Norwegian-American

The Norwegian-Americans are an ethnic group in the United States. They are the descendants of Norwegian immigrants who came to America primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. Many of them fled after the Treaty of Kiel forced the Norse to look for new opportunities. See Norway in 1814

Use of Norwegian language in America

Use of the Norwegian language in America was at its peak between 1900 and World War I, during which time over one million Americans spoke Norwegian as their primary language, dozens of Norwegian-language newspapers were in operation across the Upper Midwest (In the year 1910, over 600,000 homes received at least one Norwegian newspaper), and more than 3,000 Lutheran churches across the Upper Midwest used Norwegian as their sole language of worship.

Related Topics:
Norwegian language - 1900 - World War I - Upper Midwest - Lutheran

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Use of the Norwegian language declined in the 1920s and 1930s due in large part to the rise of nativism among the native American population during and after World War I. During this period, readership of Norwegian-language publications fell, Norwegian Lutheran churches began to hold their services in English, and the younger generation of Norwegian-Americans was encouraged to speak English rather than Norwegian. When Norway itself was liberated from the Nazis in 1945, relatively few Norwegian-Americans under the age of 40 still spoke Norwegian as their primary language (although many still understood the language), and as such they were not passing the language on to their children, the next generation of Norwegian-Americans.

Related Topics:
1920s - 1930s

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Today there are only 81,000 Americans who speak Norwegian at home.

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