PERIOD II.
German Life in Virginia During the 19th Century to the Beginning of the Spanish-(lmerican War.
CHAPTER XI.
Retrogression of the German Type During the First Three Decades.
“With nations it is as with individuals: t these have weak hours and those feeble
periods.”— John.
German element of Virginia entered the new cen- yfj tury much weakened. The Indian massacres, the long ^ vears of war, and the emigration to the West, had reduced it in number, and the anglicizing process had made rapid progress. During the War of Independence the relations of the two nationalities, the English and the German, had become more intimate, — the Germans had been obliged to adopt and use the English language, and after independence was gained, they felt themselves as much Americans as the English descendants. Immigration from Germany almost ceased when Napoleon I. involved the nations of the European continent into bloody wars, while that from Great llritain continued undiminished. The hitter feeling that the Anglo-Virginians entertained on account of the assistance