When we talk about the reasons that Germans came to America, we have a great difficulty because we were not there to sit in on the discussions in the homes where the ideas were discussed. Some historical documents exist, and they are a help. Our biggest problem is that we can name a dozen reasons why they came, but which one was dominant? It would appear that the reasons varied by group and year. For the moment, let us keep the discussion very general without particular reference to the Germanna Colonies.
With some exceptions, religion was not the reason; however, for the Anabaptists and Moravians (and others), it WAS a reason. In Switzerland and in Holland, the Anabaptists were persecuted to the extent that at least a few thousand, probably more, were killed for their beliefs. They were also expelled from Switzerland, especially to the lands which bordered the Rhine River on both sides. In Germany, they were free from the extreme forms of torture and death, but they were still subject to many rules and regulations that other people were not.
They could not own land. They could not have a church. They could not preach to others. Not more than twenty of them could meet at one time. They had to pay special taxes. And something that really grated on these pacifists was that they had to serve in the army. So, when William Penn and his agents roamed the countryside, they listened and acted. The first Germans to Pennsylvania were Mennonites, a major branch of the Anabaptists, and they founded Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia. The Moravians also chose to go to America. Some groups, such as the Salzburgers (I need help here, Elke), were expelled from Germany. So, there were groups for whom religion was a reason, but they represented a minority of the Germans.
In spite of the comments that people such as William Hofman made in Eisern, and which were quoted in excerpts here, religion was probably not a factor for the Lutherans, Reformed, and Catholic people. Most of these people were flexible. Hank Jones tells of one man who was born in the Catholic Church, married in the Reformed Church, and who became an elder in the Lutheran Church.
The old German Bibles, often weighing twenty or more pounds, have been cited as proof of the dedication of the Germans to their religion. But, observers during the great influx in 1709 to London reported that printed religious works were very scarce among these people. Religion was important to them but it was secondary after the needs of the body were satisfied.
It became popular to say that one's ancestor left because of religious problems or a desire for religious freedom. This was founded not on fact, but on the simple desire to make the ancestors look as noble as possible.
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.