Most of the German emigrants were from the Palatinate (Kurpfalz, later Bayern-Pfalz) countries in the northern Kraichgau, Hessen, Baden-Durlach, County of Wertheim (LATER Baden, 1752/1754), and Wurttemberg (countries of Maulbronn, Sachsenheim, Tubingen, Urach, Rosenfeld, Marbach, and Neuenburg; Free City Ulm (1751/1752). Many of those from some parts of Germany a few generations previously were from France (Huguenots/Walloons) or Switzerland. Our ancestors were called Palatines because they were from The Palatinate or Germany PFalz area, which was an area held by the Count Palatine, a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Geographically, the Palatinate was divided between two small territorial clusters: the Rhenish, or Lower Palatinate, and the Upper Palatinate.

Perhaps for reasons of mutual comfort and support, the people left their homes and gathered in what is known as the Palatine. These people came from many places, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and beyond, but, all shared a common view on religion. During the Thirty Years War, the Palatine country and other parts of Germany suffered from the horrors of fire and sword as well as from pillage and plunders by the French armies. This war was based upon politics and religious hatreds, as the Roman Catholic armies sought to crush the religious freedom of  a politically divided Protestantism.

The War of the Palatinate (as it was called in Germany) also known as The War of The League of Augsburg, began in 1688 when Louis claimed the Palatinate. Every large city on the Rhine above Cologne was sacked by Louis XIV of France. The war ended in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick. The Palatinate was badly battered but still outside French control. In 1702 the War of the Spanish Succession began in Europe and lasted until 1713, causing a great deal of instability for the Palatines.

The land of the Palatinate was good for its inhabitants, many of whom were farmers, fishermen, and vineyard operators, its location was also subject to invasion by the armies of Britain, France, and Germany. Mother nature also played a role in what happened, for the winter of 1708 and 1709 was particularly severe and many of the vineyards perished. This was the harshest winter in 100 years.

The stage was set for mass migration. The first mass migration from Germany to the Americas began with the "Palatine" emigration of Germans to New York in 1709 and 1710. In 1710 three large groups of Palatines sailed from London. The first went to Ireland, the second to Carolina, and the third to New York. Emigration from Germany to the colonies grew until it hit its highest numbers in the period 1750-1753, with the colonies in direct competition in recruiting the Germans in Germany. The term "Palatine Emigration" has been applied to this migration in general, the Germans were not only from the Palatinate  (Pfalz) region. They were primarily from protestant parts of central and southern Germany, which had been heavily hit by the wars. You can read about this period in time in more detail at http://progenealogists.com/palproject/

 

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