Another
part of German migration was the experience the immigrants had once they came
to America. During the nineteenth century, there were two major waves of German
migration. Of those two waves, the peaks of German immigrants hit over 200,000
people. This would mean that my ancestors were a part of the second wave of the
nineteenth century lasting until fifty-five years after the year 1860 (JSTOR
354).
Ref. Figure 2.
Another part of the immigration statistics was that for five
decades straight (1840-1889), Germans made up more than a quarter of the total
number of immigrants coming to America (New World 95). According to my family
ancestry, ancestors came over in the late nineteenth century into the New York
Port. At the middle of the century, the official port of New York was called
Castle Garden. * It was not going to be until 1892 that the infamous Ellis Island
* was to be opened. For many people, the journey was alright, but it was also a little
cold during the trip too (Ellis Island)
As seen in Figure 3,
people were wrapped in blankets from the weather being so cold. Although
immigrants were fed, there were not enough resources to keep everyone warm.
People just used each other’s body heat and blankets to keep warm. Typically,
the immigrants from Germany would leave from the port in Hamburg, Germany.
However, there was also a port in Bremen, Germany. Many of the people that came
over were from Prussia (ISTG). Once they arrived in America, many would migrate
to Pennsylvania and New York * (Immigration-The Call of Tolerance). The last aspect
of German migration was the variety of job opportunities America had to offer.
Many of the workers had the skills to be a farmer or an industrial worker. Besides
these two jobs, there were also jobs * like bakers, cigarmakers, shoemakers, and
carpenters. For the women and the children, their job was considered to be just
that, women and children (ISTG-SS Rugia 1984).
Overall, Germans in America were becoming very prosperous people.
Germans
had many reasons to migrate to America. The Germans eventually found
the right
jobs and the right towns, which is exactly what they came here for. As
a
result, they did eventually escape what they left behind in Germany,
whether it
was because of the failed German Revolution in 1848, or the major
rising of
births within the last twenty years of the nineteenth century. Overall,
Germans became very successful people in America, which shows that they
made the right
choice to come here.
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