Title: Contributions Made by German Immigrants in the U.S. During the 1840s & 1850s | The Classroom
Headings: Contributions Made by German Immigrants in the U.S. During the 1840s & 1850s
Contributions Made by German Immigrants in the U.S. During the 1840s & 1850s
Farmers and Laborers
Politics
Education
Cultural Contributions and Inventions

Content: German immigrants placed great emphasis on early public education, which they enjoyed in their homeland. In 1857, Margaretha Meyer Schurz, Carl Schurz's wife, established the first American kindergarten in Wisconsin. The schools spread rapidly. Germans also established their own newspapers; educational, musical, and philosophical clubs; and various organizations in their new hometowns. Cultural Contributions and Inventions
German immigrants settled primarily in ethnic enclaves and all-German towns, but their cultural traditions and foods soon spread to the American masses. Beginning in the 1850s, German Christmas traditions, particularly the Christmas tree, became popular in the United States as part of an effort to "revive Christmas" in response to economic and political upheaval. Perhaps the most long-lasting and popular German contribution is beer. The Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, maker of Budweiser, was established by a German immigrant in 1857.