Robert
29th September 2011, 15:42
After the German revolutions in 1848, a bunch of idealistic artsy-sounding Germans emigrated to the USA and tried to create some societies that remind me a little of the Paris Commune of 1871. I can't help but see a few parallels:
In 1853, August Siemering was elected Secretary, and Ernst Kapp the President, of the freethinker abolitionist organization Die Freie Verein[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-24) (The Free Society),[26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-Bexar_County_Chief_Justice_August_Siemering.2C_183 0-1883-25) which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans [27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-German_Attitude_Toward_the_Civil_War-26) in conjunction with the May 14, 1854, Staats-Saengerfest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saengerfest) (State Singing Festival) in San Antonio, Texas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio,_Texas). Wilhelm Victor Keidel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Victor_Keidel) was elected Vice President of the convention, which adopted a political, social and religious platform,[28] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-The_Texas_State_Convention_of_Germans_in_1854-27) including:
1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles...; 5) Free schools – including universities - supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.
The destruction of the Sisterdale settlement (it's still here in Texas, and has a current population of 7) is the stuff of tragic drama:
One of the most tragic episodes in the history of Kendall County happened in 1862 after Texas joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy considered the free thinkers of Sisterdale and like communities to be a threat.[27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-German_Attitude_Toward_the_Civil_War-26) A number of Kendall County Germans became conscientious objectors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objectors) to the military draft. Confederate authorities reacted by imposing martial law on Central Texas. Sixty-one conscientious objectors attempted to flee to Mexico. Confederate irregular James Duff [29] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-28) and his Duff’s Partisan Rangers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Civil_War_Confederate_units) pursued them. At the Nueces River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nueces_River), thirty-four were killed, and some executed after being taken prisoner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas
You gotta love them for trying. There are some really funny things (to me) that went on at Sisterdale too. More on that later.
In 1853, August Siemering was elected Secretary, and Ernst Kapp the President, of the freethinker abolitionist organization Die Freie Verein[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-24) (The Free Society),[26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-Bexar_County_Chief_Justice_August_Siemering.2C_183 0-1883-25) which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans [27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-German_Attitude_Toward_the_Civil_War-26) in conjunction with the May 14, 1854, Staats-Saengerfest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saengerfest) (State Singing Festival) in San Antonio, Texas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio,_Texas). Wilhelm Victor Keidel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Victor_Keidel) was elected Vice President of the convention, which adopted a political, social and religious platform,[28] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-The_Texas_State_Convention_of_Germans_in_1854-27) including:
1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles...; 5) Free schools – including universities - supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.
The destruction of the Sisterdale settlement (it's still here in Texas, and has a current population of 7) is the stuff of tragic drama:
One of the most tragic episodes in the history of Kendall County happened in 1862 after Texas joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy considered the free thinkers of Sisterdale and like communities to be a threat.[27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-German_Attitude_Toward_the_Civil_War-26) A number of Kendall County Germans became conscientious objectors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objectors) to the military draft. Confederate authorities reacted by imposing martial law on Central Texas. Sixty-one conscientious objectors attempted to flee to Mexico. Confederate irregular James Duff [29] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas#cite_note-28) and his Duff’s Partisan Rangers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Civil_War_Confederate_units) pursued them. At the Nueces River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nueces_River), thirty-four were killed, and some executed after being taken prisoner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisterdale,_Texas
You gotta love them for trying. There are some really funny things (to me) that went on at Sisterdale too. More on that later.