84 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



German history, when the smaller German thrones were over- 

 turned and sceptres smashed in the revolutionary excitement 

 of the times. Small German principalities disappeared, feudal 

 systems were abolished, and larger German kingdoms arose 

 to succeed them. During this formative period thousands and 

 thousands of Germans sought refuge in the United States. 

 Between them and the American of those days stood the bar- 

 rier of language and strange customs. This made them mis- 

 understood, and, being poor and forlorn, likewise despised 

 amid the general contempt for the poor and homeless from 

 other lands. As the Germans were largely Catholic, the gen- 

 eral hatred and contempt for the Catholic Irish became their 

 portion also. But the German persevered, accumulated prop- 

 erty by his thrift and economy, learned EngUsh and the cus- 

 toms and ideas of his new fatherland, and in every way showed 

 his worth. His habits of industry, frugality and saving were 

 valuable assets to our national body. The time came when 

 the German was no longer looked upon as of a strange race ; 

 his culture and history were appreciated, and he was welcomed 

 as a real addition to our national forces. Both the German 

 and the Irishman distinguished themselves in the Civil War 

 between the States, North and South, and henceforth all 

 America knew that patriotism and devotion to the new father- 

 land was a virtue which each possessed in as eminent a de- 

 gree as the native elder American, whilst in courage and self- 

 denial they might outdo him. 



Meanwhile the nations heard the call of opportunity in the 

 new world and promptly responded. At first the inhabitants 

 of Scandinavia — the Norwegians, Danes and Swedes — came 

 hither, and we made them welcome, for they were only one 

 remove from the German and did not have the obstacle of the 

 Catholic faith as a stumbling-block. The French, Swiss and 

 Belgians came, too, but in limited numbers, and then the heter- 

 ogeneous inhabitants of the Austrian monarchy began to ar- 

 rive. By that time we had grown in a measure more tolerant 

 of those who were born across the seas. We welcomed them 

 as fleeing from adverse conditions at home and as material to 

 make up the fibre of our American civilization. Perhaps the 

 fact was that we of the elder stock of Americans had become 

 so far educated that we now knew who these people were, as 

 well as something of their languages, culture and history. 



