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Old European Immigrants

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I. Colonization:

A. In the 1600's the various colonies displayed a broad variety of cultures:

1. Massachusetts Bay Colony.

2. Connecticut.

3. Pennsylvania (1683).

a. Philadelphia

4. Jamestown (1607).

5. New Netherlands (New York); New Amsterdam (1624)

a. The British seized this colony in 1664

6. New Sweden (what is now Delaware and New Jersey)

7. Maryland founded as Catholic colony with religious tolerance (1634)

8. Providence, R.I. (1636). Democratically ruled colony with separation of church and state.

B. During the 1700's, the Germans and the Scotch-Irish were the two largest immigrant groups to enter what is now the United States.

1. Germans, in particular were distrusted

a. The Amish, Mennonites, Moravians, and Dunkers were all pacifists

(1) In the 1740's Benjamin Franklin and other non-Quaker leaders tried to enlist their support

(2) In Virginia, Governor William Gooch denounced the Brethren in 1747 for their pacifism.

(3) By 1770's (in Pennsylvania) pacifist German groups comprised less than 10 percent of the German population.

b. Most Germans wanted to be left alone and struggled to hold on to their own language and customs.

(1) A good example of the suspicion and distrust against Germans comes from Benjamin Franklin's denunciation of them as "Palatine Boors"

(2) In Pennsylvania, English-Speaking leaders organized a "Society for the Propagating of Christian Knowledge among the Germans".

c. In the 1800's Germans moved into the country in great numbers settling in the mid-West--.

(1) St Louis in the 1830's

(2) Texas in 1840's

(3) Wisconsin in 1850's

(4) The 1848ers --

(a) In the 1850's the "Know Nothing Party" abused German immigrants

i) verbal abuse
ii) discrimination
iii) mob violence

d. Germans assimilated fairly rapidly but continuing large numbers of immigrants kept the culture alive.

(1) Lots of examples of German contributions to American culture

2. The Scotch-Irish:

a. The largest number of non-English Europeans coming to the colonies during the 1700's were the Scotch-Irish.

(1) In 1776 they comprised 10 percent of the population.

(2) They were actually descendents of _____.

(a) They were NOT English, but spoke the same language and usually had little trouble adjusting to American society.

(b) However, they were considered a distinct ethnic group

(c) They dominated many frontier regions.

(d) Generally they were Presbyterians and suffered some religious persecution.

(e) However, their major problem resulted from their status as frontiersmen..

i) (They suffered horribly from indian raids during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763).

3. Dutch Settlers also existed in lesser numbers.

a. Preceded English to New Netherlands (New York)

(1) New Amsterdam (Manhattan Island) was purchased from the Indians in 1626.

b. After 1660's Dutch influence in New York declined, and the British gained control of the colony. Today, we still carry the names of some of the early Dutch community landmarks:

(a) Pallasades--de wal (Wall Street)

(b) The town of Breukelen (Brooklyn)

(c) Peter Stuyvesant's farm-- (now known as the Bowery)

c. The Dutch weren't as "puritanical" as the English

(1) It was the Dutch who brought the game of "kolf" to this country

d. The English takeover of the Dutch colony did not cause much hardship to the Dutch settlers. (Later, Holland helped finance the American Revolution and the United States treated Dutch-Americans well, as a result).

e. Our text talks about the persistence of Dutch culture:

4. The French:

a. French Huguenots fled France in the 1680's in small numbers due to religious persecution.

(1) They arrived in New England on the eve of an 80-year series of wars with the French and British in Canada-- not good timing.

(2) Other French Huguenots landed in South Carolina and did better, hoping to raise silk worms, grapes, olives

b. Other French settlers were migrants from Canada who settled in New England (especially Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont).

c. Still other French settlers who were Catholic, moved south from Nova Scotia (Arcadia) in the 1750's when they were expelled by the English (Evangeline) and settled in New Orleans (Cajun's).

(1) The Fortress Louisburg in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia is one example of this. This extensive fortress (or walled town) protected the French colonial fishing and trading interests in the new world.

(a) In 1744 it was an extensive urban center reflecting the Bourbon style of Louis XV's France. In 1745 and 1758, the British attacked. By 1760 the several thousand residents of the town had been exiled and the fortress, destroyed.

(b) Today, about 20 percent of the fortress has been completely restored as a tourist complex (very much like Williamsburg). The town has very much of an "old world" flavor to it.

5. Scotts:

a. Immigrants from Lowland Scotland arrived in fairly large numbers between 1763 and 1776 and prospered as merchants. (Most became Tories during the Revolution) and many moved to Canada. (St. John's by the sea in Canada-- some even moved their houses across the ice after independence!)

6. Scandinavians:

a. This group comprises the following:

(1) Swedes and Finnish-- settling as early as 1638 in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (formerly called "New Sweden".

(2) Norwegians, Danes-- (largely after 1865) these immigrants settled in the Northern Mid-west-- Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, being prevalent.

b. The term "Scandinavian" eventually became accepted to these separate nationalities because often, they settled in large areas and were spread out.

II. Some statistics: (Adapted from Parrillo).

U.S. White Population Ancestry: 1790 - 1990

Ethnic/Racial Group	1790	1990
English	60.1 (percent)	13.0 (percent)
Scottish (S-Irish)	14.0 (percent)	4.5 (percent)
German	8.6 (percent)	23.3 (percent)
Irish	3.6 (percent)	15.6 (percent)
Dutch	3.1 (percent)	2.5 (percent)
French	1.5 (percent)	4.1 (percent)
Swedish, (Scandinavian)	1.5 (percent)	3.8 (percent)
Other	7.6 (percent)
Italian		5.9 (percent)
Polish		3.8 (percent)
	100.0 (percent)	100.0 (percent)

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