Polish Americans

Historical Development

Prior to 1870, Polish immigration was largely that of individuals or single families, with an occasional small group. The first recorded presence of Poles in America was three or four skilled artisans who arrived in Jamestown in 1608 and a handful of settlers who appeared in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Most of the Poles in each colony were probably Protestants, since Catholics were banned in Jamestown, and it is known that some Poles moved to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands to be among coreligionists.

During the American Revolution, several Poles were prominent as supporters of the colonists’ quest for independence. The principal sales agent for Continental Congress securities in Europe was Pieter Stadnitski, whose family had migrated from Poland to the Netherlands. In North America, Haym Salomon, a Polish Jew, was arrested by the British at least twice for pro-revolutionary sympathies. He loaned money to the Continental Congress to keep the revolution afloat and also assisted individual members of the congress to remain in Philadelphia.

The two best-known Poles in the revolution were Kazimierz Pułaski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko. As a volunteer aide, Pułaski was cited for his role in saving the Continental Army at the Battle of Brandywine, after which General George Washington appointed him a brigadier general and Commander of the Horse, for which he is often referred [Page 1716]to as the Father of the American Cavalry. He was mortally wounded during the Franco-American siege of Charleston, South Carolina, in October 1779. By presidential proclamation, October 11 was established as “Pulaski Day,” and on November 6, 2009, he became only the seventh person to be accorded honorary American citizenship.

Tadeusz Kosciuszko arrived in the late summer of 1776. As a talented engineering officer, he was named chief engineer of the northern Army under General Horatio Gates. Kosciuszko played a critical role in the American victory at Saratoga that led to the French Alliance, and he was also the chief engineer for the construction of West Point, today the site of the U.S. Military Academy. He is also known for having penned a will in which he left his American estate to purchase the freedom of enslaved people and provide for their education.

...