Swedish American
As "Swedish Americans" refers to North Americans of Swedish descent. A large number of them, approximately 1.2 million, immigrated to the United States between 1885 and 1915 . Most were Lutherans and associated with predecessor organizations of today's Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod or the North American Lutheran Church (NALC); some were Methodists . Historically, the Swedish Americans concentrated on the states of the Midwest , the areas west and northwest of Chicago .
colonization
The first Swedish Americans were settlers in New Sweden (Nya Sverige). This colony was founded by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1638. It was located in the Delaware Valley area on the lower reaches of the Delaware River . New Sweden was conquered by the Netherlands in 1655 and became part of the Thirteen Colonies in 1681 . The area of New Sweden was divided between the three states of Delaware , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . However, many Swedes and Finns remained as colonists. The cultural presence can be seen at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, Fort Christina State Park in Wilmington, Delaware, Governor Printz Park and The Printzhof in Essington, Pennsylvania.
The midwest
Swedish emigration to the United States peaked in the 1880s. In 1896 the American Wasa Order ( Vasa Order of America ) was founded to make it easier for immigrants to integrate, as they often lacked a social network. Swedish emigrants usually came to New York City first and then continued to migrate to the northern Midwest. Most belonged to a conservative Protestant church; they were often pietistic and supported prohibition .
In 1900 Chicago was considered the city with the second highest number of Swedish residents after Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. At the time, the Swedes founded the Evangelical Covenant Church and established institutions such as the Swedish Covenant Hospital and North Park University . Many settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois. Like many Norwegian and Danish immigrants, most Swedes lived as farmers as they did in Sweden before.
New England
The east, New England, was the destination of many skilled workers from the industry. They mainly settled in Jamestown , Providence (Rhode Island) and Boston . A small Swedish settlement was also established in New Sweden , Maine, when 51 Swedish settlers came to the forest area, led by WW Thomas, who called them "mina barn i skogen" (my children in the forest). Settlements such as Stockholm , Jemptland and Westmanland emerged. The city celebrates St. Lucia , midsummer and Founders Day (July 23). There are also services in Swedish every now and then.
The largest settlement in New England was Worcester , Massachusetts. Many Swedes moved here because of industrial jobs. At the beginning of the 20th century there were numerous church organizations, shops and charities that were set up by Sweden.
West Coast
Many Swedes also settled in the Pacific Northwest together with Norwegians (Ballard near Seattle).
Settlement priorities
The following cities and areas are considered to be the main settlement areas: Silverhill (Alabama) ; Cambridge, Minnesota ; Lindstrom, Minnesota ; Karlstad, Minnesota ; Lindsborg, Kansas; Gothenburg, Nebraska ; Oakland, Nebraska ; Andover, Illinois ; Kingsburg, California ; Bishop Hill, Illinois ; Jamestown (New York) ; Westby, Wisconsin, certain parts of central Texas including New Sweden and Georgetown, and areas in Maine: New Sweden , Stockholm , Jemptland and Westmanland .
Swedish in the US
At the 2000 census , 3.9 percent of the US population reported Scandinavian ancestry (including Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, and Icelandic ancestry). According to data from 2005, 56,324 Americans spoke Swedish as their home language in addition to English, compared with 67,655 in 2000. Most of them were new immigrants. Swedish-American communities had often become English-speaking by around 1920. The Swedish language is rarely taught in high schools or colleges . Swedish-language newspapers and magazines are rare.
Swedish Americans by US state
Most of the Americans of Swedish descent live in the following US states.
- Minnesota 9.9%
- North Dakota 5.0%
- Nebraska 4.9%
- Utah 4.3%
- South Dakota 3.9%
- Washington 3.6%
- Idaho 3.5%
- Wyoming 3.5%
- Montana 3.4%
- Iowa 3.3%
Swedish culture in North America from 1940
After 1940, Swedish was rarely taught in high schools and colleges, and most of the Swedish-language newspapers and magazines ceased. Some smaller cities in the US have retained some of the typical Swedish characteristics. Lindsborg in Kansas is representative of this. It was founded by Lutherans in 1869 who bought land from the Kansas Pacific Railroad; today the city is known as "Little Sweden".
Organizations for the preservation of Swedish culture
- American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis
- American Swedish Historical Museum, Philadelphia
- Concordia Language Villages (Swedish language camp)
- Nordstjernan (newspaper), New York (English language newspaper for Swedish Americans)
- Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC), Washington DC
- Swedish Council of America (SCA), Minneapolis
- Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation (SACHF), Thousand Oaks
- The American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York
- Vasa Order of America
- Vasa National Archives, Bishop Hill
Primary literature
- H. Arnold Barton (Ed.): Letters from the Promised Land: Swedes in America, 1840-1914. University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota 1975, ISBN 0816607400 .
- Lintelman, Joy K. ed. I Go to America: Swedish American Women and the Life of Mina Anderson (2009)
literature
- Irial Glynn: Emigration Across the Atlantic: Irish, Italians and Swedes compared, 1800–1950. In: European History Online , June 6, 2011.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Barton, H. Arnold: A Folk Divided: Homeland Swedes and Swedish-Americans, 1840-1940. Southern Illinois University Press, 1994.
- ↑ Rickie Lazzerini: Where Did The Swedes Go? The Causes of Swedish Immigration and Settlement Patterns in America. University of California Press, Santa Barbara 2005.
- ^ Svenska folket genom tiderna. Volume 10. Pages 209-226.
- ↑ The Undeveloped West or, Five Years in the Territories. Page 39, 1873.
- ↑ New Sweden Historical Society, http://www.maineswedishcolony.info/nshs/
- ↑ a b "Data Center Results - Compare". Mla.org. January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2012
- ↑ Steven M. Schnell: The Making of Little Sweden, USA , Great Plains Quarterly 2002 22 (1), pages 3–21, ISSN 0275-7664