Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Thirty Years Of Emigrating, Lis Jorgensen

The Bridge

Contemporary emigration is both like and unlike the earlier emigration of Scandinavia.

The emigrants came to North America in the nineteenth century largely because of overpopulation in their own countries creating famine or purely for economic reasons. In North America they could obtain free or cheap land and thus make a better living for their families. According to early accounts, however, they often suffered even greater hardships here than at home. One question that seemed to bother the Danish settlers was whether they had done the right thing in leaving the old country. They wondered if in their struggle for …

Bleeding Feet, Humble Hearts: Danish Mormon Migration 1850-1860, Jens Patrick Wilde

The Bridge

The early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a chronicle of several migrations. The Mormon migration most familiar to Americans began in New York state, from where Joseph Smith, prophet-founder of the church, moved with his followers in search of a place where they might build a community, a holy land. The way stations on the journey from New York to Salt Lake City, now the headquarters of the church, were Kirtland, Ohio; Independence and Far West, Missouri; and Nauvoo, Illinois. These attempts to found religious communities had their origin in Mormon doctrine, which implied …