German immigration to Kansas increased in the 1850s, with over 250,000 Germans emigrating during that time period. The journey was difficult, with emigrants crammed into small bunks on crowded ships for over 40 days, facing hazards such as fire and disease. Upon arriving in Kansas, many German immigrants claimed land through the Homestead Act and established farming homesteads, helped by land grants from railroad companies and aid from German immigrant societies. Newspapers published in German helped promote settlement in Kansas to immigrants, working to overcome Kansas' reputation as the "Great American Desert" by highlighting the sufficient rainfall for farming.

1. German Immigration to Kansas

2. What is the difference? Immigration- a person entering a country Emigration- a person exiting their country

3. 1854 Kansas was opened to settlement 250,000 Germans set out to emigrate

4. Emigration Crossing last 40 days Bunk: 10 ft by 5ft and 3ft high Sailing hazards Fire Disease

5. Ship Overcrowding

6. Emigration

7. Homestead Act 160 acre land plots Public domain lands to farmers Improve the land New Immigrants

8. Pacific Railway Act Allotments of Public Subsidize building of railroads Railroads would sell land holdings

9. Railroads over seas Kansas Pacific Santa Fe Ellinwood, Kansas

10. Homestead Farm

11. German Settlement German Belt New England Emigrant Aid Society Fort Leavenworth Atchison

12. Other Aid Groups German Society of Pennsylvania New York, Pittsburg, Milwaukee, St. Paul

13. Practical Counsel and Information for German Emigrants Offers to arrivals Employment Legal Aid Banking services Information

14. German Belt Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Indiana Missouri Wisconsin Iowa

15. Atchison Kansas Zeitung First to sell the heartland Reach Germans on both sides of the Atlantic

16. Why would you need to sell Kansas? Know as the great American desert 1870- only 13% of Kansas’ population 1870- 25% of Nebraska population

17. Der Courier Took on the Great American Desert “They also show they abundant rainfall to be quite sufficient and that the attribute ‘dry’ is utterly unwarranted.

18. Illinois Zeitung Craftsmen $2-4 Buy farm land at $1.25 Horse cost $60-100 Cattle $16-30

19. Standard/Benchmark/Indicator

20. Citation "Selling the Heartland: Agents, Agencies, Press and Policies Promoting German Emigration to Kansas in the Nineteenth Century." Kansas History 12 (Autumn 1989): 150-159.