What was life like for German-Americans before World War 2?

Answer 1

Life began getting uncomfortable for many Germans when the Bund group started up in America and some Americans began to understand the Nazis were anit-semetic and Hilter worshippers. Most Germans were very American and became misunderstood.

Answer 2

The answer to this depends on the time period. In the colonies there was a large population of German colonists and they settled in the Pennsylvania area. Many were the first colonial printers. German Hessians were used in the revolution by the king. There were 30,000 in the service to the king. In the late 1800’s the Germans in the United States had a hard time. Congress passed laws making speaking or writing German illegal and there was vast discrimination against Germans. One man was beaten to death because he was German. In WW1 it didn’t get any better because Germany was blamed for the war and people changed German sounding names to sound more English. Even the names of foods were changed to sound less German. After the war it settled down a bit, but 20 years later with Germany invading Poland it began again, but not as bad as the early discrimination. Within the United States there were supporters of the Nazi movement (still are).