CHAPTER III

THE GERMANS 46

Volume and causes of the German freshet--Why it has ceased--Distribution of the Germans in America--_Deutschtum_ vs. assimilation--The "Forty-eighters"--Influence of the Germans on our farming, on our drinking, on our attitude toward recreation--Political tendencies of German voters--The Germans as pathbreakers for intellectual liberty--Their success in the struggle for existence--Moderation in alcoholism and in crime--Preferred occupations--Teutonic traits--Effect of the German infusion on the temper of the American people.

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