Anti-German Prejudice in the United States in the Great War Era

Evan Roberts, University of Minnesota

Sociologists have long recognized that endogamy is a fundamental indicator of the degree to which different ethnic groups have assimilated. Endogamy serves as a measurement of social acceptance and integration. High intermarriage rates suggest relations between members of different social groups are considered socially acceptable. Moreover, endogamy is not only a measure of assimilation but a factor of its reproduction. With this in mind, we study marriage patterns to document anti-German prejudice around World War I (WWI). Prior to the war, German-Americans were the largest, most economically successful, socially accepted immigrant group in the United States. We compare the marriage patterns of German-born and German-descended young adults, with other immigrant groups and their descendants in the United States between 1910 and 1930 to measure the extent of prejudice against German-Americans in the aftermath of WWI. Using the 1910, 1920 and 1930 complete-count census data we measure endogamy and exogamy to native-born Americans for Germans and other major immigrant groups. We find a general trend towards lower endogamy, and greater exogamy with the native-born over the two decades. However, in counties sustaining higher casualties in WWI, exogamy to the native born fell for German-born and German-descended men. Correspondingly endogamy (in-marriage) rose for Germans in these counties, counter to the general trends across both time and space. In counties with below-average levels of casualties German inter-marriage with native-born Americans was not affected. We extend our analysis by showing that in the same high-casualty areas in which German exogamy fell, there was also a tendency towards lower public-sector employment for German men. By 1930 marriage and employment of Germans was similar to other immigrant groups. Taken together, our results show a broad hostility towards German-Americans after WWI, but one that was concentrated in areas most affected by the war, and limited in time.

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 Presented in Session 245. Marriage and Partner Selection