and freedoms that the colonies and later united states had to offer simple word of mouth is often all it takes but still there were many other factors that led to germans crossing the ocean for many the feudal system back home left them yearning for more independence as did other restrictions that have been placed on some such as limits on marriages due to a fear of overpopulation and a worsening economy but the economy was already bad enough for numerous people high taxes were a constant burden and making a respectable living just seemed more likely in the new world with news of land being given to new settlers and industrialization later opening the door for more jobs outside of the typical farming furthermore some communities in the german states were eager to get rid of the lower class anyway and would even offer to cover the costs of the journey to america if the immigrants promised to never return home other german men left illegally due to military service requirements while more fled famine and frequent wars and of course as demonstrated by many of the original immigrants to the new world religious freedom was often an important motivator at the time many were essentially told what to believe in catholicism or protestantism for example by each monarch for those with strong alternative beliefs who were unwilling to comply fleeing the country became a way for them to practice their faith in peace not only did the american colonies have freedom of religion but as stated earlier the founder of pennsylvania himself had even invited these religious outcasts to settle in his colony of course many reasons exist as to why people of any country immigrate to another and this is far from an exhaustive list though it is some of the main explanations that have been discovered without german immigrants for example americans may not share the tradition of decorated christmas trees and the brooklyn bridge wouldn't have been built without a german immigrant engineer business owners military generals scientists there are dozens upon dozens of names of german immigrants who took the journey across the atlantic and changed the future of the colonies and the united states today germans still immigrate to the u. s on occasion but more significantly is the lasting effects of those who had already come six states are believed to have over 30 percent of their total populations be made up by full or partial german americans another seven have an at least 20 percent ethnic german population and of all 50 states not a single one has a german population that makes up less than 4.
