Important Dates In German-American History

Front 1

1608

Back 1

German immigrants were among the followers of Captain Jaohn Smith at the colony of Jmaestown. They were the first to manufacture tar, glass, pitch, and soap in America.

Front 2

1620

Back 2

Four millwrights from Hamburg erected the first sawmill in America in Virginia

Front 3

1626

Back 3

The first prominent German-American was Peter Minuit, director of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, who purchased Manhattan for $24.

Front 4

1653

Back 4

Germans from Heidelberg introduced vineyards and winemaking to America.

Front 5

1683

Back 5

Thirteen families from the Rhineland, led by a Frankfurt Lawyer, Franz Daniel Pastorius, founded Germantown in Pennsylvania, the first German-American settlement in the New WOrld.

Front 6

1683

Back 6

German-American schools established at Germantown.

Front 7

1690

Back 7

The first protest against slavery issued at Germantown, not in English but in German.

Front 8

1690

Back 8

William Rittinghausen established the first paper mill in America at Germantown.

Front 9

1690

Back 9

Jacob Leisler, born in Frankfurt, was elected the first people's goverenor of New York, and called the first Congress of American colonies. It was one of the earliest protests against British Rule.

Front 10

1714

Back 10

The first book on teaching was published , not in Englaish but in German, by Christopher Dock, a German-American teachr. He introduced the blackboard into the American classroom.

Front 11

1734

Back 11

John Peter Zenger established freedom of the press by protesting British rule in his New York newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal.

Front 12

1739

Back 12

Casper Wistar built a glassmaking plant at Salem, New Jersey.

Front 13

1743

Back 13

the first bible printed in America was not in Englsih but in German. Christopher Sauer of Philadelphia published it.

Front 14

1771

Back 14

First foundry for making type established by christopher Sauer.

Front 15

1776

Back 15

An early publiscation of the Declaration of Independence appeared in German in the Philadelphia Staatsbote on July 9th.

Front 16

1776

Back 16

Congress established a German-American regiment consisting of four compainies.

Front 17

1778

Back 17

Baron von Steuben wrote the first U.S. Army training manuel and helped to organize the U.S. Army.

Front 18

1789

Back 18

Frederick A. Meuhlenberg becam the first Speaker of the newly formed House of Representatives.

Front 19

1789

Back 19

Gottlieb Graupner arrived in Boston and became known later as the father of orchestral music in the U.S.

Front 20

1800

Back 20

German-Americans voted overwhelmingly for thomas Jerfferson and helped elect him to the Presidency.

Front 21

1830s

Back 21

German-Americans introduced gaily-decorated christmas trees to America.

Front 22

1834

Back 22

The richest man in the U.S. was John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant who had organized the American Fur Company.

Front 23

1834

Back 23

More than 500 bilingual schools in the U.S.: the first biligual school system in the U. S. ( German not Spanish)

Front 24

1835

Back 24

Wilhelm Wessehoeft introduced homeopathy medicine to the U.S.

Front 25

1837

Back 25

The Pennsylvania legislature began publishing its laws and governor's message in German translation.

Front 26

1839

Back 26

Theodore Bernhard organized and introduced the first system of free textbooks at Watertown , Wisconsin.

Front 27

1846

Back 27

Maximilian Schaefer establish the first great lager beer brewery in America.

Front 28

1849

Back 28

Eberhard Faber establsih in New York the pencil business which still perpetuates his name.

Front 29

1849

Back 29

Dr. Abraham Jocbi opened the first free clinic for children in the U.S.

Front 30

1851

Back 30

The famous painting,"Washington Crossing the Delaware," painted by Emmanuel Leutze.