------------------ The Czechs in America 1633-1977 by Vera Laska -------------------- Part 2 A few individuals reached the New World in early colonial times, and the Moravians belong at least ideologically into the Czech group, although there were more Germans than Czechs among them. Czechs started arriving in larger numbers after the 1848 revolution. By the 1880's the group was well established. The awakening nationalism in the mother country was mirrored in the Czech communities in the United States. As the Catholic Church had been a tool of the oppressive Austrian State, the resentment against both manifested itself the moment the Czechs reached the free shores of America: at least half of them left the church. This helps explain the large number of freethinkers among them. A radical faction were atheists, but the majority of freethinkers were agnostics, and their ideologies corresponded to those of Franklin and Jefferson as well as to those of Tom Paine. The Czechs have been deeply loyal to their new homeland. Their press facilitated naturalization. Yet they were also ardent Czech patriots, as is clearly evident from their publications. In a free atmosphere they spoke out for their muzzled former compatriots and blasted in no uncertain terms the Hapsburg Kaiser. It was with the moral and financial support of their kinsmen in America, that the Czechs during World War I regained their independence, and after World War II achieved freedom from nazism. In the former case, the liberation movement was led by professor Tomas Masaryk, who had an American wife. The agreement of the Czechs and Slovaks - who for the last thousand years were under Hungarian rule - to join together in forming the Czechoslovak Republic, was formally signed in Pittsburgh, their Declaration of Independence in Washington, D.C. -------- end of part 2 ---------