2007-02-02 20:28:52 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Most were Hessians and Saxons, but many of the Anabaptists (Mennonites and Amish) were exiled from Switzerland, spent several years in the Palatinate of Germany, then came to Pennsylvania en masse.
2007-02-03 00:53:10 · answer #1 · answered by GenevievesMom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pennyslvanian Dutch (Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German) are the descendants of German (not Dutch) immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. In this context, the word "Dutch" is probably a corruption of the German ethnonym Deutsch, which means "German".[1] Another theory is that the phrase "Pennsylvania Dutch" is a linguistic carry-over from an earlier, broader usage of the word "Dutch" to mean all people speaking a West Germanic language on the European mainland. [2].
Pennsylvania Dutch were historically speakers of the Pennsylvania German language. They are a people of various religious affiliations, most of them Lutheran or Reformed, but many Anabaptists as well.
2007-02-02 20:40:05 · answer #2 · answered by cubblycloud 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Pennsylvania Dutch were German speakers (and some still are, I believe). As others have pointed out, the name "Dutch" is probably from "Deutsch" (German for "German"); at one time "Dutch" was a fairly common term for Germans in English.
2007-02-03 04:57:25 · answer #3 · answered by MarnenLK 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
remind me never to visit Pensylvania
2007-02-02 20:39:10 · answer #4 · answered by kicking_back 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
German
2007-02-02 20:32:36 · answer #5 · answered by Leigh 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"They were German.
2007-02-05 16:25:09 · answer #6 · answered by nowyouknow 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋