Journey to the Midwest: The German Immigration :: essays research papers fc

Journey to the Midwest: The German Immigration   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many German immigrants in 1901 risked everything for a dream of better things in America and the promise of freedom and wealth. Although, when they arrived many realized that the streets were not paved with gold as they had believed, but rather filth. This is the detailed description of why one family left Germany, what happened after they arrived in America, and how they adapted to life in the Midwest. Momma- I have arrived in America finally. The journey was long and crowded on the boat, but hopeful. I was glad that Wilhelm was here to travel with me. We knew when we had reached America, there was a beautiful statue of a woman and it gave us all hope to see it. She was a great welcome into the country. When we got off the ship, we were ushered to a smaller boat and taken to this beautiful island. The building was large and beautiful. Immediately, men in uniform gave us a stamp on our clothes and we had to stand inline with the other people from our ship. It took all day and we spoke to many people, they asked us questions and looked at our eyes. There was nowhere to sit, so we were very tired at the end of the day. Finally though, we made it through and we are in America! Wilhelm and I are traveling to see papa now. We are so excited to see papa, although the journey to see him maybe long. Momma, please be strong and kiss Heinrich for me. I miss you and pray that I will see you an d the family very soon. –Love, Edda   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today, many Germans live throughout the U.S.; especially in the Midwest. More likely then not, they came here in the late 1800's- 1900's. During the 1860’s many revolutions took place in Germany and many families experienced the poverty that almost always follows war. In one 20 year span, in the late 1800's, Germany went to war at least 7 times taking on neighboring countries such as: Austria, France, Belgium and Russia. Much money was spent on the war effort in Germany. People were taxed heavily just to buy bullets for the army. Through all this, word was spread like wild fire through Germany that a new country in the west across the water was offering freedom and a promise of happiness for anyone who would make the long journey to the new country: America.