Returning to the Kraichgau region, and Fogleman’s book, " Hopeful Journeys ", large scale emigration began in the middle third of the eighteenth century as the population pressure built to a critical stage. In the Germanna Colonies, we are aware of the above average numbers of emigrants in the early 1730’s, the late 1730’s, and again around 1750. Why these particular years were the time of emigration is not clearly known. There were two destinations favored by the emigrants, America and the eastern regions in Prussia (Poland) and Russian. Countries interested in obtaining new settlers knew that they could be recruited most easily in southwest Germany. But, without recruitment of some kind, there would have been no large emigration.
Some of the recruitment was done by governments, especially where there was empty and under-utilized land. A prime example of this is Pennsylvania. As early as 1680, William Penn made personal trips along the Rhine River, seeking settlers for his newly acquired lands. Pennsylvania was the most active of the colonies. Georgia, for a short period, offered special inducements. North Carolina was willing to sell a hundred thousand acres to the Moravians to attract them. The Hapsburgs and Prussia had newly acquired lands in the east, and wanted German settlers. Later, Russia was an active recruiter. The French, the Dutch, and the Swedish had a presence for a while in America, but their failure to actively seek emigrants resulted in the lost of their possessions.
Other active elements were private organizations and individuals. Land settlement by speculators attracted settlers. People who were returning to Germany for a visit, or other purposes, were recruited as agents to procure settlers. Called Neuländers ("New-Landers"), they often arranged for transportation, since many were hired by the shippers. It was all part of the process of removing any obstacles that could prevent the trip.
In addition, incentives and encouragement to emigrate came from individuals such as friends, families, relatives, and neighbors, who had already successfully settled in the new lands. We saw earlier the very active role that, apparently, was played by Jacob Holtzclaw, who concentrated on relatives. Much of this was carried out by letters across the Atlantic. The reports that went back to Germany often mentioned the factors which had led to the original decision to emigrate. The letters would tell that how much better the new lands were in this regard. Two topics which impressed people were the freedom from petty princes (who stole one’s hogs), and the freedom from oppressive taxes (fees for grazing rights of one’s animals).
With the growth of population in Germany, the land had been subdivided into uneconomical units. It was of concern that one’s children would have sufficient land. Imagine the impact of a letter telling of a purchase of four hundred acres of land!
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.