German-American identity covered more than recent immigrants

Does German American refer only to immigrants born in Germany?

Here, German American includes people of German ancestry beyond first-generation immigrants; the classification remains imprecise.

German American is used here for people with German ancestry rather than only first-generation immigrants. They are described as the largest non-English-speaking minority in the United States at the time. That demographic description is offered tentatively because ancestry, language, citizenship, and political identity do not map neatly onto one another. The category is useful for discussing possible wartime pressures only when its limits remain visible.