Meet Emmy Ries Pioneer! (not a trapper!)

[Homework from Letter One]

And the conversation goes….

“Alright my Moving West name is Emmy Ries and I am 11 years old.”

“Ries is a German name, you are German?”

“The grandparents were German. I have 2 brothers. But mom, how old was old back then?”

“People married at about 20. I saw a chart that put the average life span at 45 but that is just an average which means there are lots of people who lived beyond that and a lot who died younger.”

“Okay then my brother John is 16 and Paul is 14. My mom’s name is Mary and she stays home and homeschools.”

“Most moms stayed home. But not all moms could read well enough to homeschool.”

“My dad John is a trapper. And we are Quakers from Maine. And we have a grandpa he is a trapper too but he is old school and teaches everybody things.”

“If the men are trappers you will need somewhere where they can leave to go trapping and a place to trade or sell the furs.”

“Wait, do what?”

“Sell the furs.”

“They don’t eat the meat?”

“They could but the primary purpose of a trapper is to trap animals for their fur.”

“Then they’re not trappers.”

“Beach, it wasn’t for vanity or frivolous purposes people needed the fur for warm clothing. Done right it was good work.”

“No, I’ve changed my mind they are ranchers. I don’t want to live with trappers. I didn’t know they did that.  I thought they were regular hunters who used traps instead of guns.”

*I would love to be inside this kids head*

Notes on German Immigration:

A form of Protestantism that arose in Germany was called the "plain" churches, or Anabaptists. Among them were the Mennonites and the Amish, the German Brethren, or Dunkards, and the Society of Friends, or Quakers.  All these groups believed in nonviolence and simple worship.

German Americans in Pennsylvania have come to be known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, although they are not from the Netherlands.  Most like it is because in the German language, the word for "German" is "Deutsch".  It is likely that other settlers mistook the word for the English "Dutch."

In 1848 German rebels who wanted the German states to unify under a democratic, constitutional government set off a series of uprisings. The movement did not succeed. Facing arrest and persecution at the hands of the German princes, a mass migration of Germans known as the "48’s" immigrated to the United States.

German American craftspeople brought their guild system to the United States. These craft guilds evolved into trade unions, giving rise to the general labor-union movement.

Until World War I (1914–18), millions of German Americans continued to speak the German language. Many lived in German-speaking enclaves, and even those who did not tried to maintain their native language. German Americans even took political action to make sure their children could be educated in the German language.