Of all American ethnic groups. the English alone exceed the Germans in total figures. and then only providing that you consider together the genuine English descendants with Scots. Irish. and Welsh descefidants. A distinct characteristic of the German immigrations throughout their history has been the very slight return migration to the "old country" as compared with recent immigrations. These German immigrants found America to their liking. and they and their descendants have made the most of it. In the beginning. so far as the first English colonists were concerned. the Mayflower provided the key to a glorious land of promise. The Germans had their Mayflower too. under a different name. This was the good ship Concord. which arrived in Philadelphia in October 1683. bearing the first group of German immigrants to these shores. The leader of the group was Franz Daniel Pasturius. who had come in advance to purchase from William Penn a tract of land. on which to establish the first permanent German settlement in the American Colonies. This settlement. which was established only 2 years following the founding of Philadelphia. became known as Germantown. and for the next 100 years or so. it was to serve as a distributing center for all German colonists.
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