Overview
Before coming to America, many Norwegians had an idealized image of what living in the United States would look like. However, this image was shattered when the first waves of Norwegian immigrants settled in middle America. Extremely poor and unsanitary living conditions were the reality for the newly arrived immigrants. While many individuals left Norway to escape disease and poverty, many faced the same conditions in America. Norwegian immigrants left their country to obtain higher levels of freedom, yet were restricted through poor conditions and susceptibility to disease.
By the early 1840’s, many Norwegian immigrants landed in Wisconsin and formed two large settlements, the Koshong and the Muskego. When the weary immigrants reached the settlements after months of traveling, they were shocked by the abysmal living conditions. The houses consisted of hastily constructed, one room, log cabins, no larger than fourteen square feet. Cracks between the logs were filled with clay, yet often fell out in the winter, leaving cracks in the walls. [1]
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"It was a time when one heard the carpenter's hammer blows on the coffins day and
night"[1] -Koshonog leader
Both settlements were also plagued with disease, as many travelers carried infections and sanitary conditions were difficult to uphold. Typhoid, dysentery, and cholera were the most common diseases. Of all the Norwegian settlements in the 1840’s, Muskego was most seriously ravaged by disease, losing a fourth of its population in 1841. During this period, Norwegian immigrants were dependent upon aid from their American neighbors. By the 1850’s however, situations improved, as sanitary and quarantine regulations were upheld. No major epidemics were reported after the mid 1850’s. [1]
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“We have no expectation of gaining riches; but we live under a liberal government in a fruitful land, where freedom and equality are the rule in religious as in civil matters, and where each one of us it at liberty to earn his living practically as he chooses"[2] -Muskego Manifesto
By the mid 1850’s, Norwegian immigrants began to settle in cities, clustering in Chicago and other small towns in Wisconsin and Iowa. By the 1860’s, Norwegian immigrants had made tremendous progress, with many owning their own land and property and managing their own farms. In the 1870’s and 1880’s many immigrants sought to reach the Dakotas, with newcomers living in sod huts or sheds. While the first settlers in the Dakotas had laborious early years, rapid development occurred through the next two decades. [1]
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Literature & Picture Citations:
Literature
[1] Semmingsen, I. (1991). Norway to America: A history of the migration. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
[2] PortalWisconsin.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.portalwisconsin.org)
Pictures (in order)
Header Background: Bond House, 19th century. From Library of Congress. Used under public domain.
First Picture: Log cabin school on Lansing Side Road. From the City of Toronto Archives. Used under public domain.
Second Picture: 'One of the wards in the hospital at Scutari' by William Simpson. From Wellcome Images. Used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Third Picture: Reyner sod house by Solomon Butcher. From The Library of Congress. Used under public domain.
[1] Semmingsen, I. (1991). Norway to America: A history of the migration. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
[2] PortalWisconsin.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.portalwisconsin.org)
Pictures (in order)
Header Background: Bond House, 19th century. From Library of Congress. Used under public domain.
First Picture: Log cabin school on Lansing Side Road. From the City of Toronto Archives. Used under public domain.
Second Picture: 'One of the wards in the hospital at Scutari' by William Simpson. From Wellcome Images. Used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Third Picture: Reyner sod house by Solomon Butcher. From The Library of Congress. Used under public domain.