Eth 125 Week 3 Assignment
Ethnic Groups and Discrimination
ETH/125
October 9, 2011
Ethnic Groups and Discrimination One ethnic group in which I and my family belong to is Norwegian. According to my father I am 50 percent Norwegian and this is very interesting to me. I did not even know this until I asked him about it so I could write this paper. I found a lot of interesting information about Norwegians and how they came to America. Norwegians are credited with being the first Europeans to discover North America. Live Eriksson cam to America in A.D. 1000, which was nearly five centuries before Columbus. The Norwegian immigration to America began in 1825 in which several dozen Norwegians left Stavanger headed for America on the sloop Restauration, which is often called the Norwegian Mayflower. This immigration to America was under the leadership of Cleng Peerson. This ship landed in New York City, where it was impounded for exceeding its passenger limit. President John Quincy Adams intervened in this and the passengers were able to move on to settle in Kendall, New York. Most of these immigrants moved from New York and began to settle in Wisconsin and Illinois. ("Norwegian-Americans", n.d.). Between 1825 and 1925 there were more than 800,000 Norwegians that had immigrated to America, which was about one third of Norway’s population. The first immigrants were mainly Lutheran pietists and Quakers who came to the United States to avoid religious persecution. Norway was facing an industrial slowdown in the 1800s which made it harder for the young population to find jobs so they left in search of jobs so that they could support their families. At this same time that Norway was having a shortage of jobs America was having a shortage of labor. The American economy was growing and more workers were needed this opportunity is what brought most Norwegians to migrate to America. ("Waves Of Norwegian Immigrants", 2011). Norwegians brought their traditions of farming to
ETH/125
October 9, 2011
Ethnic Groups and Discrimination One ethnic group in which I and my family belong to is Norwegian. According to my father I am 50 percent Norwegian and this is very interesting to me. I did not even know this until I asked him about it so I could write this paper. I found a lot of interesting information about Norwegians and how they came to America. Norwegians are credited with being the first Europeans to discover North America. Live Eriksson cam to America in A.D. 1000, which was nearly five centuries before Columbus. The Norwegian immigration to America began in 1825 in which several dozen Norwegians left Stavanger headed for America on the sloop Restauration, which is often called the Norwegian Mayflower. This immigration to America was under the leadership of Cleng Peerson. This ship landed in New York City, where it was impounded for exceeding its passenger limit. President John Quincy Adams intervened in this and the passengers were able to move on to settle in Kendall, New York. Most of these immigrants moved from New York and began to settle in Wisconsin and Illinois. ("Norwegian-Americans", n.d.). Between 1825 and 1925 there were more than 800,000 Norwegians that had immigrated to America, which was about one third of Norway’s population. The first immigrants were mainly Lutheran pietists and Quakers who came to the United States to avoid religious persecution. Norway was facing an industrial slowdown in the 1800s which made it harder for the young population to find jobs so they left in search of jobs so that they could support their families. At this same time that Norway was having a shortage of jobs America was having a shortage of labor. The American economy was growing and more workers were needed this opportunity is what brought most Norwegians to migrate to America. ("Waves Of Norwegian Immigrants", 2011). Norwegians brought their traditions of farming to
References: Waves of Norwegian Immigrants. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.energyofanation.org/3f9c3958-cf6f-43ed-a9bf-05b8ad118870.html?nodeid= Norweigan-Americans. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.norway.org/News_and_events/Norway-in-the-US/Norwegian-American-Organizations/Norwegian_Americans/ Norway. (1997). Retrieved from http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/archive/archive1/norway/index.htm