Forty-Eighters
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The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who traveled to the United States, Puerto Rico and Australia after the Revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. They included Germans, Czechs, Hungarians and others. Disappointed at the failure of the revolution to bring about the reform of the system of government in Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire and sometimes on the government's wanted list because of their involvement in the revolution, they gave up their old lives to try again abroad. Many were respected, rich and well-educated; as such, they were not typical migrants. Unsurprisingly, then, a large number went on to be very successful in their new countries and have become part of US and Australian history. The term Forty-Eighters is often used to mean specifically the Forty-Eighters who took part in the American Civil War.
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[edit] Forty-Eighters in the USA
In the United States, many "Forty-Eighters" sided with the Union because of their objection to Confederate slavery, in keeping with the liberal ideals that had led them to flee Germany. Several thousand Forty-Eighters enlisted in the Union Army.
Many "Forty-Eighters" settled in the Texas Hill Country in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, and voted heavily against Texas's secession. In the Bellville area of Austin County, another destination for "Forty-Eighters," the German precincts voted decisively against the secession ordinance. [1]
More than 30,000 Forty-Eighters settled in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Forty-Eighters helped define the distinct German culture of the neighborhood, but in some cases also brought their violent and rebellious nature with them from Germany. In Cincinnati, Forty-Eighters were responsible for the murders of 2 Law Enforcement Officers during violent protests in 1853 and 1854. [2]
[edit] Famous German Forty-Eighters in the US
- German Texans: Michael Machemehl; Dr. Carl Adolph Douai; Johann Machemehl
- Journalists, writers, publishers: Mathilde Franziska Anneke; Christian Esselen; Bernard Domschke; Rudolf Lexow; Reinhold Solger; Karl Peter Heinzen; Carl Daenzer
- Poets: Rudolf Puchner; Edmund Märklin; Konrad Krez
- Musicians: Herman Trost, band leader in Sherman's army who later settled in Lexington, Kentucky, where he conducted the first band at the University of Kentucky and served as band leader of several popular bands, including the Saxton & Trost band. Friend of John Philip Sousa.
- Artists: Wilhelm Heine; Friedrich Girsch; Louis Prang; Adelbert John Volck;
- Architects, Engineers: Adolf Cluss
- Political activists: Joseph Weydemeyer; Carl Schurz (from 1852; later the US Secretary of the Interior); Lorenz Brentano (later a Member of the Congress of the United States); Friedrich Hecker; Gustav von Struve; Wilhelm Weitling
- Later generals in the U.S. Civil War: Louis Blenker; August Willich; Alexander Schimmelpfennig; Franz Sigel after living in Switzerland and England;
- Other: Hugo Wesendonck, who founded the Germania Life Insurance Co, now Guardian Life Insurance Co.; Pauline Wunderlich (fought at the Dresden barricades) left to the USA after she was released from prison and granted amnesty.
- Joseph Spiegel, founder of the Spiegel Catalog
- Al Sieber, later known as Chief of the Scouts in Arizona. Fought in the battles of Antietam (on 16 and 17 September 1862), Fredericksburg (on 13 December 1862), Chancellorsville (1 to 4 May 1863) with Friedrich Hecker, Carl Schurz, Franz Sigel and then in the Battle of Gettysburg.
[edit] Famous Czech Forty-Eighters in the US
- Vojta Náprstek, Czech language publisher in Milwaukee
- Prokup Hudek, one of the "Slavonic Artillerymen" of the 24th Illinois Infantry Regiment, and one of the co-founders of the Workingmen's Party of Illinois[1]
- František Korbel, winegrower in Sonoma County, California
[edit] Famous Hungarian Forty-Eighters in the US
[edit] Forty-Eighters in Australia
In 1848, the first non-British ship carrying immigrants to arrive in Victoria was from Germany; the Goddefroy, on February 13. Many of those on board were political refugees. Some Germans also travelled to Australia via London.
- In April 1849 the Beulah was the first ship to bring assisted German vinedresser families to NSW. [2]
- The second ship, the Parland[3] left London on 13 March 1849, and arrived in Sydney on 5 July 1849[4]
- The barque Kinnear was actually the first to carry German vinedressers to NSW in 1838. 6 vinedressers and their families (altogether 12 adults and 17 children) were recruited from the Rheingau region in Hessen by Major Edward Macarthur for his brother William's property at Camden. These first German vinedressers to arrive in NSW on April 23, 1838, were Friedrich Sickold, Johann Justus, Johann Stein, Caspar Flick, Georg Gerhard and Johann Wenz.
Many Germans became vintners or worked in the wine industry; others founded Lutheran churches. By 1860, for example, about 70 German families lived in Germantown, Victoria. (When World War I broke out, the town was renamed Grovedale.) In Adelaide, a German Club was founded in 1854 which played a major role in society.
[edit] Famous Australian Forty-Eighters
- Carl Linger, the conductor and composer who went on to write "Song of Australia"
- Dr Richard Schomburgk, later director of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens
- Hermann Büring, in the wine industry
- Friedrich Krichauff, Chairman of the Agricultural Bureau
[edit] See also
- German-American
- German Australian
- Canadians of German descent
- Homestead Act
- Republican Party (United States)
- Midwestern United States
- California Gold Rush
[edit] References
- ^ Anarchy and Anarchist: A history of the red terror and the social revolution in America and Europe by by Michael J Schaack, 1889
- ^ recruited by Wilhelm Kirchner, who published Australien und seine Vortheile fur Auswanderer in Frankfurt in 1848
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/2299/parland1849.html:departure date given as May
- ^ The Board's List, reel 2459, GRK; fiche 851, Germans on Bounty Ships, GRK.
