Forty-eighters

The Forty-eighters (48ers) were Europeans who participated in or supported the Revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe, particularly those who were expelled from or emigrated from their native land after those revolutions. In the German Confederation, the Forty-eighters favoured unification of Germany, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human rights. Although many Americans were sympathetic to their cause and saddened by their defeat, many Forty-Eighters were Freethinkers who were more influenced by post-1789 republicanism in France and the anti-religious ideas of The Enlightenment than by the U.S. Constitution. In particular, their traditional hostility towards tolerating religious practice or Classical Christian education often put them at odds with American republicanism's belief in freedom of religion and the independence of religious institutions from control by the State. Disappointed at their failure to permanently change the system of government in the German states or the Austrian Empire, and sometimes ordered by local governments to emigrate because of their involvement in the revolution, they gave up their old lives to live abroad. They emigrated to Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They included Germans, Czechs, Hungarians, and Italians, among many others. Many were respected, politically active, wealthy, and well-educated, and found success in their new countries.