The Politicization of Louisville's German Community, 1848-1855
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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2020 Galvanizing Germantown: The Politicization of Louisville's German Community, 1848-1855 Ann Kathryn Fleming West Virginia University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, Labor History Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Fleming, Ann Kathryn, "Galvanizing Germantown: The Politicization of Louisville's German Community, 1848-1855" (2020). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7567. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7567 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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GALVANIZING GERMANTOWN: THE POLITICIZATION OF LOUISVILLE’S GERMAN COMMUNITY, 1848-1855 Ann Kathryn Fleming Thesis submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in History Katherine Aaslestad, Ph.D., Chair Joshua Arthurs, Ph.D. Kenneth Fones-Wolf, Ph.D. Matthew Vester, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2020 Keywords: German immigration, Revolutions of 1848, republicanism, forty-eighters, radicalism, Know-Nothing party, migration studies Copyright 2020 (Ann Kathryn Fleming) Abstract Galvanizing Germantown: The Politicization of Louisville’s German Community, 1848-1855 Ann Kathryn Fleming This project interprets the Revolutions of 1848 and their ideological legacy through a transnational and transcultural context, highlighting the role of radical forty-eighters who imparted their republican messages to “Little Germanies” within the United States. Karl Heinzen serves as the primary example of the transient group that shared their radical visions with local German communities populated with political and cultural organizations, an active press and a commitment to civic engagement demonstrated through their involvement anti-slavery groups, labor reform, and improved rights for the immigrant population. The thesis traces the politicization of Karl Heinzen in the German Confederation and his involvement in the Revolutions of 1848 in Baden. Through an examination of his publications, it reveals his radical republican political beliefs shaped by the events in 1848. Once in the United States, Heinzen, now an émigré, edited a German press in Louisville, Kentucky, a slave state. In fact, slavery inflamed most revolutionaries, including Heinzen, and galvanized their reform agenda. It was here that he and other fellow radicals composed the Louisville Platform, a document that advocated reform based on a republican world view related to the goals of the 1848 Revolution in contrast to the individualist liberal republicanism evident in the United States. The Platform pointed out the weaknesses and corruption in the American political system and called broadly for expanded and equal human rights to immigrants, women, slaves, and free African Americans. This Platform and Heinzen’s work empowering the German community challenged the popular anti-immigrant Know-Nothing leaders of the city generating growing hostility and accusations of conspiracy and danger to the American Republic through the unreserved cultural and linguistic expression of their flourishing and self-sustaining community. As in Baden in 1848, the politicized German population of Louisville asserted their right to vote on August 6, 1855. Local Know-Nothing gangs retaliated by murdering and assaulting immigrants, as well as burning entire sections of their communities to the ground. The tragic events of this day represent fundamentally different views on the nature of the American Republic, one that highlighted human rights and another that advocated rights solely for the native born. This thesis reveals, in the person of Karl Heinzen, the transmission of a radical republican world view that stemmed from popular opposition to a corrupt and inept monarchy and that made its way to the United States with 1848 émigrés. In the United States, such reform goals become expressed in German communities in their press, organizational life and political agendas to reveal the republican legacy that immigrants brought with them to the United States from the aftermath of the uprisings in German Central Europe. Heinzen, who sought progressive reforms and republican ideals in another country, agitated a new nativist enemy that viewed German republicanism as fundamental threat to the American way of life. Acknowledgments Finished products are born out of the work, assistance, and encouragement of many. Therefore, I first must convey my deepest gratitude for Dr. Katherine Aaslestad, the historian and educator who helped me the most in my two years at West Virginia University. She must be thanked not only for her guidance on this project, but for her role as a mentor to a student of history like myself. Dr. Aaslestad’s contributions to my success do not end with her constructive criticism and suggestions for improving my papers. Indeed, serving as her advisee is a precious role that all students would be lucky to experience. Not only has she inspired me as an instructor and advisor, but her nurturing spirit has also kept me above water even in the darkest hours of my career as a Masters’ student. As I move forward in my education and career, I will never take for granted this time of personal maturity and academic growth with such an influential scholar, and wish to serve in the same role to another young and curious student one day. I would also like to show appreciation for the members of my committee and their stimulating questions that ultimately pushed this thesis to its current improved condition. Key themes within the courses that I took with them, such as Dr. Fones-Wolf’s Working-Class America and its partial focus on immigrant-led political movements, prompted the creation of entire sections of this project. In addition, Dr. William Gorby’s American Immigration History provided further ideas that proved essential for the completion of this thesis. The graduate students who took those classes as well as others along with me should also be thanked for the conversations, venting sessions, and camaraderie that we shared during my time in the department. We were all in this together, and provided advice, direction, and suggestions through this whole process of finishing our theses and acquiring our Masters’ degrees. Certainly, some of my most important and sincere friendships were developed during these two years of my life. In addition, the research librarians at WVU--though not part of the History Department-- provided unconditional support as well as a wonderful and cordial work environment in my two years at Research Services in the Downtown Campus Library, and I could not have asked for a better Graduate Assistantship opportunity, or supervisor than Alyssa Wright. Specifically, Interdisciplinary, Cultural, and Film Studies Librarian Beth Toren has since become an incredible mentor and dear friend. Serving as her Teaching Assistant provided significant insight into the skill of teaching that I will need when I, too, take on the role of instructor. Our conversations on movies, television shows, and celebrity gossip also kept me eager to go into work every day. Last and most personally, I wish to thank my family for their unconditional support, love, and understanding. Mom, I appreciate that you have read every single paper that I have ever written throughout my college and graduate career. Unfortunately for you, this trend will not end as I continue on to acquire my Ph.D. Dad, your pride in me and the fact that you are always there for me is part of the reason that I strive so hard to succeed. Jacob, I could not have achieved that success without you by my side. iii Table of Contents Abstract.........................................................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................................................iii Figure List.....................................................................................................................................................................v Introduction: The Revolutions of 1848 and Rising Republicanism in Baden.................................1 Chapter I: The Politicization of Karl Heinzen and Arrival in Little Germanies in the U.S.......23 Chapter II: The Louisville Platform as a Roadmap for Republicanism ...........................................64 Chapter III: Rallying Rhetoric and Local Collisions of Republicanism............................................94 Conclusion: The Transnational and Transcultural Legacy of