The 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first organized migration of Norwegians to North America on board the Restauration in 1825 is certainly something to take notice of and celebrate. And it’s a great opportunity to learn more about the flood of migration that followed, including quite a bit of migration back to Norway. Knut Nesse is a real expert on this history and we were fortunate to hear such a knowledgeable speaker in his February 19 talk called “The Promising Land.”
We learned that as many as 900,000 people left Norway starting in 1825, which was almost a third of its entire population. There are now more people of Norwegian ancestry in North America than there are in Norway! This large number was bound to have an impact on North America, but also on the country it left behind.
Of course, Norwegians had been moving to foreign lands for centuries. A large group settled in Iceland in around 870 AD and there was a lot of migration to the British Isles and Normandy during the Viking Period.
But it was when certain changes were made to British and American laws in the 1800s that it became possible for ships from other nations to bring settlers to America with the promise of available land to settle and farm. This led to a flood of Norwegian immigrants, most of whom ended up in the United States, especially North Dakota and Minnesota. But many also came to Canada, mostly to the prairie provinces and British Columbia.
Many factors motivated the migrants to settle in North America. Some were looking for the opportunity to practise their religions without restriction. The Lutheran Church in Norway did not tolerate Quakers or Haugeanism, with their rejections of the official Lutheran church hierarchy and their emphasis on individual piety.
Fewer deaths in childbirth and lower child mortality increased Norway’s population, leading people to look for opportunities to earn their livelihoods elsewhere. Norwegian laws restricting the mobility of the population ended in 1854, allowing people to move more freely around the country and even abroad.
The first big wave of Norwegian emigration lasted from 1866 to 1873 and consisted mostly of farmers who wanted to continue their farming lifestyle in North America. The new steamships meant that the trip across the Atlantic was much shorter than in the days of sailing ships. Letters back home encouraged friends and relatives to join them in forming Norwegian communities with their own schools and churches.
The second large wave lasted from 1870 into the 1890’s, and was the result of a significant downturn in the Norwegian economy. Around 250,000 people left Norway during this period.
The third wave, from 1903 to 1910 was different from the first two in that a lot of the migration was to the larger cities in North America. Skilled workers were in demand and many of the emigrants came by themselves rather than with their families.
Amerikabrev (letters from America) encouraged more Norwegians to join their relatives who were already settled there. Farm workers were encouraged to come and work on established, large farms, and then go on to start their own farms. Shipping companies advertised and made tickets to America widely available in Norway.
From 1900 on, many of the emigrants came to Canada as land became scarcer in the United States. Some Norwegians in the United States sold their farms there and moved to bigger farms in Canada.
Of the roughly 900,000 Norwegians who emigrated to North America, about 25% eventually returned to Norway. For some, the move had probably not worked out as they had hoped, but for many the return home was the culmination of their success. They could go back to their original homes and families to retire in comfort. With their return home, they brought American influences back with them. It is this back and forth between Norway and North America that we are celebrating in Crossings 200.
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