Frederick Steines’ Criticisms of Life in Missouri
Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to “get to know” Frederick Steines through the letters he wrote to his family. Primary archeological resources are some of the best ways for researchers to understand life in history, and the knowledge I have gained regarding German-American life in Missouri in the 1840s has been extensive.
The Letters of Frederick Steines are a collection of letters written by Frederick Steines who immigrated from Germany to Missouri in 1834. He wrote them to keep in touch with his family back in Germany through periodic letters, which contain valuable information that gives readers today insight into German life in Missouri. One letter in particular, from this collection, was written on September 18, 1840, to his sister and a relative named Dellmann, and it is jam-packed with insightful information.
Steines’ Critical View on Gottfried Duden
Of the content in the letter, to me, the most interesting was his criticisms of a well-known author: Gottfried Duden. Duden wrote a book called, “Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America and a Stay of Several Years Along the Missouri (During the years: 1824, ’25, ’26, and 1827)”. He wrote the book as a series of journal entries as a way of documenting his experience in America. However, much of his focus is on the state of Missouri.
Duden described Missouri in an extremely appealing manner, and because of that, Duden’s book actually had a significant impact on the immigration rate from Germany to Missouri shortly after it was written. In fact, 1/3 of the 120,000+ Germans that immigrated to the United States during the 1830s chose Missouri as their final destination. I found this to be particularly interesting, however, it’s no surprise his book convinced so many Germans that Missouri was the place for them, considering in his book, Duden wrote:
“One can travel hundreds of miles between gigantic tree trunks without a single ray of sunlight falling upon one’s head. The soil is so black here from the plant mold that has been accumulating since primeval days that one seems to be walking on a coal bed. I have seen grapevines whose trunks, over a foot thick, rise up about a hundred feet, free as cables, and then spread out in the crowns of elms with their heavily foliaged vines…Even now, after I have had three months to examine conditions more closely, it seems to me almost a fantasy when I consider what nature offers man here.”
Steines was critical of Duden’s writing and expressed in his letter that Duden’s description of Missouri in his book was “too flowery” and “deceitful”. Steines even let his family know that Missouri was NOT the place for Germans and that they should not feel compelled to join him in the Midwest. In fact, he even assures his family that of the 1000 “cultured” Germans, barely 10 felt happy in Missouri. This was for at least one of these two reasons: One, Missouri wasn’t even close to as fantastic as Duden had described. Or two, the American character was not to the Germans’ liking.
Steines’ Dislike for Americans in Missouri
Steines describes the Americans in his letter as uneducated, cold, stiff, money motivated, ignorant, crude, and rude, compared with the educated, warm, glowing, generous with their money, and lively Germans. Steines’ black and white description of the Americans vs Germans is likely due to his background as an educator. Steines, inspired to immigrate to Missouri by Duden’s book like the vast majority of Germans during this time period, came from a very different way of life. These immigrants’ skills revolved more around academics and less around basic survival skills, such as farming. In fact, the Germans that immigrated to Missouri during this time period became known as the “academic farmers”. Personally, I found it understandable, that Steines wouldn’t be fond of people that had a skill set and lifestyle so different from his own.
Overall, Frederick Steines’ letter to his family back in Germany helps those of us today to understand the German immigrant’s motive to immigrate to Missouri, their perspective on the state, as well as their perspective on Americans. It is truly a significant piece of archeological history that should be cherished for the rest of time.
