Some American historians have suggested that the reason Germans went west across the Atlantic ocean rather than to the east, across land, was for the religious freedom or tolerance that was available in America. In general, this statement does not hold water. The British were actually restrictive. No Catholics need apply. The Catholics comprised a large group in the southwest of Germany and they were not welcome in America. They could find land in the east, though, as could the Protestants. (In spite of the British opposition to the Catholics, many did find a home in the colonies.)
Among the smaller religious groups, many Moravians, Mennonites, and Hutterites did find a home in the east. Still, it may be that the members of the Hans Herr party in 1709 did see America as a place where they could exercise their religion more freely. They faced a lot of oppressive forces in Germany because of their Mennonite religion. They were not allowed to own land; they had to pay a special tax just because they were Mennonites; they had to serve in the Army (they were pacifists); they could not have a Church; not more than 20 could meet at one time; they were not allowed to recruit. They had plenty of reasons to migrate and the question was, "To where?" A group of people, faced with three options, will have some members who favor each of the choices. It just may be that America was the "happenstance" choice of the group.
Once some of them were here, and they started writing letters home, they created a desire to move to America by their description of it. The most important point was that there was a lot of land that seemed to be available for the taking. In America, one could own the land outright and do what he wished with it. In the east, the land was often communal, or restricted in some way.
The burdens of the military and taxes were light. In general, military duty consisted of the militia mustering. Armies were almost nonexistent. Taxes were light and applied to relatively few things. There is no question that the letters from America were the strongest selling point for America.
These letters were not just personal items. They were miniature newspapers for public consumption. The writer often wanted to be remembered to every person and often asked a lot of questions about the people still in Germany. That, along with the natural curiosity of the people in the village, meant that there were essentially twenty readers for each letter.
The major points in the letters were often the abundant land, the low taxes, the general freedom for the people. Don Thommen emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1736 and he wrote home (to Niederdorf near Basel):
"I took a place with 350 Juchert [about 435 acres], two houses and barns, and have, believe it or not, 6 horses, 2 colts, 15 cattle, and about 35 sacks of oats, 46 sacks of wheat, 25 sacks of rye, and 23 sacks of corn."
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.