Students will read excerpts from a primary source, Gottlieb Mittelberger’s Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754, a detailed travel account of a German musician from Wurtemberg to Philadelphia.  Students will learn about the length of a trans-Atlantic journey, the conditions on the ship, the people who journeyed together, and their reception in Philadelphia.  Students should also think about why Mittelberger may have presented such a negative view of immigration to Pennsylvania and about the difficulties in making the decision to leave one’s home.  By reading Mittelberger’s first-hand account of his journey from Germany, students will understand the hardships faced by early immigrants, the rewards they looked for, and the tragedies that could occur along the way.