An Historical Geography of German Immigrant Labor and Wealth in Baltimore: Analysis of the 1860 Census

Keywords: German immigration, immigrant labor, Baltimore, social geographies, industrial revolution
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 41

Abstract

This paper focuses upon German immigrant labor and wealth in Baltimore in 1860. The Germans were the largest European immigrant group in Baltimore by the mid-nineteenth century and migrated in the face of wars, political unrest, crop failure and the social dislocations of the industrial revolution. To analyze the structure of labor and wealth I analyze data from the 1860 census for one of Baltimore’s wards and integrate this information with broader data from the Historical Statistics of the United States. For some immigrants, artisanal skills acquired in the German states or in Baltimore were compatible with small-site craft industries in the transitional economy of the city. Some artisans, for example tailors, shoemakers, bakers and brewers, did very well if they owned their business or had multiple family members working in trades. However, the data clearly indicate that German immigrant laborers, male and female, were concentrated in lower paid unskilled or semi-skilled day labor, transport or seamstress work, indicating less difference than is commonly assumed between the Germans and other immigrant groups such as the Irish. Thus, the paper provides deeper insights into immigrant life in Baltimore during its transition from a commercial city with locally based artisanal crafts to an export-oriented industrial metropolis of mass factory labor.