In Search of Peace and Prosperity (Paperback)

Paperback. This volume brings together essays by leading German and American historians on the subject of the eighteenth-century German emigration. Scholars have traditionally studied the nineteenth century, when the overwhelming majority of German emigrants came to the New World. In this book, contributors focus on an earlier period, when Germans were moving to a variety of destinations: Russia, Prussian Lithuania, and various other German territories as well as North America. What drove men and women from different regional and social backgrounds to leave their homes during this time? Some migrations were forced, as for the Mennonites, the Salzburger emigrants, and the French Huguenots; some were voluntary and determined by the wish for one's own land and greater social and economic opportunity. In all groups, religion was a prominent motivator and primary element of social identification and cohesion. Inevitably, migrants carried with them traditional skills and other indispensable cultural "baggage." A key strength of this book is that contributors emphasize the mutual exchanges that occurred among cultures.In Search of Peace and Prosperity grew out of a conference at Penn State University under the sponsorship of the German Historical Institute in Washington, D. C. Contributors are Rosalind J. Beiler, Jon Butler, Andreas Gestrich, Mark Haeberlein, Thomas Klingebiel, Hartmut Lehmann, Thomas Mueller-Bahlke, A. Gregg Roeber, Mack Walker, Hermann Wellenreuther, Carola Wessel, Renate Wilson, and Marianne S. Wokeck. This volume brings together essays by leading German and American historians on the subject of German emmigration in the 18th century. The text looks at what drove people to leave their homes at this time, and the mutual exchanges that took place between cultures in the new settlements. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…