Title: Germans - Immigrants of The 19th Century
Headings: 
A Century Later
Content: However, once America became a nation of cheap land and employment the German immigrants were typically farmers, tradesmen, mechanics and unskilled workers seeking better economic advantages. Others sought political asylum from the powers at be in Germany. The liberal movement spawned by Kant, Fichte, Geothe, and Schiller was struggling for survival in a conservative Lutheran nation where their ideas were considered sacrilege. The young University students who were attracted by liberalism were also attracted by the prospect of moving to a more accepting nation. For farmers America provided an immense wealth of cheap land. The homestead law of 1862, which provided 160 acres, as long as it was developed for five years, encouraged many German farmers to immigrate and move to the American Mid-west and West. Unlike many other immigrant groups the Germans were not driven to immigration by poverty. Once in America the Germans dispersed across the West and Midwest. There were several urban centers upon which German immigrants converged in large numbers. They were St. Louis, Belleville, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee.