Excerpt from Concerning Emigration by John A. Johnson

Excerpt from Concerning Emigration by John A. Johnson

Excerpt from Concerning Emigration

Originally published in Billed-Magazin, January through March, 1869; also available on Norwegian-American Historical Association (Web site)

A U.S. businessman from Norway gives immigration suggestions to the natives back home

"In answer to the question as to what prospects an immigrant laborer has in America, we can state briefly and directly: daily wages in Wisconsin are high; employment will not be lacking for those who have the will and ability to work; food and lodging are good; and the labor is not unendurable."

Nearly a million people emigrated from Norway to the United States from 1825 to 1925. For each family that came, the decision was important and often difficult: To leave a familiar country and relatives for a strange country thousands of miles away was one of the most important decisions of their lives. In 1869, John Anders Johnson (1832–1901), a Norwegian emigrant who became a successful businessman in the United States, offered his advice to Norwegians in Billed-Magazin, the first illustrated monthly magazine in the Norwegian language published in America. Johnson's message: If you are prepared to work hard, you can succeed in the United States.

Most of the Norwegians who came to the United States after the American Civil War (1861–65) were from southern Norway.

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