German Americans
By: Kaitlyn Fischer
Why did Germans come to America?
The German Americans came to America to live the way that they wanted, they also wanted religious freedom, and there wasn't enough jobs and because of that they couldn't feed their families.
Where Did They Settle?
Some people settled in places like Germany, such as Pennsylvania, and some people didn't want to live in a place like Germany, such as Texas and California. Some of the common states are Washington, California, North Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Kanas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Lousiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michagan, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Deleware.
Trivia/Fun Facts
There was no country called Germany until...
Germany got their name in 1871.
About how long was the boat ride?
The boat ride could sometimes take up to 6 months.
How did immigrants with not enough money get to America?
About half of the immigrants paid for the trip to the United States of America by promising to work 3 or more years of work without pay. How this would work is people who needed employes would pay the captions of the ship that the immigrants traveled on so that they would get there employes, the immigrants didn't get to pick where to live.
Resources: German Americans Book
What Was Their First Years In America Like?
German Americans who lived in cities lived in small houses and apartments. Lots of farmers lived in sod houses. Some common jobs were trades, they worked at trades such as shoe making and furniture making, and farming, some people farmed wheat and others raised cows. There is a lot of things you could do on a farm! Corn was one crop was not grown in Germany, but it grew well in the USA so Germans learned how to grow it. Germans thought education was very important. So young Germans usually went to school in America, but some kids couldn't go to school because they had to get jobs to earn money for their families.
Traditions
The traditions that the German Americans brought with them were they brought Easter with bunnies and Easter eggs hunts, also they had the first Christmas trees. Also they celebrate Octoberfest.
German Chocolate Cake Recipe
First preheat your oven to 350° for a shiny metal or glass pan or 325° for a dark or nonstick pan. Grease the bottom of a 13"x 9" pan or all sides of any other pan. Take/buy "Betty Crocker" German Chocolate box cake mix. In a large bowl, beat all of the cake mix, 1 1/4 cups of water, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and 3 large eggs. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes, make sure you scrape the bowl occasionally. Pour into greased pan. For a 13"x 9" pan bake from 30-35 minutes, for two 8" rounds bake from 30-35 minutes, for two 9 round cakes bake from 25-30 minutes, for all of those make sure the toothpick comes out clean. Wait 10 minutes before frosting. Frost with "Betty Crocker" coconut frosting. Sprinkle pecans of cake if wanted.