While the town was growing, they remained devoted to the Lutheran church and identified as being German-born or of German heritage, earning their town the title "Little Bavaria".
"These towns nurtured a social, economic, and political conservatism where German language, culture, and Lutheranism still flourished." (Kilar 1)
Civil War
During the civil war, there were about five million German-Americans in the US. Approximately five thousand took up President Lincoln's call to arms. Many more rallied and supported on the sidelines.
World War I
This war era began the death of German heritage in Michigan. Over in Europe, American soldiers were fighting and dying in the battle against Germany. Because everyone on the homefront was bombarded with news and involved in the war effort, tensions and patriotism were high. This led to anti-German propaganda and even attacks against German families and storeowners throughout the war.
German-Americans were pushed to assimilate into American culture. Many schools banned teaching the German language and many German books, as did many villages. Many industrial factories, which had widely replaced the German skilled specialist, started require non-typical American workers to take English and American classes in order to assimilate in the work force.
It didn't matter than the St. Lorenz Lutheran Church of Frankenmuth, as did many other churches, contributed sixty-two men and $250,000 in Liberty Loans to the war effort.
Cause and Effect - World War I brought many changes to the German-Americans of Michigan.
Torn between their love of their heritage, a need for safety, and a desire to fit in, many German-American villages started swapping their language, books, and even their church services, to ones more American.
Almost every village had a brewery, which provided jobs, revenue, fun, and a link to their heritage. After prohibition, most were shut down.
Most German-American males were against voting rights for females. Brewers were afraid if women gained the right to vote, then they would vote in favor of prohibition. Preachers believed women's suffrage would contribute "to women drinking, divorce, and the further breakdown of the family" (Kilar 39-40). The other settlers believed a mother's mission was too sacred and would be destroyed if public voting was involved.
World War II
This war can be seen as the final blow to German heritage and the final push to assimilation. Many German-Americans were fearful for the lives of theirselves and their love ones. They not only had to deal with the patriotism and public opinion of their American neighbors, but approximately 11,000 German-Americans were harassed, excluded, and/or detained by the government in 50 detention facilitates during the war (the closest being in Detroit).
Referenced: Kilar, Jeremy W. Germans In Michigan. Michigan State University Press, 2002