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Or at least their decendants.

Was plowing through wikipedia and was reading the United States website when I happened accross the demographics by county and state picture (largest ancestry)

Was really suprised at how many counties had german ancestry, and that many in the south see themselves as 'American' rather than another ancestry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg

A lot of Germans immigrated here. States such as Pennsylvania had entire communities of Germans. In fact, the reason that English wasn't adopted as the official language by the founders of the U.S. was because of a large German speaking population in the country.

Interesting numbers. I'm surprised too. As an American who's lived almost all my life in the Northeast, I'm more conscious of the waves of Irish and Italian immigrants. In New England obviously we have a lot of English and French, too. Both of my grandmothers were of French-Canadian descent. My grandfathers were a second generation Swede and a second or third generation (I can never remember) Irish born in Brooklyn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American

German Americans (German Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of ethnic German ancestry and currently form the largest ancestry group in the United States, accounting for 17% of the U.S. population.[2] The first significant numbers arrived in the 1680s in New York and Pennsylvania. Some eight million German immigrants entered the United States since then. Immigration continued in substantial numbers during the 19th century; the largest number of arrivals came 1840–1900. Germans form the largest group of immigrants coming to the U.S., outnumbering even the Irish and English.[3] Some arrived seeking religious or political freedom, others for economic opportunities greater than those in Europe, and others simply for the chance to start afresh in the New World. California and Pennsylvania have the largest populations of German origin, with over six million German Americans residing in the two states alone.[4] Over 50 million people in the United States identify German as their ancestry[1]. In the 1990 U.S. census, 58 million Americans claimed to be solely or partially of German descent.[5] In Pennsylvania, English and German were co-official languages until around the time of World War I.

Well that whole second world war thing probably got a lot of them out of their country. So did the natural emmegration out of Europe in the 1800's.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:Or at least their decendants.

Was plowing through wikipedia and was reading the United States website when I happened accross the demographics by county and state picture (largest ancestry)

Was really suprised at how many counties had german ancestry, and that many in the south see themselves as 'American' rather than another ancestry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg

Thats odd, if some question about my ancestry came up, I would say Scottish or Irish. Most caucasian southerners are of that ethnicity, until you get toward Louisiana which has a lot of French cultural traditions. A lot of the culture of the middle southern states, such as music and the style of distilled spirits made there, are Scottish or Irish in origin. There are two main southern dialects, and I don't know but would not be suprised if they originated as a difference in the manner of speaking between Scottish and English colonists. Please note that is pure speculation on my part.

As far as German americans, some people may disagree with me but I think we have as much in common culturally throughout the US with Germany than the UK. The style of beer that is popular in most of the US is of German origin. We have, theoretically, a federalist system of government, which is how I understand the modern German government is set up. I think we have a lot in common with the Germans as far as food. The automobile is very significant in both nations, I think more so than the Brits.

Grignard wrote:As far as German americans, some people may disagree with me but I think we have as much in common culturally throughout the US with Germany than the UK. The style of beer that is popular in most of the US is of German origin. We have, theoretically, a federalist system of government, which is how I understand the modern German government is set up. I think we have a lot in common with the Germans as far as food. The automobile is very significant in both nations, I think more so than the Brits.

This is definitely true for most of the US. I travel a lot to and around the US and fairly often to Germany (and live in the UK) and the US (away from the coasts) is much more similar to Germany in architecture, food, furnishings, family and traditions than it is to the UK (but you did hate us for your first hundred or so years )

From my studies, it seemed that many Germans came to practice their religion freely, whether they be German catholics who were escaping the growing rejection of catholicism in Europe, protestants that were part of newer branches, and then folk that just wanted a shot at cheap land and a fresh start. Most German settlers often occupied the fringe of the United States, pushing out into the Midwest. There is a very strong German heritage in cities like Chicago and the like.

If I remember correctly, which likely I don't, I believe the grooved rifle was invented by German settlers. American culture has drawn a lot from German influences, like the aptly mentioned beer, sausages, farming techniques, etc.

In the early US, Germans were pretty much treated like the Irish, especially Catholic Germans, seen as a polluting influence on good English/Dutch sensibilities.

for the us i can't say but in Pennsylvania the old folks say the reason a lot of they moved to pa because it is very simlar to germany in alot of way soil the hills woods etc. and yes my family tree is german