Thanks to all who provided info on the subject. Interesting discussion.
Now -would it be fair to say that one possible reason for my grandparents
emigrating to the US in the 1990's was the political unrest due to the union
(??) with Sweden. I can recall my grandfather not liking that arrangement.
G. Anderson
Norwegian military
Moderator: MOD_nyhetsgrupper
-
Stein R
Re: Norwegian military
"Gordon Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:T32Vi.1312$hd1.181@trndny01:
Slight typo there - you obviously meant 1890, not 1990
.
No, political unrest due to the union with Sweden was not one of the
main forces that made people emigrate from Norway to America.
There were two main driving forces - the first group that emigrated
were members of a charismatic religious revival movement, which were
being prosecuted in Norway.
But the main reason to emigrate was economical - the population rose
dramatically following the Napoleonic wars - new ways of cultivating
land increased the yield (and needed fewer hands), better ways of
heating homes, more cleanliness - mortality fell, birth rate increased -
farming needed fewer hands, and farms could not be subdivided forever to
provide land for younger sons.
The population surplus had to move out. First to the northern frontier
in Norway - Troms was settled by groups of farmers from southern Norway,
then across the ocean to America.
The population increased coincided with the US Homestead Act of 1863 -
by which a farmer could stake out a piece of land, work it for some
years and then receive title to the land.
The prospect of getting their own land - and good flat farming land at
that, pulled a lot of Norwegians (and Irishmen, and Germans and a lot of
other Europeans) to America.
The emigration ebbed and flowed by how economic conditions fluctuated
both in Norway and in America. Some people went to America and came
back, some (far more) settled in America for good and became Americans.
Odd Lovoll of Saint Olaf College in Lichfield, MN, has written a couple
of good books on the Norwegian emigration to America.
"The Promise of America"
"The Promise Fulfilled: A Portrait of Norwegian Americans Today"
He has also written about Norwegian Americans in America:
"Norwegians on the Prairie"
"A Century of Urban Life - the Norwegians in Chicago before 1930"
Other people who has written readable books on the emigration:
Ingrid Semmingsen: "Norway to America: A history of the Migration"
I haven't read "Norwegians on the Prairie" and "A Century", but the
other three are highly readable.
Smile,
Stein
news:T32Vi.1312$hd1.181@trndny01:
Thanks to all who provided info on the subject. Interesting
discussion. Now -would it be fair to say that one possible reason for
my grandparents emigrating to the US in the 1990's was the political
unrest due to the union (??) with Sweden. I can recall my grandfather
not liking that arrangement. G. Anderson
Slight typo there - you obviously meant 1890, not 1990
. No, political unrest due to the union with Sweden was not one of the
main forces that made people emigrate from Norway to America.
There were two main driving forces - the first group that emigrated
were members of a charismatic religious revival movement, which were
being prosecuted in Norway.
But the main reason to emigrate was economical - the population rose
dramatically following the Napoleonic wars - new ways of cultivating
land increased the yield (and needed fewer hands), better ways of
heating homes, more cleanliness - mortality fell, birth rate increased -
farming needed fewer hands, and farms could not be subdivided forever to
provide land for younger sons.
The population surplus had to move out. First to the northern frontier
in Norway - Troms was settled by groups of farmers from southern Norway,
then across the ocean to America.
The population increased coincided with the US Homestead Act of 1863 -
by which a farmer could stake out a piece of land, work it for some
years and then receive title to the land.
The prospect of getting their own land - and good flat farming land at
that, pulled a lot of Norwegians (and Irishmen, and Germans and a lot of
other Europeans) to America.
The emigration ebbed and flowed by how economic conditions fluctuated
both in Norway and in America. Some people went to America and came
back, some (far more) settled in America for good and became Americans.
Odd Lovoll of Saint Olaf College in Lichfield, MN, has written a couple
of good books on the Norwegian emigration to America.
"The Promise of America"
"The Promise Fulfilled: A Portrait of Norwegian Americans Today"
He has also written about Norwegian Americans in America:
"Norwegians on the Prairie"
"A Century of Urban Life - the Norwegians in Chicago before 1930"
Other people who has written readable books on the emigration:
Ingrid Semmingsen: "Norway to America: A history of the Migration"
I haven't read "Norwegians on the Prairie" and "A Century", but the
other three are highly readable.
Smile,
Stein
-
Doug Wickstrom
Re: Norwegian military
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:09:51 -0500, Stein R <[email protected]>
wrote:
Northfield, Minnesota.
--
Doug Wickström
har fiol, vill resa
wrote:
Saint Olaf College in Lichfield, MN,
Northfield, Minnesota.
--
Doug Wickström
har fiol, vill resa
-
Stein R
Re: Norwegian military
Doug Wickstrom <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
Yes, of course, Northfield it was. My only defense, being a Norwegian
married to a woman from Minnesota, and having spent every summer vacation
for the last 10-11 years visiting my wife's family in Minnesota, is that we
always stay in the Cities or go up north when we go to Minnesota on
vacation. My knowledge of Minnesota south and SW of the Cities is pretty
hazy.
Stein
news:[email protected]:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:09:51 -0500, Stein R <[email protected]
wrote:
Saint Olaf College in Lichfield, MN,
Northfield, Minnesota.
Yes, of course, Northfield it was. My only defense, being a Norwegian
married to a woman from Minnesota, and having spent every summer vacation
for the last 10-11 years visiting my wife's family in Minnesota, is that we
always stay in the Cities or go up north when we go to Minnesota on
vacation. My knowledge of Minnesota south and SW of the Cities is pretty
hazy.
Stein