1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910790012603321

Autore

Baer Friederike

Titolo

The Trial of Frederick Eberle : Language, Patriotism and Citizenship in Philadelphia's German Community, 1790 to 1830 / / Friederike Baer

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : New York University Press, , [2008]

©2008

ISBN

0-8147-8994-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (281 p.)

Disciplina

306.44089/31074811

Soggetti

Citizenship - United States

Patriotism - United States

Language maintenance - United States

Immigrants - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia - Social conditions

Lutherans, German - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia - Social conditions

Language question in the church - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia - History

Trials (Conspiracy) - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia

Philadelphia (Pa.) Ethnic relations History 19th century

Philadelphia (Pa.) Ethnic relations History 18th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-264) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Dragged into Courts of Justice Unnecessarily -- 2. A Controversy Has Arisen -- 3. Germans and Anglicized Eyrisch-Germans -- 4. They Want to Steal Our Property, to Rob Our Churches -- 5. All the Stimulants of a Political Election -- 6. One of Those Cases, in Which Strong Feelings Are Unavoidably Excited -- 7. Endeavor to Inform Our Judgments and Act Impartially -- Appendix 1 -- Appendix 2 -- Appendix 3 -- Appendix 4 -- Appendix 5 -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

In the summer of 1816, the state of Pennsylvania tried fifty-nine German-Americans on charges of conspiracy and rioting. The accused had, according to the indictment, conspired to prevent with physical



force the introduction of the English language into the largest German church in North America, Philadelphia’s Lutheran congregation of St. Michael’s and Zion. The trial marked the climax of an increasingly violent conflict over language choice in Philadelphia’s German community, with members bitterly divided into those who favored the exclusive use of German in their church, and those who preferred occasional services in English. At trial, witnesses, lawyers, defendants, and the judge explicitly linked language to class, citizenship, patriotism, religion, and violence. Mining many previously unexamined sources, including German-language writings, witness testimonies, and the opinions of prominent legal professionals, Friederike Baer uses legal conflict as a prism through which to explore the significance of language in the early American republic. The Trial of Frederick Eberle reminds us that debates over language have always been about far more than just language. Baer demonstrates that the 1816 trial was not a battle between Americans and immigrants, or German-speakers and English-speakers. Instead, the individuals involved in the case seized and exploited English and German as powerful symbols of competing cultural, economic, and social interests.