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Heartland Germans: Cultural maintenance in mid-nineteenth century America

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Date Issued:
2006
Summary:
Midwestern Germans who populated Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago and St. Paul represented a kind of cultural identity that revealed an ethnic pride. Through the church, the press, their language, social organizations and political involvement, these Germans demonstrated the tenacity of a people willing to risk the security of their homeland for a better life in America and in the process established a set of cultural norms that reflected a significant attempt to maintain their ethnic identity. During the years 1830-1870, the pull of cheap and available land fueled the chain migration that led to the largest influx of German immigrants in American history. German insistence on the maintenance of their cultural distinction, while achieving full acceptance as Americans, reveals the tenacity of one ethnic group not to be lost in the "melting pot" of American folklore, but rather to fully, identifiably contribute to their new homeland.
Title: Heartland Germans: Cultural maintenance in mid-nineteenth century America.
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Name(s): LaVigne, Madelyn Witt.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Engle, Stephen D., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2006
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 107 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Midwestern Germans who populated Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago and St. Paul represented a kind of cultural identity that revealed an ethnic pride. Through the church, the press, their language, social organizations and political involvement, these Germans demonstrated the tenacity of a people willing to risk the security of their homeland for a better life in America and in the process established a set of cultural norms that reflected a significant attempt to maintain their ethnic identity. During the years 1830-1870, the pull of cheap and available land fueled the chain migration that led to the largest influx of German immigrants in American history. German insistence on the maintenance of their cultural distinction, while achieving full acceptance as Americans, reveals the tenacity of one ethnic group not to be lost in the "melting pot" of American folklore, but rather to fully, identifiably contribute to their new homeland.
Identifier: 9780542576133 (isbn), 13338 (digitool), FADT13338 (IID), fau:10188 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.
Subject(s): German Americans--Ethnic identity
Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
German Americans--Middle West--History
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13338
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.