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Archiver > QUAKER-ROOTS > 1997-04 > 0860256333


From: <>
Subject: Re: ENGLISH/GERMAN
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 11:05:33 -0500 (EST)


Jim, Most of my knowledge of the Quaker "power structure" involves my West
Jersey Quaker ancestors so perhaps I am overstepping my bounds of knowledge
in transferring those ideas as they may or may not relate to Pennsylvania.
You are correct that Germans eventually held positions of power in
Pennsylvania. However, until they became naturalized citizens they were not
permitted to own land which was the ultimate position of power in those days.
A great number of early Germans never were able to own land because of that
restriction. For whatever reason many never became naturalized citizens.

As for Quakers in Pennsylvania being among the "movers and shakers" of their
day I can only state that the many deeds and land transfers I have seen would
indicate the Wm. Penn did indeed participate in many large-scale transactions
which brought great wealth to his fellow Quaker allies and resulted in their
ownership of much of the most valuable land for industrial development.

Getting back to the subject of the German immigrants and whether many were
Quakers and how they fit into the scheme of things, I would like to recommend
an excellent book which covers the topic quite well (not so much about the
Quakers but about the German culture). The book is Hopeful Journeys, German
Immigration, Settlement, and Political Culture in Colonial America, 1717-1775
by Aaron Spencer Fogleman and published by the University of Pennsylvania
Press, Philadelphia, 1996. This book deals with the influence Casper Wistar
had over the masses of German immigrants to which I referred in my previous
message. There were other Germans such as Conrad Weiser who also were men of
great influence. However, the original question if I remember it correctly
was how likely would it have been for an early German immigrant to become a
Quaker and be assimilated into Quaker culture and society. I still feel that
for the "masses" it wasn't all that likely.

Joan Myers Young

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