Germans in Wisconsin History
Do you know what things originally came
from the Germans that are in our lives? Do you know if you are German, if not,
do you know someone who is? When the Germans came to Wisconsin in the 1800s, it
brought new opportunities for them. Overall, the Germans introduced us to new
and different things, had different time frames when coming to Wisconsin, and
farming in Wisconsin was very important to them.
The Germans introduced us to a variety of things that we use today. One of those
things is foods. The Germans introduced so many foods to the United States like
beer, bratwurst, sauerkraut, breads, and soft pretzels was a snack they brought
with them on their journey to Wisconsin. My community, holds an activity similar
to Oktoberfest, but with a different spelling, and Oktoberfest originally came
from the Germans. A specific type of music the Germans had, and still have in
their culture is polka music. Today you can still find people dancing to polka
music! The Germans also have clubs that are in both of our cultures like
athletic, social, and singing clubs. Not all Germans had the same religion;
some were Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. There were three time periods of
when the immigrants that were German came to Wisconsin. The southwestern German
states came between 1845-1860, the Northern Europe immigrants came from
1865-1875, and finally the final and the biggest group of immigrants came from
1875-1890. They came to Wisconsin for several reasons, and each group was a
little different. Mainly the land was cheaper here for farming, and where they
lived before they had some failures in crops. In 1900, there were about 270,000
Germans living in Wisconsin, mainly in the counties of Brown, Dane, Milwaukee,
and Taylor. Their occupations when they got to Wisconsin were mainly either
farmers, or skilled craftsmen.
from the Germans that are in our lives? Do you know if you are German, if not,
do you know someone who is? When the Germans came to Wisconsin in the 1800s, it
brought new opportunities for them. Overall, the Germans introduced us to new
and different things, had different time frames when coming to Wisconsin, and
farming in Wisconsin was very important to them.
The Germans introduced us to a variety of things that we use today. One of those
things is foods. The Germans introduced so many foods to the United States like
beer, bratwurst, sauerkraut, breads, and soft pretzels was a snack they brought
with them on their journey to Wisconsin. My community, holds an activity similar
to Oktoberfest, but with a different spelling, and Oktoberfest originally came
from the Germans. A specific type of music the Germans had, and still have in
their culture is polka music. Today you can still find people dancing to polka
music! The Germans also have clubs that are in both of our cultures like
athletic, social, and singing clubs. Not all Germans had the same religion;
some were Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. There were three time periods of
when the immigrants that were German came to Wisconsin. The southwestern German
states came between 1845-1860, the Northern Europe immigrants came from
1865-1875, and finally the final and the biggest group of immigrants came from
1875-1890. They came to Wisconsin for several reasons, and each group was a
little different. Mainly the land was cheaper here for farming, and where they
lived before they had some failures in crops. In 1900, there were about 270,000
Germans living in Wisconsin, mainly in the counties of Brown, Dane, Milwaukee,
and Taylor. Their occupations when they got to Wisconsin were mainly either
farmers, or skilled craftsmen.
One of the reasons the Germans came to Wisconsin was because Wisconsin had cheap
land that was good for farming. Since the Germans came because they weren’t
doing so well with their farming, they relied on Wisconsin for farming. When the
Germans came to Wisconsin, Wisconsin was doing really well with wheat farming.
Between the middle and the end of the 1800s, wheat was at its down point, and
farms were mainly dairy farms. One thing the Germans did bring with them from
Germany was their Holstein cows. If there was not enough rain to keep things
growing properly the whole reason why they came to Wisconsin could be a waste.
Many of their occupations were farmers too, so that could possibly lead to
people needed different jobs. If there crops that they were growing did not do
well in the season, there could also be less food that was produced for German
families to sell and eat for themselves. For the Germans, farming was a big deal
to them in Wisconsin, and without the proper weather conditions and supplies,
German lives could change drastically. Last year, Wisconsin was suffering from a
drought. Some of the crops the drought affected were potatoes, green beans, and
cabbage. Corn was another crop that got affected.
.
In conclusion, the Germans had positives and could possibly have
negatives outcomes for moving to Wisconsin. They introduced us to things we
do/use today, had different time frames when they moved to Wisconsin, and made
farming an important thing. The Germans changed Wisconsin history, and made it
what it is today.
Bibliography
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Martin, James. Bavaria
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<http://goeurope.about.com/od/bavaria/l/bl-bavaria-map.htm>.
Sachs, Jenna. "Drought conditions may mean
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2013.
< http://fox6now.com/2012/07/10/drought-conditions-may-mean-increased-prices-at-grocery-store/>.
. "Sauk City/WI: A German Dairy Farmer in
Wisconsin." Culture & Lifestyle. N.p.. Web. 8 Jan 2013.
<http://germanamericanpioneers.org/GermanDairyFarminWisconsin.htm>.
. "The Rise of Dairy Farming." Wisconsin
Historical Society. Wisconsin Historical Society 816 State Street, Madison,
WI 53706, n.d. Web. 8 Jan 2013.
< http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-028/?action=more_essay>.
Watkins, Diane. "German Food in America."
101. Diane Watkins, 6 2010. Web. 8 Jan 2013.
< http://suite101.com/article/german-food-in-america-a214412>.
Zeitlin,
Richard, James P. Leary, Sylvia Hall Holubetz, and Fred L. Homes, eds. "Ethnic
Groups in Wisconsin: Historical Background." Ethnicity in Wisconsin.
N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan 2013.
< http://mki.wisc.edu/Ethnic/ethn-his.html
Megan Zeiler is an 8th grade student from iForward school of Wisconsin.