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European Immigrants In Wisconsin

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In the early 19th century, Wisconsin was home to mainly Native Americans. After westward expansion in the United States many Native Americans were forced to leave where they originally inhabited. Thousands of Native Americans were moved to reservations in Wisconsin and in other states. This new opening of land was perfect for new Western European immigrants who wanted a brand-new life in America. In the mid-19th century, Wisconsin’s population increased from 11,000 to over 300,000 (Nesbit, 1973). Hundreds of thousands of these immigrants were from Europe. Each immigrant had their own reason of leaving their homeland but some of the main reasons for leaving were: economic and social problems, natural disasters (potato famine in Ireland), religious freedom, avoiding the draft, population booms, and industrialization. Once Germans decided to embark on a journey to Wisconsin, they had to worry about the travel, geography of where to live, and the language barrier between German and English and all problems in-between. Travel To get to Wisconsin most immigrants had to travel by boat through the Erie Canal and into the Great Lakes. From there, they would arrive in the port of Milwaukee. Other immigrants traveled up through the Mississippi River leading into Wisconsin. Non-foreign immigrants often traveled by horse, railroad, steamboats, and wagons. Milwaukee was the key city to migrate to as it had expanding business opportunities and lots of public lands. This is

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