America 250: Revolutionary War resources

Declaration Stories is a weekly series of essays on different copies of the Declaration of Independence created by Dr. Emily Sneff, an early American historian, consulting curator, and leading expert on the Declaration of Independence.

In this post, she explores how the Declaration of Independence was translated and printed in German in Philadelphia within a few days of July 4, 1776. 

Introduction and notes by Samuel Abbott Green. In 1867, an American who had served as a physician in the Civil War found a manuscript by the Duke of Palatinate-Zweibrücken about his experiences in the American Revolutionary War in a secondhand shop in Paris. The good doctor had the work translated and published it in French and English in 1868. (link)

Edited by Marlou Schrover. Migration is an important topic of academic, public and political debate. Migration research generates a wealth of articles. The Journal of Migration History (JMH) is the first to specialize in the field. (link)

German. Originally published in English as The Hessian. The novel tells the fictional story of the capture, trial, and execution of a Hessian drummer boy by Americans during the Revolution. (Listing on Goodreads)

Dr. Ken Heger, IGGP vice president, suggests these resources at the U.S. archives for researching German-speaking ancestors from the Revolutionary War period. Ken is retired from a career at the Archives.

• Compiled military service records and pension records
• Suggested researching the records of the Continental Congress
• Described the American State Papers available through the Library of Congress
• Mentioned records of the Pension Bureau in the Department of the Interior
• Highlighted the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society‘s indexed pension appeals files
• Recommended annual reports of the Secretary of War and the Pension Bureau

Dr. Heger also offers the following how-to’s for research at the U.S. Archives:

• Three Easy Ways to Use the National Archives Website To Start Researching Your Revolutionary War Ancestor
• Consider Reports to Congress When Researching Your Revolutionary War Ancestor

The Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, is publishing a special blog for America 250 called “Faith and Revolution.” It will highlight collection materials that speak to Moravians and the Revolutionary War. The Moravian church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations and originated in Bohemia and Moravia in the present-day Czech Republic.

The first post looks at the time leading up to the American Revolution, when members of the Moravian church faced harassment and threats of violence from their neighbors over their refusal to take up arms. Learn how the Moravians attempted to leverage their contact with the famous Colonial leader Benjamin Franklin in an effort to resolve this dangerous situation.

These links are to publicly available recordings of presentations related to German-Americans and the American Revolution. Suggestions welcome.

Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies:

• The German Audience for the U.S. Declaration of Independence
• German Americans and the Founding of the United States (link to come)