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Scandinavian immigration to the United States and Canada

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Title: Scandinavian immigration to the United States and Canada


1
Scandinavian immigration to the United States and
Canada
  • English in the United States and Canada
  • SoSe 2006
  • Katariina Laitinen

2
General
  • Most Scandinavian immigrants to North America
    from Norway and Sweden
  • - 1830-1930 two and a half million emigrants
    from the Nordic countries (5 of the European
    total)
  • Many immigrants travelled via Britain several
    hundreds of the passengers who died on Titanic
    were Swedes or Finns (3rd class tickets)
  • 3.7 (11-12 million people) of U.S. residents
    have Scandinavian ancestors
  • - Scandinavians represent about 6 of the white
    population in the USA and more than 25 of the
    white population of the Upper Midwest
  • 160.000 Americans speak a Scandinavian language
    at home

3
Reasons for immigration
  • Poverty, unemployment, political conditions at
    home
  • Religious reasons
  • - persecution (Quakers in Norway)
  • - converts (Mormons in Denmark)
  • Similarity of climate (especially in Canada)
  • employment possibilities
  • - America had abundant natural resources and a
    lack of work force

4

5

6
Swedish immigration
  • Between 1846-1930 1.3 million (20) of the
    Swedish population left the country
  • United States (1840-1910) Minnesota, Michigan,
    Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois
  • In the beginning of the 20th century, Minnesota
    had the highest ethnic Swedish population in the
    world after the city of Stockholm
  • 8 million Swedish-Americans today
  • - over half a million still speak the language
  • Canada Western Canada from northern Ontario to
    British Columbia
  • 1st wave from the end of the 19th century until
    WW1
  • 2nd wave between the World Wars
  • 3rd wave since the 1950s
  • 300.000 people in the Swedish-Canadian community
    west of Lake Superior, primarily in Winnipeg,
    Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver
  • - 20.000 Swedish speakers

7
Norwegian immigration
  • Between 1825 and 1925, more than 800.000 (about
    1/3 of Norway's population) Norwegians immigrated
    to America
  • United States (1850-1920s) Wisconsin, Minnesota,
    the Dakotas
  • More than 4.5 million Norwegian-Americans today
  • - mostly live in the Upper Midwest or in the
    Pacific states of Washington, Oregon, and
    California
  • Canada (same time) Alberta, Saskatchewan
  • 360.000 Canadians of Norwegian ancestry today

8
Danish and Icelandic immigration
  • Denmark Utah, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
    Illinois and Kansas
  • Between 1820 and 1920 over 300,000 immigrants
    came from Denmark
  • - Mormon recruits had a fertile soil in Denmark,
    because there was a freedom of religion gtgt
    converts
  • Danes were the least cohesive group of
    Scandinavian immigrants and quickly disappeared
    into the melting pot
  • Iceland southern Manitoba (New Iceland),
    Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin, Washington,
    Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia
  • During the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
    thousands of Icelanders emigrated to North America

9
Finnish immigration
  • United States
  • The Great Migration of Finns 1870-1930 gtgt over
    300.000 immigrants from Finland
  • - 1867 severe crop failure in Finland gtgt
    migration via Norway to United States
  • most Finnish emigrants were from impoverished
    rural regions of Ostrobothnia, but also from
    Northern Savonia and Thorne Valley
  • The US set up quotas to Finnish immigrants in the
    20s gtgt immigration to Canada instead
  • 80 of Finnish immigrants in America went to the
    United States, 20 to Canada
  • Most immigrants young, unmarried men
  • - later more immigrants were married and the
    whole family moved to the new country

10

11
  • Destination Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
  • - strong Finnish-American culture in Duluth and
    Detroit
  • - in Hancock, Michigan still bilingual street
    signs (Finnish/English)
  • another Finnish community in Lake Worth, Florida
  • Americans of Finnish origin 800.000
  • - actual Finnish speakers 20.000-50.000
  • Canada
  • Finns started coming to Canada in the early
    1880s, the flow continued to the middle of the
    20th century gtgt 80.000 immigrants
  • Destination Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec
  • Number of Finnish-Canadians today 114.000 (2001)
  • the largest concentration of Finnish Canadians in
    Thunder Bay

12
Reasons for Finnish emigration
  • many emigrants from impoverished rural areas
  • - Finland, a Grand Duchy of Imperial Russia,
    excluded from the industrialisation process
  • Many traditional professions lost their meaning
  • Unemployment was rising because of population
    growth not much land left to cultivate
  • The eldest son inherited the farm, and younger
    siblings had to earn their living elsewhere
  • 1899 a campaign for Russification of Finland
  • Earlier migrants sent letters to home and
    encouraged new people to go
  • Professional recruiters were employed by mining
    and shipping companies

13
Attitudes and influences at home
  • The officials disapproved emigration at first,
    because there were worries on its influence on
    the Finnish population
  • - also some newspapers frowned upon the
    phenomenon, while others supported it
  • Change in the structure of the population
  • - lower birth rate and a great number of old
    people
  • Eased the pressure at the job market
  • The immigrants sent money and packages home
  • - products that were hard to get in Finland
  • Returning immigrants brought their earnings and
    new inventions to Finland

14
Life in the new country
  • Men worked in mining, construction and the forest
    industry women as maids
  • - Finns had to settle with less-skilled jobs,
    because they had more problems with the English
    language than other Scandinavians
  • Newly arrived Finns quickly became involved in
    political organisations, churches, athletic clubs
    and other forms of associational life
  • Most Finnish migrants had planned to stay only a
    few years in North America, but only about 20
    returned
  • - 10.000 Finns returned to Soviet Union in the
    1920s-30s for ideological reasons

15
Language
  • In some cases the immigrants started learning
    English already in the home country (Danish
    Mormons)
  • Finns had more problems with English than other
    Scandinavians
  • - In many immigrant families the parents spoke
    Finnish and the children English (learned in
    school)
  • religious, social, and cultural activities in the
    mother tongue
  • - organizations Dansk Broderskab (Danish
    Brotherhood), Vasa Order of America (Swedish)
  • Periodicals in the native language
  • - Danish-Norwegian newspaper Bikuben (The
    Beehive) in Salt Lake City
  • - Finnish-Canadian weeklies Canadan Sanomat
    Canadian News in Thunder Bay and Vapaa Sana
    Free Speech in Sudbury

16
Suomi College (Finlandia University)
  • Located in Hancock, Michigan
  • Founded by Finnish immigrants
  • in 1896
  • - the only college founded
  • by Finns in the United States
  • provides a college education
  • in a Christian environment
  • Education rooted in liberal arts
  • Offers degrees in Fine Arts,
  • Business Administration,
  • Finnish, History, Nursing,
  • Social Science, English etc.

17
Finnish-American Heritage Center (FAHC)
  • At Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan
  • offers a variety of exhibits, lectures, plays,
    musical programs and community events
  • the Finnish American Historical Archive has the
    largest collection of Finnish-North American
    materials in the world
  • - includes genealogical resources, information
    about Finnish culture, artifacts, and North
    America's largest collection of Finnish-American
    artwork
  • annual events Finnish Independence Day, the City
    of Hancock's Heikinpäivä festival, the
    university's Nordic Film Series

18
Famous Finnish-Americans and -Canadians
  • Renny Harlin (director)
  • David Lynch (director)
  • Matt Damon (actor)
  • Christine Lahti (actress)
  • Jessica Lange (actress)
  • Pamela Anderson (actress)
  • Gus Hall (U.S. Communist Party leader)
  • Aileen Wuornos (serial killer)

19
References
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_American
    (19.06.06)
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Canadian
    (19.06.06)
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_emigration_to
    _North_
  • America (19.06.06)
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_emigration_to
    _North_
  • America (19.06.06)
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegians
    (21.06.06)
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian-American
    (21.06.06)
  • http//ist.uwaterloo.ca/marj/genealogy/norwegian.
    html (21.06.06)
  • http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEdenmark.h
    tm (23.06.06)
  • http//www.pcu.net/web/sorensen/utah/danes_in_utah
    .htm (23.06.06)

20
  • http//www.umanitoba.ca/uofmpress/books/icelanders
    _na.html (23.06.06)
  • http//www.direct.ca/news/cnord/finn01.shtml
    (23.06.06)
  • http//www.collegeprofiles.com/suomi.html
    (23.06.06)
  • http//www.finlandia.edu/Department/FAHC/fahc.html
    (23.06.06)
  • http//only-maps.com/ canada-map.html (26.06.06)
  • http//www.kysela.com/ distributors.htm
    (26.06.06)
  • http//www.migrationinstitute.fi/db/articles/art.p
    hp?artid63
  • (26.06.06)
  • http//www.migrationinstitute.fi/db/articles/art.p
    hp?artid44
  • (26.06.06)
  • http//www.migrationinstitute.fi/db/articles/art.p
    hp?artid79
  • (26.06.06)
  • http//www.migrationinstitute.fi/nordic/Text/Emist
    ory.htm
  • (26.06.06)
  • http//www.infoplease.com/images/mfinland.gif
    (26.06.06)
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