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001 77784
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010 _a98001184
040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aF106
100 1 _aBeidelman, William,
_d1840-1903
245 1 4 _aThe story of the Pennsylvania Germans
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2026
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aRelease date is 2026-01-26
508 _aCarla Foust, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
520 _aThe story of the Pennsylvania Germans by William Beidelman is a historical account written in the late 19th century. It traces the Germanic roots of Pennsylvania’s settlers from the Alemannic peoples of the Upper Rhine, recounts the Palatinate’s wars and devastations, and explains why large numbers emigrated to William Penn’s province. The work also examines settlement patterns across the colonies, the community’s politics and role in war, and, notably, defends the Pennsylvania German dialect as authentically German. Overall, it blends history, migration, language, and culture to present a cohesive portrait of the Pennsylvania Germans. The opening of the book states its purpose: to give Pennsylvania Germans a concise account of their origin, history, and dialect, to correct popular misconceptions (especially that “Pennsylvania Dutch” is not German), and to draw on major German and American sources. It then sketches early Germanic history, emphasizing Roman contact, the rise of the Alemanni, and their settlement along the Upper Rhine, before outlining the creation and fate of the Palatinate. A vivid section recounts the Palatinate’s repeated ravaging—especially under Louis XIV—arguing these wars drove mass emigration. Next comes the attraction of Pennsylvania: Penn’s charter, tolerant laws, fair land terms, and treaties with Native peoples, which catalyzed settlement (including German Quakers at Germantown). The narrative surveys the redemptioner system and grim Atlantic voyages, the German preference for fertile limestone valleys, and estimates of their growing numbers. It also briefly maps German dispersal to other colonies and to Ireland, and describes Quaker–government tensions, Christoph Sauer’s influential German newspaper, and the Germans’ evolving stance in Anglo-French conflicts. The section concludes with English anxieties about “anglicizing” the Germans, noting proposed but unexecuted measures. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _pOriginally published:
_cEaston: Express Book Print, 1898
653 _aPennsylvania Dutch
856 4 _uhttps://archive.org/details/storyofpennsylva00beid/page/n9/mode/2up
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77784
999 _c118504
_d118504