Palatines, liberty, and property
Subtitle: German Lutherans in colonial British America
By: A.G. Roeber.
Series: Early America
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Baltimore
Language: eng
Number of pages: 432
Subjects: Palatine Americans -- History -- 18th century.; Political culture -- United States -- History -- 18th century.; Right of property -- United States -- History -- 18th century.; Right of property -- Germany -- History -- 18th century.; Liberty of conscience -- Germany -- History -- 18th century.; Liberty of conscience -- United States -- History -- 18th century.; Lutheran Church -- Doctrines.
Description: Historians usually look for the origins of American political culture among English-speaking people and British constitutional and legal sources. Yet German immigrants to the colonies also contributed to - and developed for themselves - an American political consciousness. In Palatines, Liberty, and Property A.G. Roeber focuses on this neglected subject and explains why so many Germans, when they faced critical choices in 1776, became active supporters of the patriot cause. Employing a variety of German-language sources, Roeber explores German conceptions of personal and public property in the context of cultural and religious beliefs, village life, and family concerns. He follows all the major German migration streams, beginning with the Palatines in New York and including Germans who settled in Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. Roeber's study of German-American ideas about liberty and property provides a unique perspective within a growing historiography on the transfer of culture and beliefs from Europe and Africa to America.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 337-422) and index.