Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Department

Honors Academy- (Honors Self-Design Major)

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the era from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, with particular attention to the later period. The purpose is not to examine every minute aspect of the lives and history of the German community of Cincinnati but to offer an overall analysis. Part I details the general trends of German immigration to the United States during the last half of the nineteenth century, beginning with a general discussion focusing on the push and pull factors motivating Germans to leave Germany and settle in the United States. This section will also explain methods of transportation employed by German immigrants and conclude with a discussion about the settlement patterns of German immigrants within the United States. Part II analyzes the early history Cincinnati, first detailing the city's early prosperity as a major metropolis along the Ohio River and its attraction for large numbersof Germans. Part II also examines German Cincinnati in the mid-1800s and the conditions that allowed the community not only to exist but to thrive. Part III provides an overview of changes in Cincinnati's growth and structure between the end ofthe Civil War and the beginning of the twentieth century, and the effects of change on Cincinnati's German community. This section further focuses on the actions and responses of Cincinnati's Germans to World War I and the impact of anti-German attacks on the community. The thesis ends with a short discussion of the Cincinnati German community after World War I.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

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