Whose fathers of old sang in concert with thine,
On the banks of Swatara, the songs of the Rhine,—
The German-born pilgrims, who first dared to brave
The scorn of the proud in the cause of the slave:—* * *
They cater to tyrants? They rivet the chain,
Which their fathers smote off, on the negro again?
The American author, E. Bettle, in “Notices of Negro Slavery in America,” says of the above body of men and their action: “To this body of humble, unpretending and almost unnoticed philanthropists belongs the honor of having been the first association who ever remonstrated against negro slavery.”
Though disapproving their habits of drinking and hearty feasting at weddings and funerals, Dr. Rush, in his “Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical,” page 220, says: “If they possess less refinement than their Southern neighbors, who cultivate their land with slaves, they possess also more republican virtue.” They introduced glass-blowing and iron manufacture as early as colonial conditions would allow,and the establishment of the first iron foundry in America was the work of Baron Stiegel. They confuted Franklin’s fear of their growing influence in determining the policy of the province by responding as ardently to the call of patriotism in 1775-76 as Massachusetts.
The German newspaper in Philadelphia, the “Staatsbote,” published by Henry Miller—later the official printer of Congress—was one of the papers that fanned the flames of rebellion. It was read as far as the Valley of Virginia. The edition of March 19, 1776, contains an appeal to the Germans beginning: “Remember that your forefathers immigrated to America to escape bondage and to enjoy liberty.” (Virginia Magazine, vol. x, pp. 45 ff.)
History is strangely silent about any similar intellectual and cultural currents emanating from the English settlements of the early period, though latterly giving birth to a group of historians and poets who wove the garb of romance around every green New England hillside and embalmed every local event in poetic legend. While in Germantown the printing press was turning out Bibles and works of science and learning, and the people were laying the foundation of paper mills and type foundries, a harsh spirit of intolerance, superstition and religious asceticism was the rule in the Bay Colony.