American ancestry?

Question

i find american ancestry confusing. How are Germans the majority of ancestors in USA. i never knew germany had an empire in america. Even in Alaska! How many Germans went to alaska. Why are there no russian majorities. You would of thought that the thirteen colonies and oregon and washington would have lots of English but the majority are German, Irish and Italian. Its not like youre irish if your grandad visited cork once. It seems to me that they dont really know and they say that theyre from the country that theyve heared of most

Answer 1

You may want to verify exactly where your statistics come from, and what is the basis.

Times that I have seen such statements... they have been based in using legitimate statistics.  If I am not mistaken.. that includes our census records, which include specific questions relating to a person's birth place and the birth place of their parents.  Thus.. if a person was compiling this from the 1900 census, it would reflect that.  It may also include information taken from more recent records.. which are not open to us for personal research, but ARE open for non personal data.  

If one were looking at figures based on the early 1700s (since you mention the original 'colonies'), I'd tend to agree that it would be far more likely to have a majority of origins from England.  Figures for TODAY'S population has to include ancestry from the late 1800s, when huge numbers of persons immigrated.  The Potato famine is also responsible for LARGE numbers of people who left Ireland.  As for Alaska.. I would say that the figures today include those persons who live there now.. but it does not say that the German ancestor went directly to Alaska. My husband's sister from Texas, lives in Alaska today.. but she very much has German ancestry (among other things).

Overall.. it is completely true that America DOES have the largest number of immigrants, historically speaking, and a big population.  I am sure a FEW persons are not correct regarding their ancestry... but I don't think that the CONCLUSION concerning German being highest (or close to highest) would be wrong, in the least.

Answer 2

I think that when it comes to ancestry the Germans seem to have the most detailed records, at least that's been my experience.  I'm not even 1/8 German but I can trace my German ancestors back to the 1600s, the rest of them I have had trouble finding anything beyond great-grandparents.

Answer 3

Between 1830-1900, there were brand new American industries that went to Europe to recruit peasants to immigrate to the US to work in mining, logging camps, lumber mills and building canals and railroads. The reason Germany was so popular is that pre-1871 there was no united Germany. Prussia was the major German state and included more than just Berlin. So when people arrived in the US, whether they were Polish, Slavic, German or Alsatian, they listed their nationality as German.

Keep in mind that what we now consider Germany was a bunch of countries controlling over 1/3rd of Europe. Austria-Hungary didn't allow immigration until the 1880s. France and England sent a huge portion of their population early in the immigration cycle, but they assimilated and lost their cultural identity. Ireland sent more than a million and a half people during the Potato Famine, but fewer later.

Very few Americans have only one ethnicity in their background, but we tend to identify with one or two major groups. I myself have French, French-Canadian, Swiss, Dutch, Flemish, Prussian and even a smidge of English (one line from the late 1500s that intermarried with a Frenchman and moved to Acadia/Canada and lost that ethnic identity). It's a little much to name them all, so when asked I just claim French and German or Polish. It's pretty much the acceptable way to answer a short and sweet question.

Answer 4

Germany didn't have an empire in the USA, silly boy! They had a small empire in Europe. It wasn't big enough for all the Germans. They bred like rabbits. After a couple of knockwursts and beers, their thoughts turned to procreation. The kids who didn't inherit the farm went to the USA, mostly to Pennsylvania and then Nebraska, where, after a couple of knockwursts and beers, . . .

The English were too busy oppressing the Irish to want to procreate. The English in the USA were happy to run for President and congress, instead of procreating. The Irish who were tired of being oppressed came to the US where, after a couple of rounds of corned beef and cabbage, their thoughts turned to

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.

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procreation.

Pretty soon the eastern states had Germans and Irish coming out their ears. They moved west, to California, Oregon, Alaska - anywhere they could steal land from the Indians and be shut of the English.

Is this a great nation, or what?

Answer 5

I have some colonial southern ancestors. Though the colonies were established by England, many other peoples came.  There were people from the German states, and French Huguenots.   My colonial Germans came from Alsace.  My maternal grandmother that was born in 1872 was a blend of English, Scots and ScotchIrish(called Ulster Scots in Britain) Alsatian German and French Huguenots.   A large part of the English that came to the South in the early colonial days (the early Virginia settlers) came from titled families in England.  The Scottish, ScotchIrish and Germans were a more rugged type and they settled in the westward area of the Southern colonies and once they cleared the land, built the roads and made it habitable the English moved among them.  However, the eastern seabord of the North Carolina and Virginia, the caucasian natives are mostly English.   French Huguenots were mostliy a merchant and craftsman class of people and they made excellent cotton agents for the English planter in the South.

On my maternal grandfather's side, his paternal grandparents and his father came from Prussian Poland in 1853.  His mother was a mixture of American Indian and English.

My father's people came mostly from Ireland.  His ancestry was a mixture of orange and green.

Then in the 19th and the first part of the 20th century, there were large immigrations from European countries.  In the central part of Texas, there are large German settlemens, quite a few Czechs and Poles.

In our part of Texas, there are a lot of Italians and we are close to Louisiana and we have definitely a lot of Cajun. Afterall, the U.S. bought the Louisiana territory from France in 1803.  However, unlike the larger cities in the North, we do not have exclusive white ethnic neighborhoods.  Italians, Jews, Cajuns etc are intermingled with everyone else.  

Probably as time goes by most people with European ancestry will be like me a blend of colonial (people who came before the county was established) and immigrant (those that came after).  Someone ask a question how many people had a soldier fighting in the Revolutionary War.  Probably as time goes by anyone of European background will have someone.

Answer 6

As others have pointed out, many Americans DO have German ancestry. But you're probably right... it's unlikely to be the majority.  You may have seen some statistics from the 1990 and 2000 Federal Census?  Those censuses asked each person to list their ancestry or ethnic origin.  In 1990, the majority (23%) claimed to be of German descent.  The numbers were similar in 2000.  But the truth is, many Americans have no idea where their ancestors came from.  Or they have such a mix of different nationalities, they aren't sure what to say.

I remember my own mother once telling me that we were "probably German." But after years of research, I've found only a couple German ancestors, and they were pretty far back.  The vast majority were English and Irish.  I have no idea why she thought she was German, but as the census info shows, she's not alone!

Those of us whose families have been here a long time (say, since the 1700s) could have well over 200 immigrant ancestors.  And chances are, they weren't all from the same place.  Unless someone has thoroughly researched every branch of their family tree, how can they possibly be certain of where each of their ancestors came from?  So I think it's safe to say that some people who claim a certain ethnic origin might not be 100% correct.

That still doesn't explain why so many people consider themselves German.  But I guess Germans should be flattered that we all want to be like them!

Answer 7

The United States has been a popular place for Germans to immigrate to since the days of Jamestown.  Between 1680 and 1760, Germans, primarily from the Palantine states, immigrated to the American colonies because of

1) worsening opportunities for farm ownership in Central Europe;

2) persecution of Anti-Baptist and Mennonite relgious groups;

3) in search of better economic conditions, especially the opportunity to own land.

Since the English came first, they settled primarily on the East Coast, pushing the Germans, Scots, and Scots-Irish to the interior.

Following the Germany political revolution of 1848, a wave of political refugees, known as the "Forty-Eighters", left the German principalities for the United States.  Wealthy and influencial, for the most part, these immigrants included journalists, professors, and politicians. Of course, Germans continued to immigrate both to the cities and to the farms in the Midwestern US throughout the 19th century.  

Between 1931 and 1940,  114,000 Jewish and Anti-n***s entered the United States.  

After World War II, tens of thousands of ethnic Germans were expelled from the Soviet Union, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

Germany is a larger country than either England or Ireland, so its immigrant population has probably also been larger.  At any rate, the following US Presidents have had varying degrees of German ancestry:  Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Richard Milhaus Nixon (on his mother's side), George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, and Teddy Roosevelt.  Naturally, a lot of Americans may have ancestors of many nationalities, but they may only list one on the Census.

P. S.  As Shirley T. has pointed out, lots of Texans have at least in part some German ancestry.  So y'all head on down to Luckenbach and Fredericksburg and have some terrific German food and Shiner beer.  (As for myself, I'm headed for a Clan Donald [Macdonald] family reunion this weekend in Clifton--"the Norwegian Capital of Texas".  I hope nobody is trying to wear kilts in 100 degree heat!)

Post script to the post script--No kilts just t-shirts, but I found a lot of Germans in Clifton along with the Norwegians.

Answer 8

For example my Dad's grandparents immigrated from Germany.  My Mom's Grandmother immigrated from Holland....her Grandfather immigrated from Germany..

Lots of mutts here!