Friedrich Hecker: A Leader Among German-Americans
Friedrich Hecker was arguably one of the most influential German-American figures during the mid-nineteenth century. He was a German lawyer and political figure before moving to the US and a driving force behind the revolution against the German Confederation in 1848. By the summer of 1849, the revolutions were crushed after a failure to consolidate political power under a liberal constitution. After the revolution, many radicals, moved to the United States, hoping to build a new life in a land with a liberal constitution and separation of church and state. These immigrants were called the “48ers” after the revolution’s date. The majority of “48ers” were wealthy, politically active, and much different from Germans who had come to the US earlier that century, largely for economic reasons. Friedrich Hecker was a “48er” who, after the failed revolutions in Europe, took an interest in American politics and found a different cause to advocate for.
As the Civil War approached and slavery became a hotly debated topic, Hecker supported its abolition by using his skills as a writer and speaker to spread the cause amongst the German-American community. For example, he wrote a forward to a translated copy of Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man, a book highlighting the people’s right to revolution when their government denies their natural rights. He was active in the Republican Party and campaigned for John Fremont in the election of 1856 and then for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In 1861, after President Lincoln called for volunteers, Hecker recruited in Illinois and exceeded the 75,000 requested. In early 1861 he joined the regiment of Missouri Volunteers, created in response to Missouri’s secessionist government. Soon after, he was sent to Western Illinois to lead a group of German volunteers. He fought with and lead German regiments during the war until 1863 when his military leadership was questioned and he resigned in protest of mistreatment by his superiors. Regardless, Hecker contributed to the Union’s victory by using his public reputation among the German-Americans to spread the abolitionist cause and encourage them, by the thousands, to volunteer.
After the war, Hecker remained a large influence on German-Americans. He wrote for German newspapers and kept readers informed about the political happenings in Germany. In 1871, Hecker delivered a famous address in Benton Park, St. Louis, declaring the pride he had in the German-Americans and the hope he had for their future in the US. He expressed his enthusiasm for the unification they had achieved in their new fatherland. A Benton Park monument was dedicated to Hecker in 1881, inscribed with the dates 1848 and 1861, the dates of the first German revolution and the American Civil War (respectively). His speeches and written work were instrumental in unifying St. Louis German-Americans both during the Civil War and after. Friedrich Hecker is known for spearheading European revolutions in 1848, bringing his left-leaning ideas to the US, unifying German-Americans under abolitionism, and fighting to secure the future he wanted to see in his new country.
