When you look at the history of Immigration to the United States the Germans are the second largst ethnic group in the U.S. I believe if more than half came after the Revolution of 1848 there were a lot of them here before that date. Ed Surkosky ----- Original Message ----- From: "RAM" <mcadict@comcast.net> To: <alsace-lorraine@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 3:00 PM Subject: Re: [A-L] Newspapers, Literacy and Genealogical Research Ed, The book at this link http://www.us-english.org/foundation/research/ amimmigr/Chapter5.PDF gives the following breakdown of the 1790 Census: "...the first U.S. Census in 1790. Estimates of the population’s ethnic origins indicated language diversity even at that time, when roughly half of the population was of English origin; nearly 19 percent was of African origin; 12 percent was Scottish or Scottish- Irish and Irish accounted for about 3 percent of the total. People of Dutch, French, and Spanish origin represented an aggregate 14 percent. The first U.S. Census largely ignored Native Americans. " Or was it a later time than 1790 to which you were referring when you wrote: "...according to census records the second largest group of immigrants to the U.S. were the Germans..." This source goes on to assert: "German was not able to hold its ground as a language of daily usage even in Pennsylvania, except within small Mennonite, Amish and other sectarian communities." Further on, this same source notes: "During both the War of Independence and the War of 1812, at times when anti-English feelings were running high, Americans of German descent comprised less than 9 percent of the total population of the United States. And even in Pennsylvania, where the Germans had settled most densely, they accounted for only a third of the entire population." I confused by the following sentence from you email: "...the second largest group of immigrants to the U.S. were the Germans and the bulk of them didn't arrive here after the surge in 1848." Did you mean: "...and the bulk of them didn't arrive here UNTIL after the surge in 1848." Or did you mean: "...the bulk of them didn't arrive here after the surge IN TOTAL IMMIGRATION in 1848." Or something all together different? Richard On Jan 28, 2008, at 12:01 AM, Edward T. Surkosky wrote: > I don't have any resources for the time of the colonies in the > 1770's. I > know that according to census records the second largest group of > immigrants > to the U.S. were the Germans and they bulk of them didn't arrive > here after > the surge in 1848. > > When one thinks of colonial America they think English, but the > time of the > Revolution it was Great Britain. Great Britain was the union of three > different countries --- England, Scotland and Ireland (I believe > Wales had > been part of England long before the Union) --- ruled by the German > Hannoverians. George I never spoke English. The English language and a > common religion dominated 2/3's of the Union. Here and in Great > Britain they > were tolerant of some religious sects but not all. English was spoken > everywhere but German and German newspapers were available, spoken > and used > in daily life and for religious purposes. > > Ed Surkosky > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "RAM" <mcadict@comcast.net> > To: <alsace-lorraine@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 11:49 AM > Subject: Re: [A-L] Newspapers, Literacy and Genealogical Research > > >> Ed, >> >> I've looked around the 'net only briefly but did not come across any >> population numbers or percentage for German or Swiss-German settlers >> in the colonies in the 1770's. Have you seen any such numbers? >> >> Richard >> > > > -- > Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALSACE- > LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALSACE-LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message