Sixty million Americans are of German heritage. The first wave of German immigrants came to the United States for religious freedom and settled along the eastern seaboard. The second wave arrived between 1840 and 1860 and was fleeing political persecution, poverty, and starvation. Many worked as indentured servants. The 1930s and 1940s saw a third wave because of the rise of fascism in Germany. Germans have a deep respect for education. Credibility, social status, and level of employment are based on educational achievement. Great diversity exists among German Americans. Based on individuality and the variant characteristics of culture, the aggregate data in this profile might not fit some German Americans. Because many German immigrants were discriminated against in the 1940s, and after World War II, many Germans changed their names.
