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Norwegian American

Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Norwegian American

The Norwegian Americans are an ethnic group in the United States. They are the descendants of Norwegian immigrants who came to America primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million[#endnote_pop4p5m] Norwegian-Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and most live in the Upper Midwest.

Norwegian immigrants wearing their traditional outfit (bunad).
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Norwegian immigrants wearing their traditional outfit (bunad).

Contents

Norwegians in America

History

Norwegians are credited with being the first Europeans to discover North America. The Norwegian/Icelander Leiv Eiriksson reached America via Norse settlements in Greenland circa A.D. 1000, nearly five centuries before Columbus. It is generally agreed that the Norwegian settlers in Greenland founded the capital settlement of Vinland at L'Anse aux Meadows, and that their territory encompassed the whole of the isle of Newfoundland. Just how much they explored further past the Canadian Maritime Provinces (known as Skrælingeland in Old Norse; later Acadia and then Nova Scotia) in North America has been a matter of debate for the past hundred years amongst romantic and ethnic nationalists as well as some lay historians. Some widely disputed evidence suggests that Norwegians having made many settlements much further into the North American mainland than was believed before. (See Kensington Runestone.)

U.S. postage stamp honoring the hundredth anniversary of the Restauration.
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U.S. postage stamp honoring the hundredth anniversary of the Restauration.

Norwegian immigration to America in the post-Columbian era began in 1825, when several dozen Norwegians left Stavanger bound for America on the sloop Restauration (often called the "Norwegian Mayflower") under the leadership of Cleng Peerson. The emigrants were primarily Quakers, though personal and economic motivations may have played a role. The ship landed in New York City, where it was at first impounded for exceeding its passenger limit. After intervention from President John Quincy Adams, the passengers moved on to settle in Kendall, New York with the help of Andreas Stangeland, witnessing the opening of the Erie Canal en route. Most of these immigrants moved on from Kendall, settling in Illinois and Wisconsin. Cleng Peerson became a traveling emissary for Norwegian immigrants and died in a Norse Settlement near Cranfills Gap, Texas, in 1865.

While there were about 65 Norwegian individuals who emigrated via ports in Sweden and elsewhere in the intervening years, the next emigrant ship did not leave Norway for the New World until 1836, when the ships Den Norske Klippe and Norden departed. In 1837, a group of immigrants from Tinn emigrated via Gothenburg to the Fox River Settlement, near present-day Sheridan, Illinois. But it was the writings of Ole Rynning, who traveled to the US on the Ægir in 1837 that energized Norwegian immigration.

To a great extent, early emigration from Norway was borne out of religious persecution, especially for Quakers and a local religious group, haugianere.

Norwegian immigration through the years was predominantly motivated by economic concerns. Compounded by crop failures, Norwegian agricultural resources were unable to keep up with population growth, and the Homestead Act promised fertile, flat land. As a result, settlement trended westward with each passing year. Early Norwegian settlements were in Pennsylvania and Illinois, but moved westward into Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas.

Additionally, craftsmen also emigrated to a larger, more diverse market. Until recently, there was a Norwegian area in Sunset Park, Brooklyn originally populated by Norwegian craftsmen.

Between 1825 and 1925, more than 800,000 Norwegians immigrated to America—about one-third of Norway's population. With the exception of Ireland, no single country contributed a larger percentage of its population to America than Norway.

Today

Norwegian Americans by state

Distribution of Norwegian Americans according to the 2000 census
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Distribution of Norwegian Americans according to the 2000 census

The 10 states with the most Norwegians:

  1. Minnesota – 851,000
  2. Wisconsin – 456,000
  3. California – 436,000
  4. Washington – 368,000
  5. North Dakota – 193,000
  6. Illinois – 179,000
  7. Iowa – 167,000
  8. Oregon – 147,000
  9. Texas – 119,000
  10. South Dakota – 115,000
The 10 states with the top percentages of Norwegians:
  1. North Dakota – 33% of the state's white population is of Norwegian ancestry
  2. Minnesota – 20%
  3. South Dakota – 17%
  4. Montana – 12%
  5. Wisconsin – 10%
  6. Washington – 8%
  7. Iowa – 6%
  8. Alaska – 6%
  9. Oregon – 5%
  10. Wyoming – 5%

Notable and famous Norwegian Americans

Listed alphabetically. Main article: List of Norwegian Americans.

Use of Norwegian language in America

Use of the Norwegian language in America was at its peak between 1900 and World War I, then: Use of the Norwegian language declined in the 1920s and 1930s due in large part to the rise of nationalism among the American population during and after World War I. During this period, readership of Norwegian-language publications fell, Norwegian Lutheran churches began to hold their services in English, and the younger generation of Norwegian-Americans was encouraged to speak English rather than Norwegian. When Norway itself was liberated from the Nazis in 1945, relatively few Norwegian-Americans under the age of 40 still spoke Norwegian as their primary language (although many still understood the language). As such, they were not passing the language on to their children, the next generation of Norwegian-Americans.

Today there are 81,000 Americans who speak Norwegian as their primary language.

Many Lutheran colleges that were established by immigrants and people of Norwegian background, such as Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, continue to offer Norwegian majors in their undergraduate programs. Many major American universities, such as the University of Washington, University of Oregon, and the University of Wisconsin offer Norwegian as a language within their Germanic language studies programs.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑  Incidentally, the number of Americans of Norwegian descent living in the U.S. today (4.5 million) is roughly equal to the current population of Norway.

References

Secondary sources

Primary sources

External links


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