able to find work. Imigrants who were unable to pay their way across the Atlantic .
traded many years of service for a master (land owner) or the captain of the ship. .
This practice of indentured service was popular during this time period . The.
majority of the immigrants who voyaged accross the Atlantic was harsh and bitter. .
Boat quarters were cramped, unsanitary. While scurvy and malnutrition were.
common and more serious diseases were always a threat to immigrants. Many of.
which were Germans. In fact, Germans were the largest ethnic group to settle in.
America. .
Many Germans traveld to America because of famine, overpopulatoin,.
lack of jobs, economic concerns, mistreament by their government, and the.
choice of religous freedoms. During the 1600s and 1700s, wars destroyed.
Germany. Europe was involved in a series of deathly wars, which were.
caused by religious, political, and economic differences. Marching armies.
trampled down fields of grain, stole cattle, and burned down farmsteads.
Which led to famine. Taxes were levied to pay for the war, which added.
frustration to the people's dilemma. The worst of such conflicts was the Thirty.
Years War which lasted from 1618 to 1648. This war would let the ruler of the.
time to decide the people's religion in over 300 independent states. In the trail.
of wars, German lands had been devastated, and people's homes and.
livelihoods destroyed. Some parts of Germany lost as many as two-thirds of.
their people in the Thirty Years War, while the survivors of war faced disease.
and starvation. .
Religious disputes also drove the people to leave their homes. Religious.
Persecution resulted in decades of relious warfare in Germany which led.
many Germans to migrate to North America, especially Pennsylvania, offered.
them religious freedom. Various religious groups suffered persecution in many.
German states over the centuries. Lutherans and Reformed Church members.
came to America from Bavaria and Wurzberg.