when I was in Middle School one of my favorite books was Band of Brothers by Steven Ambrose the book which was later adapted into a TV series focuses on the lives of soldiers of a single Airborne infantry company during World War II as a kid something that really stood out to me in the book was the mentioning of how out of all of the nationalities and ethnic groups that US soldiers encountered the average gi. Joe found that the people he liked the best identified most closely with and enjoyed being with were the Germans clean hardworking
disciplined educated middle class in their tastes and Lifestyles the Germans seem to many American soldiers as just like us at the time this kind of blew my mind that those I thought were supposed to be the enemy were so well-liked that's why the few pages discussing US soldiers opinions of Germans stuck with me all these years but today I think I at least partially understand why Americans like them so much and why the two cultures are so similar it's widely assumed that the largest ethnic group in the US is English however German ancestry is the
most prevalent with around 50 million Americans claiming full or partial German descent the first significant wave of German immigrants arrived in the late 17 century primarily settling in Pennsylvania New York and Virginia driven by a desire for Religious Freedom and economic opportunities many were menites Quakers and other religious denters facing persecution Pennsylvania in particular attracted them with William pinn's promise of religious tolerance and land availability in the 19th century economic hardship and political unrest led to a massive influx of immigrants the 1848 revolutions alone brought nearly 1 million Germans creating the German belt from Pennsylvania
to the Oregon coast but before I dive in the history and significant contributions of German Americans I want to explain that one of the reasons I wanted to make this video was to learn about my own heritage including if I have any German ancestry so I used today's sponsor my Heritage to help I started with what I knew about my family tree and uploaded a few photos to their profiles here's a picture of my grandmother and my great-grandparents and another picture of me and my great-grandfather from there I've so far been able to expand my
family tree going back 10 Generations in some branches thanks to their 19 plus billion historical documents on file for example here's a that lists my grandfather and great-grandfather which is pretty cool because I had forgotten where his childhood home was after adding a few dozen family members or so I've been able to build my tree even faster with their instant discoveries feature which essentially does all of the work for you but I haven't been able to find anyone with what I recognize as a German last name other than maybe fure which has Germanic Origins and
was brought to the British Isles by the Normans in the 11th century so it's unlikely I have much if any German in me unrelated but it's also really cool that my Heritage was able to confirm what my family has always told me Phil Jefferson is one of my ancestors this is Thomas Jefferson's uncle and brother of Peter Jefferson if you sign up with my Heritage using the link in the description below you can get a 14-day free trial and research your own Heritage with all the cool features my Heritage has to offer thank you my
Heritage for sponsoring this video German immigrants have made numerous sign ific cultural contributions to the United States across various fields in the realm of food and beverage they introduced logger beer leading to the establishment of many breweries such as anheiser Bush Kors and Miller and they also popularized foods like sausages sauerkraut and pretzels German cuisine also brought the concept of the deli to America festivals and traditions like October Fest which was originally a Bavarian Festival have become widespread across America featuring German music food and beer German immigrants also introduced several Christmas traditions including the Christmas
tree Advent calendars and Santa Claus in Education and Research the concept of kindergarten was brought to the US by Germans and many German scientists and academics including Albert Einstein contributed significantly to various Fields German immigrants were also active in the labor movement advocating for workers rights and better working conditions and played a role in the formation of labor unions and social reforms many German immigrants were involved in the Abolitionist Movement fighting against slavery and for civil rights in 1688 5 years after its founding German Town often considered the first German settlement in what became the
United States was the site of the first formal anti-slavery protest in America the list of German influences on American culture could go on forever German immigrants and their descendants have largely assimilated into American culture over Generations they adopted English as their primary language and integrated into the broader American society often blending in with other ethnic groups this is at least partially because during World War I and 2 there was significant anti-german sentiment in the United States during World War I School food Street and town names were changed and music by German composers was dropped from
concert programs and weddings german-american businesses and homes were vandalized and individuals accused of being pro-german faced violent attacks including tar and Feathering German language newspapers closed books were burned and speaking German could lead to threats and boycotts German classes were discontinued and often outlawed effectively ending the tradition of German language and literature in the US before World War I 25% of American High School students studied German by 1922 that figure had plummeted 2.6% President wdro Wilson criticized hyphenated Americans for divided loyalties and government officials pressured citizens to declare themselves solely American many German Americans responded
by changing their businesses and personal names to sound less German ironically thousands of German Americans proved their loyalty by joining the military and fighting against the country from which their ancestors originated prominent members of the US military with German ancestry included John J persin whose family name had been anglicized persin was the commander of the American expeditionary forces during World War I and is the only American to be promoted to General of the armies during his lifetime the highest possible rank in the United States Army another notable example is Dwight D Eisenhower also with an
anglicized last name Eisenhower served as the supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and later became president of the United United States while German Americans were fighting for the United States during World War I and 2 the United States government ined German Nationals and some german-americans due to fears of Espionage during both Wars thousands of Germans were classified as enemy aliens required to register with the government and face restrictions on their movement and activities families were often separated and attorneys faced loss of property and livelihood after World War II Germany
underwent a period of int intense reflection and Reckoning with its role in the war and the Holocaust this Collective guilt and the desire to move away from the past likely influenced German immigrants and their descendants to avoid drawing attention to their Heritage German culture traditionally values order discipline and Conformity this has led to Germans being stereotypically described as rule followers however this may have ultimately caused individuals to quickly assimilate into US culture and avoid action that might be seen as disruptive or non-conforming such as overtly promoting ethnic Heritage the stigma associated with being German American
has long faded and celebrations of this Heritage are being rekindled in 1983 President Ronald Reagan declared October 6th as German American day to commemorate the 300th anniversary of German immigration to America marking the founding of Germantown in 1683 October Fest is widely celebrated across the country and the German Lang language is being reintroduced into schools although it may never reach the prevalence seen before the world wars additionally German is the third most popular language studied in 13 states on the dualingo app the contributions of German Americans have profoundly shaped the cultural and social fabric of
the United States though they are not always obvious from the introduction of beloved foods and traditions to significant impacts in education science and the Arts to less tangible influences such as a strong drive and work ethic the legacy of German Americans is woven into the very tapestry of the nation and that's all for this video thank you to all my patreon and YouTube members for supporting the channel and thank you all for watching and don't forget if you sign up using my link you can get a 14-day free trial and research your own Heritage with
all the cool features my Heritage has to offer
