German Settlers in America

Mr. Bender

September 7, 2016

Jennifer Liang from Sotomayor

Word Count:711

German Settlers in America

“We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. ”Here comes Christmas! Garland, tinsel, candy canes, colored ribbons and bobbles are placed on a green tree, decorating the Christmas tree. Do you know how Christmas tree became the tradition of Christmas? The modern Christmas tree was developed in early modern Germany with predecessors. After German immigrated to America, they brought and created new culture to America that later became a part of American culture. Besides, German contribution on education, religion and social organization mean a lot to American culture.

German immigrants introduced German education to the U.S. to inherit their culture. In 1855, German immigrants launched the first kindergarten in America, based on the kindergartens of Germany. Physical education and vocational education were introduced into the public school by Germans, and gymnasiums were contained in school buildings, which exerted a far-reaching influence on the mainstream of sport fitness in the U.S. for centuries. More important, Germans were leaders in the call for universal education, a notion not common in the U.S. at the time. In the twentieth century, a special three-million-strong organization, the German American Alliance, was founded to preserve their culture to some extent. In 1903 the Alliance urged in its German-American Annals, "Only through the preservation of the German language can our race in this land be preserved from entire disappearance. " (J.)

A German leader had made great contributions to the religion of America. In the twenties century, the majority in the U.S. is Protestant and practice Lutheranism—the Protestant Reformation church created by the German religious leader Martin Luther. Luther believed that people should live their lives by following the Bible, not the pope. Aiming to the corruption he had witnessed in the church, he urged people to take their faith into account; the Catholic church is no longer needed. His call for revolution brought about the rise of Protestant churches throughout Europe. Luther's efforts to reform the practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Religious conflicts resulted from reformation later led to wars. After the war ended, Lutheranism was finally accepted, and each German state was allowed to choose its own religion (“German Immigration”). At that time, there are at least 20 smaller Lutheran denominations in North America. There is a sizeable Lutheran community originated from Brazil which is the second largest in the Americas and the largest in Latin America.