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

by Friederike Baer

Overview

Winner of the 2011 St. Paul, Biglerville Prize from the Lutheran Historical Society of the Mid-Atlantic

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814799802
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	05/10/2008
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Friederike Baer teaches American Studies at Temple University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Language and Nation
1 Dragged into Courts of Justice Unnecessarily: The Trial
2 A Controversy Has Arisen: The History
3 Germans and Anglicized Eyrisch-Germans: The Parties
4 They Want to Steal Our Property, to Rob Our Churches: Class
5 All the Stimulants of a Political Election: Disorder
6 One of Those Cases, in Which Strong Feelings Are Unavoidably Excited: The Summations
7 Endeavor to Inform Our Judgments and Act Impartially: The Outcome
Appendix 1: The Defendants
Appendix 2: Members of the Grand Jury
(Mayor’s Court, March 1816 Session)
Appendix 3: Nisi Prius Jury
Appendix 4: The Prosecution Witnesses
Appendix 5: The Defense Witnesses
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[A]s Baer explains in this excellent microhistory of the church community, [fights] over church governance and religious practice were significant in early republican Philadelphia... Baer wisely shrinks from making an easy conclusion about this fight between two factions in one community, both of which had a good cause for concern about their place and future in the new nation. In doing so, Baer has shed light on the dynamic processes by which immigrants—of all ethnicities—have fought to live together in the United States."-Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,

"This is microhistory at its best. Baer has selected a single event and brilliantly used it to explore the larger culture and society of the time. With great clarity and insight Baer has investigated multicultural issues of language and the assimilation of immigrants that are as relevant for us today as they were to Americans two centuries ago. This is a very important and timely book."

-Gordon S. Wood,Brown University

"Vividly recreates this fascinating inter-ethnic group controversy about the meaning of language for culture and citizenship in the early republic."
-American Historical Review

,

“This case study is fascinating in part because of the richness of its sources.”
-The Journal of American History

,

“Baer presents the larger history of the congregational conflict, which began long before the trial and continued long afterwards. She also exposes the thick complexity of the conflict, which involved competing understandings of citizenship in the new American republic. Hers is at once a social, cultural, and religious history.”
-Lutheran Quarterly

Editorial Reviews

"This is microhistory at its best. Baer has selected a single event and brilliantly used it to explore the larger culture and society of the time. With great clarity and insight Baer has investigated multicultural issues of language and the assimilation of immigrants that are as relevant for us today as they were to Americans two centuries ago. This is a very important and timely book."

Gordon S. Wood

"Vividly recreates this fascinating inter-ethnic group controversy about the meaning of language for culture and citizenship in the early republic."

American Historical Review

"Baer presents the larger history of the congregational conflict, which began long before the trial and continued long afterwards. She also exposes the thick complexity of the conflict, which involved competing understandings of citizenship in the new American republic. Hers is at once a social, cultural, and religious history."

Lutheran Quarterly

"This case study is fascinating in part because of the richness of its sources."

The Journal of American History

"Vividly recreates this fascinating inter-ethnic group controversy about the meaning of language for culture and citizenship in the early republic."
-American Historical Review

From the Publisher