Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in History
Introduction: Emigration From Vejle Amt
Introduction: Emigration From Vejle Amt
The Bridge
Picture postcard regions of Denmark like Vejle Amt, "with idyllic little towns, without any new factories and workshops, usually produced a great number of emigrants," according to the Danish historian of emigration, Kristian Hvidt. Vejle Amt was a verdant land of deep fjords, rolling wooded hills, and ancient villages, giving way to wide stretches of heath and bog in the west. It remained an idyllic, old-fashioned area throughout the period of emigration. People streamed to America because the population of Vejle Amt was growing but few new jobs were being created. They also left out of discontent over life in …
From Vejle Amt To Iowa In 1868: An Immigrant's Christmas Letter, Christian Poul Christensen
From Vejle Amt To Iowa In 1868: An Immigrant's Christmas Letter, Christian Poul Christensen
The Bridge
Discontent was rife in nineteenth-century Denmark, to be sure, but why would a prosperous, locally prominent individual like Christian Poul Christiansen choose to take his wife and family and leave their native land forever? Economic necessity did not drive them out into the wide world. "It was asserted that Christiansen brought along from Denmark around $20,000," wrote Rasmus Jurgens in Danske i Amerika in 1908.1 "This family is very wealthy. Through their influence, Randall Station was established, three miles north of Story City, in Hamilton County, [Iowa]. They built a store here and ran a general store, later a lumber …