Norwegian Americans

Early Immigration

Although the reasons for emigration from Norway to the United States are varied and complex, the conditions in Norway were similar to those in Sweden: A dramatic and rapid increase in population strained the economic systems to the maximum; a period of famine exacerbated these effects; and the general lack of potential for social mobility caused many Norwegians to feel discontented with the quality of life in Norway. A lack of good farmland had made rural survival difficult, and overpopulation in the urban areas had made urban survival just as rough. In addition, Norway was as yet not fully independent when the strong waves of emigration began in the 1860s—it had passed from Danish control to Swedish control in 1814 and would not gain independence from Sweden until 1905.

Though the first major emigration from Norway began in 1825, the main waves followed those Sweden experienced in the 1860s, 1880s, and early 1900s and in World War I as a response to German occupation. Peter Munch pointed out that the waves in the 1860s and 1880s were also times of particular strain in the relationship between Norway and Sweden. The reasons the United States was attractive were mostly economical. The promise of steady, well-paying employment was a promise to be fulfilled not in Norway, but in America. The early emigrants wrote letters home to relatives and friends in Norway emphasizing the higher standard of living made available to them through their move. Emigration agents, who arranged passage for the emigrants, further confirmed this perspective of America in their advertisements.

Early Settlements

Norwegians settled chiefly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, but they also settled in other areas with water access, such as New York City and Seattle, Washington. In New York and Seattle, the Norwegian men exercised their maritime skills on fishing vessels [Page 992]and in the shipyards. In the Midwest, many men found employment in factories and in industrial jobs, and many women and girls became domestic servants. The Lutheran state church continued its influence, and Norwegian Lutheran churches were built in the cities where Norwegians settled. In those communities, services were often conducted in the Norwegian language. This practice was questioned in the wake of World War I, when Americanness was foregrounded, and many churches at this time and in the coming decades ceased to provide services in Norwegian.

Community Developments

Norwegian American immigrant newspapers, such as Skandanavien and Nordvesten, encouraged the retention of the Norwegian language in the immigrant communities, particularly in the Chicago region. In addition, groups like the Norwegian American Historical Association (founded in 1925) and local associations and societies created ways for Norwegian Americans to commune and identify with others in similar ethnic positions. The immigrant children gained experiences with U.S. culture in their schooling, which was a controversial issue in the second half of the 1800s. The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod was a powerful organization, with distrust of U.S. schools from the early grades to postsecondary education. Through a series of items called the “Manitowoc Declarations,” after the location of the meeting in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the Synod planned to begin their own curriculum and schools, which presented such major challenges to finances and time that the primary emphasis on U.S. schools was eventually accepted by the 1880s.

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