My family object
is my great-grandmother’s “Flyttningsbetyg,” which is the document that
she was given 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden when she decided to leave the
country and go to America. One of these was needed by anyone
entering the United States from Sweden to show that the Swedish government
acknowledged that the immigrant left willingly. This has great meaning to my family and me
because if she had not decided to journey to America, our family would not
be American today.
The first Swedes
began migrating to North America in 1683 and did not leave as a result of
religious reasons, as many other European immigrants did. Instead, the
Swedes were colonizers that were seeking new land. Most came to the new
land because they were farmers seeking their own land, and better farming
conditions. My great-grandmother left in 1905 which was during the height
of the Swedish migration. In fact, in 1910, there were 1.4 million first
and second generation Swedish immigrants living in the United States.
Compare that to Sweden’s population at that time, which was only 5.5
million, and one can see what a huge influence migration had on the
country during that time.
Citation
Statistics by Ulf Beijbom.
Courtesy of The House of Emigrants, Vaxjo, Sweden.
