Over 100,000
Germans migrated to the English colonies in North America. Most
of them settled in Pennsylvania. Others settled in New York,
Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. They formed
the largest non-English-speaking community in colonial North
America.
During the
1600s and 1700s, wars ravaged Germany. Marching armies trampled
down fields of grain, stole cattle, and burned down farmsteads.
In their wake, famines spread over the land. Taxes, levied to
pay for the war, added to the people's plight.
Religious
disputes also drove people to leave their homes. In Europe the
rulers chose what church they wanted in their lands. Many pious
Germans of strong convictions found this hard to bear. North
America, especially Pennsylvania, offered them religious freedom.
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