EN
There were three basic categories of German19-century emigrants to the USA: the great majority whose passage was paid by themselves or by relatives, those who were subsidized by public funds, and convicts who had agreed to banishment to America as an alternative to serving out their terms. The latter group was by far the smallest, no more than 3000, but on both sides of the Atlantic they aroused far more debate and criticism than their number warranted. Here the authors offer a case study of a tiny group of such transportees from an even tinier German state that provides background, detail, and realism. The intriguing question of what became of them, worthy citizens or again social failures, is something we are still working on.