Kultur 1

Those individuals of German heritage have always played a vital role in the political landscape of America. As one of the first groups to immigrate to America en masse, the Germans would have played an important role in the Revolution, lending their frontier hunting and field craft skills, in addition to their rifled firearms, to the Americans for the conflict. Friedrich von Steuben was a German military officer that, during the winter at Valley Forge, taught Washington’s army how to fight like the British, and in many ways was key to an American victory in the Northeast. So from very early on, it is easy to see the importance of German figures and culture on American politics.
During the colonial era, most German immigrants settled in the United States away from the bustling urban centers. They chose the frontier territories in what is now the Midwest to settle down. This is probably due to their resemblance to central Europe, being heavily wooded temperate zones. Due to their distance from urban centers, they formed a unique political mindset that has been called “peasant republicanism” which blends the political spectrum, favoring both the progressive ideals of personal liberties, and the conservative ideals of established authority. In addition to commitment to religious ideals, German demographics would have made for hot contests between political candidates, as their values made them potential voters for more than one party.
It is interesting to note that Germany made contributions to American politics in many indirect ways. Thomas Nast is a great example of this. A political cartoonist and ethnic German, he is credited with creating such enduring figures as John Bull, who represents Britain, John Chinaman, Santa Claus, the Republican and Democrat Elephant and Donkey, and most critically, Uncle Sam, the white haired personification of America. The German Kaiser, before WWI, also had an impact on American politics when his Empire and the Americans’ collided in the Pacific, and he aided in the partition of the San Juan Islands there. In a darker way, in WWII, when the Nazis unleashed the horrors of the holocaust, a massive influx of German, Polish, and Austrian Jews fled to America. This mass increase led to a huge demographic lift, which, during the Zionist movements of the Cold War, meant that, domestically, the President of the United States would receive a massive boost to his polling numbers were he to support the Jewish homeland in the middle east from its many opponents.
Modern German politics avoids any excess shows of patriotism or nationalism, but many individuals in America that are of German descent are proud flag-waving Americans that are active in current events, myself included among them. As the article said, there are more German Americans than any other reported ethnic group, and for that reason alone, the German heritage, through the American democratic system has had an immense amount of leverage on American politics and world politics as a whole.