Swedish Americans

Early Immigration

The major immigration waves to the United States from Sweden began in the 1860s. The historical reasons for emigrating varied, but Swedish poet Esaias Tegnér claimed the problem stemmed from “peace, vaccines, and potatoes.” Sweden had been at peace for many decades, and the population had become more resistant to disease through the smallpox vaccine and less affected by famine because of the agricultural production of potatoes; all these factors resulted in an exponential increase in the population of Sweden. Family farms were parceled into lots too small to produce enough to sustain a family, and the thin Swedish topsoil exacerbated the problem. In the 1860s, prompted by a famine and potato crops inadequate to feed the relative overpopulation, the first wave of Swedish emigrants crossed the ocean. Swedes traveled inward to the Midwest, settling in areas with the thick topsoil and plentiful farmland their homeland had lacked. Swedish immigrant communities developed in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and the surrounding areas. The series of four historical novels by Vilhelm Moberg, The Emigrants, has gained in popularity as a representation of the trials of the early Swedish immigrants, and it serves as a testament to Swedish American heritage.

For later immigrants (1880s and after), job opportunities were often similar to the careers they had pursued in Sweden. Initially, however, many men began their U.S. careers in hard labor and industry, attempting to earn money to buy tickets to the United States for their families and loved ones. Many women immigrating to the United States from Sweden took positions as domestic servants; they had been attracted to the prospect of working in the United States because of the high wages advertised by friends and family as well as by ethnic newspapers and emigration agents. According to Ulf Beijbom, 61% of Swedish-born immigrants lived in urban areas, where job opportunities were limited to industry and factory work, household help, and civil service. Letters written by U.S. immigrants to relatives and friends left at home in Sweden encouraged further emigration because the immigrants (particularly women) presented a positive view of the treatment of workers and the high wages provided by U.S. employers.

These so-called America-letters (Amerikabrev) exhibit an insider's view of the conditions for recent immigrants. Although many letters are complimentary of the freedoms available in the United States, many also shatter notions of an idyllic move to the land of prosperity and freedom, calling attention to the hours of hard labor and the sometimes unreasonable expectations of employers; because labor unions were not yet pervasive, some supervisors would require employees to report for double shifts, to work with dangerous and unreliable machinery, and to work even while ill or injured for fear of being replaced.

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