Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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The Pennsylvania Germans
The other great group of immigrants who concentrated in Pennsylvania
were the Germans. In contrast to the earlier German migration of Quakers
and other pietist sects, the mid-eighteenth-century German influx was either
Lutheran or Reformed (Calvinist). These people came to America to escape
feudalism, exorbitant taxes, and the pillaging endemic in wartime. The
German migration began around 1720, started in earnest in the late 1730s,
and reached its peak in the early 1750s, ending rather abruptly with the
French and Indian War of the late 50s. By the end of the colonial era, onethird
of the Pennsylvanians were Germans, or "Dutch" as they were often
called. The Germans followed the same route as the Ulster Scots, westward
down the Susquehanna and Cumberland valleys. They too were valley farmers,
and German and Scotch-Irish settlements alternated down the valley
route. The two groups had very little contact with each other: their differences
were too great—in language, religion, and character. Not only did the
Germans keep to themselves; they were also sober, hard-working, thrifty and
highly productive farmers. They treated the Indians justly and peacefully.
The Germans, then, followed the great valley route, down the Shenandoah
and into the Carolina Piedmont, where they founded such settlements as
Orangeburg, South Carolina—but to a much lesser degree than did the Ulster
Scots. The Germans were largely content to remain in Pennsylvania, especially
in Lancaster County, where they could work their farms productively and
profitably. In addition to being superb farmers, the Germans proved highly
adept at establishing glass factories and ironworks. The Germans produced
the first iron stoves and long rifles in America, as well as the first Conestoga
wagons.
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