Becoming German

The 1709 Palatine Migration to New York

De: Philip L. Otterness, Philip Otterness

Narrado por: Chaz Allen

Becoming German tells the intriguing story of the largest and earliest mass movement of German-speaking immigrants to America. The so-called Palatine migration of 1709 began in the western part of the Holy Roman Empire, where perhaps as many as 30,000 people left their homes, lured by rumors that Britain's Queen Anne would give them free passage overseas and land in America. They journeyed down the Rhine and eventually made their way to London, where they settled in refugee camps. The rumors of free passage and land proved false, but, in an attempt to clear the camps, the British government finally agreed to send about three thousand of the immigrants to New York in exchange for several years of labor. After their arrival, the Palatines refused to work as indentured servants and eventually settled in autonomous German communities near the Iroquois of central New York.

Becoming German tracks the Palatines' travels from Germany to London to New York City and into the frontier areas of New York. It was only in refusing to assimilate to British colonial culture—instead maintaining separate German-speaking communities and mixing on friendly terms with Native American neighbors—that the Palatines became German in America.

The book is published by Cornell University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"Significantly broadens our understanding of early American identity formation and adds welcome nuance and complexity to our image of cultural encounters in British America." (Journal of American Ethnic History)

"Interesting, well-researched narrative. Highly recommended." (Choice)

"Well-written and easy to read.... This book is highly recommended." (The Palatine Immigrant)

©2004 Cornell University (P)2023 Redwood Audiobooks

Great information about the palatines

there was a lot of great things to learn here about the palatines and their struggle to leave Germany, their travails in England and in the new world. I was interested in this book because of my Kraemer heritage, my family came to the United States to New York in 1710 with the palatines. I wish they had a different narrator, he did the job and appeared to be very passionate about The subject matter but is delivery was lacking in places, and occasionally made it a challenging listen.

An important work, done a great disservice by the recording

This work details an absolutely fascinating story that is all too often overlooked in the story of the European settlement of the Americas. It is unfortunate that the reader has so bungled this performance as to make it almost impossible to listen to for any length of time. Why anyone would select a reader who a) clearly cannot read or even parse German words with a modicum of competency or b) can keep his tone and rhythm consistent from take-to-take is beyond me. There was very obviously quite a bit of re-recording, and there was seemingly no effort to make those sections flow with that which preceded or followed them. The most basic German place names are read hopelessly wrong — the “W” in names like “Württemberg” is not pronounced like an English W, for example. Dreadful.