Czech American
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Czech American  |
|---|
            Notable Czech Americans: Ivan Lendl • Louis Brandeis • John Roberts • George Halas Thomas Cech • Anton Cermak • John Kerry • Madeleine Albright • Otto Kerner, Jr. • Jim Lovell • Eugene Cernan • Martina Navratilova |
| Total population |
|
Czech or Czechoslovak |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Texas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois |
| Languages |
| American English, Czech language |
| Religion |
| Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Protestantism, Atheism |
Czech Americans refer to citizens of the United States who were born in, or who descended from, the territory of the historic Czech lands, (consisting of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia), or succession states, now known as the Czech Republic. In the 19th century, they were frequently called Bohemians. According to the 2000 US census, there are 1,262,527 Americans of full or partial Czech descent, in addition to 441,403 persons listing their ancestry as Czechoslovak.
Contents |
[edit] History
The first documented case of the entry of Czechs to the North American shores is of Joachim Gans of Prague, who came to Roanoke, North Carolina in 1585 with an expedition of explorers organized by Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 -1618).
Augustine Herman (1621-1686) was the first documented Czech settler. He was a surveyor and skilled draftsman, successful planter and developer of new lands, a shrewd and enterprising merchant, a bold politician and effective diplomat, fluent in several languages. After coming to New Amsterdam (present New York) he became one of the most influential people in the Dutch Province which led to his appointment to the Council of Nine to advise the New Amsterdam Governor Peter Stuyvesant. One of his greatest achievements was his celebrated map of