Becoming German : the 1709 Palatine migration to New York /
Philip Otterness.
- Ithaca : Cornell University Press, (c)2004.
- 1 online resource (xiii, 235 pages) : illustrations, maps.
Includes bibliographies and index.
1. "A particularly deceptive spirit": The German southwest, 1709 -- 2. "The poor Palatine refugees": London, spring-summer 1709 -- 3. "A parcel of vagabonds": London, summer-winter 1709 -- 4. "A deplorable sickly condition": New York City, 1710 -- 5. "They will not listen to tar making": the Hudson Valley, 1710-1712 -- 6. "The promis'd land": the Schoharie Valley, 1712-1722 -- 7. "A nation which is neither French, nor English, nor Indian": The Mohawk Valley, 1723-1757.
"Becoming German tells the story of the largest and earliest mass movement of German-speaking immigrants to America. The so-called Palatine migration of 1709 began in the western part of the Holy Roman Empire, where perhaps as many as thirty thousand people left their homes, lured by rumors that Britain's Queen Anne would give them free passage overseas and land in America. They journeyed down the Rhine and eventually made their way to London, where they settled in refugee camps. The rumors of free passage and land proved false, but, in an attempt to clear the camps, the British government finally agreed to send about three thousand of the immigrants to New York in exchange for several years of labor. After their arrival, the Palatines refused to work as indentured servants and eventually settled in autonomous German communities near the Iroquois of central New York."--BOOK JACKET.
9780801471179
Palatine Americans--History--New York (State)--18th century. German Americans--History--New York (State)--18th century. Immigrants--History--New York (State)--18th century. Palatine Americans--Ethnic identity.--New York (State) German Americans--Ethnic identity.--New York (State)