Europe was on the move in the nineteenth and twentieth century, and “the century between 1814 and 1914 saw the largest migration in the history of mankind, with more than 50 million Europeans setting out for America and other overseas destinations” [2:2]. Fifty million people were a considerable number to emigrate in such a short time-period, and most of them were “anonymous, silent individuals who influenced history with creating picturesque heroes, without deeds of valour.” [2:2]. Before this mass emigration[1], it was only for a selected few to travel to countries outside of Europe. Those who did leave for the colonies were usually “employed and instructed by chartered trading companies.” [2:4] In most European countries, emigration was considered a national crime “since the emigrating farmer or townsman would be robbing his country of his labour” [2:15], but by the few, self-selected and individually motivated emigrants that made it to the colonies, the groundwork for future immigration[2] to those areas was laid. The first emigrants created within a short time “relatively prosperous societies” that again “provided the basis for future large-scale emigration from Europe” [2:5]. Canada became one of the main destinations for Europeans looking for new opportunities. In the period from 1872 to 1970, Canada was one of the main choices of emigration from Denmark. The process from emigrant to immigrant, including the historical and population background for Danish immigrants to Canada, their choice of settlement, their ability to adapt, and the presence of Danes in today’s Canada, will give the reader insight to why they chose to cross the Atlantic and how they adapted to their new country.
The first known European settlement in North America happened around 1000 AD when a group of Danish-Norwegian Vikings, also known as Norseman, reached the shores of Newfoundland. These Vikings, led by Leif Ericsson, established a small community in L’Ause aux Meadows. On Leif Ericsson’s return home, after his initial discovery, “he told of a strange new land far to the west which he called Vinland. The Scandinavians probably made other voyages to North America, but they did not leave any permanent settlements.” [9:1] However, the settlement only lasted about 10 years, and the inhabitants left to go back to Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia. Some believe that apart from the hostility of the local natives, homesickness was also a factor in the Vikings’ decision to go back home.
“Columbus had the advantage of gunpowder; the Norsemen, however, had to fight their battles with almost the same weapons as those used by the natives, who outnumbered them. The Norse discovery of America and attempts to colonize the land probably took place several hundred years too soon.” [1:21]
Jens Munk undertook another attempted Danish settlement in Canada in 1624. Munk was a Danish explorer hired by King Christian IV to find a northern route to East Asia. Munk and his men, on their way to Asia, settled for the winter in Hudson Bay because of the harsh arctic weather. "It is well-known that Munk lost sixty-two out of sixty-five crew members and the bigger of the two ships belonging to the Danish navy." [1:23] He called the place 'Nova Dania' and gave names to other islands and straits, but "today nothing is there to remind a visitor to Port Churchill of the heroism of Jens Munk and his men." [1:34] These explorations by Leif Ericsson and Jens Munk, however, were only the small beginnings of Danish emigration to Canada. Two more centuries had to pass before it really took off.
“The number of emigrants began to climb in 1830s and picked up after the devastating defeat at the hands of the Prussians in 1864. During the next fifty years – i.e. until the beginning of World War I in 1914 – nearly 300,000 Danes immigrated to the United States and Canada or almost ten percent of the 1914 population.” [12:453]
Some groundbreaking reforms of liberalization and freedom in society, which happened not only in Denmark but also in the rest of Europe in the late eighteenth century, paved the way for this mass emigration the countries would experience over the next hundred years and beyond. In Denmark, the “breakthrough of liberalism, the industrial revolution, and the increasing birthrate in all countries” also had its effects on the population. One of the main changes in Denmark was the abolition of peasant bondage in 1788 and thereby the freedom to move elsewhere. The farms became independent of the feudalistic community, which also made it difficult for the farm labourers and servants to afford the land. Before the reforms, the labourers were part of the land, and they had no need to purchase it. “It had to have been a great temptation to travel to a place where there was a promise of free or, in any case, cheap land.” [1:163] Another important factor in the enlightenment of the Danish population was the school reform in the early 19th century. The vision for the school reform of 1814 was for everyone to go through 6-7 years of obligatory schooling. The obligatory schooling gave insight into more than just the everyday life of the local community. It is possible that future emigrants heard about the North American continent through their schoolmasters. Industrialisation, with the more efficient production equipment and less demand for labourers, also became an encouragement to seek opportunities in other parts of the world. The general increase in the birth rate and improvements in medical care saw a strong population growth, and the rural economy was unable to cope with the increase. From 1800 to the beginning of World War I, the population in Denmark had tripled to 3 million [4:2].
“The surplus rural population looked to the urban culture for employment, but the transformation of craft trades to mass production did not keep pace with the rush of people to the towns. This resulted in an excess urban population exerting an even greater pressure than that found in the rural districts.” [2:8]
All these factors saw the opinion change from discouraging emigration to encouraging it, and “in Denmark freedom to emigrate…by the 1830s it seems…became tacitly accepted.” [2:17] Later this encouragement became more direct from the Danish authorities and up to 1914 Denmark experienced an emigration of 309,000 people [2:9]. From the Canadian side, “the Canadian Pacific Railway led the way in the campaign to attract additional Scandinavian prairie farmers.” [1:172]
The pattern of migration in Denmark in the 19th century appears to be from rural areas to the cities, then to bigger cities, and finally to the capital area. This might also be the reason why the majority of emigrants from 1900-1914 [8:3] were mainly from Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, “though presumably many of those listed as city dwellers would have come originally from the countryside.” [4:3] It is obvious that the main reason for emigration was not a desire for adventure but more seen as an opportunity to seek a better destiny for the individuals and their families.
A ‘push-pull’ effect seems to have influenced many individuals in their decision to emigrate. The ‘Push’ occurs when an individual is forced by personal or local circumstances, and the ‘Pull’ is encouraged by ‘facts’ about the land chosen and by information in letters from others already emigrated to the area. If young Danish men wanted to avoid conscription, and at the same time had other reasons for emigration, they would often emigrate before the call for national service. The main group of emigrants in the period up to World War I was males of conscription age. [15] [3] Up to 1900 69% of the Danish emigrants belonged to the class of workers and servants [2:118] and even as late as 1914 the majority of “emigration was concentrated around the age group of 15-24 years.” [2:80] “The higher social classes were only peripherally touched by emigration fever, an infection that spread mainly where there was social tension or outright distress.” [2:118] Another reason for leaving was forced emigration for political reasons. In 1877, three prominent socialist leaders, Louis Pio, Hans Brix, and Paul Geleff left the country for the United States after receiving bribes from the Danish police authorities. The conservative government of the day perceived these socialist leaders and others like them as a destabilizing factor for the country [13]. A second type of forced emigration was the exportation of criminals, potential criminals, and other unwanted elements of society. It was the crime-preventing work of the day, and it worked at least for the Danish society. The mass emigration that took place from Denmark gave the country the opportunity to get rid of what they saw as ‘undesirable’ and ‘surplus’ elements. It was cheaper to send the unemployed and criminals out of the country and, added to that, it gave peace and stability in the home country.
“…the very obvious thought of ridding society of destitute citizens, who might burden a parish for years and years, by buying them a ticket to America, was current in Denmark at least as early as 1864.” [2:20]
Protocols from the Copenhagen Police include information about 1,100 persons whose trip across the Atlantic was financed by the police. From 1879, Canada became the main destination for the clients of the police. The fall in ‘export’ to the United States came about because of a complaint from the Americans in 1874. Following this complaint, the police chose to send their clients to Canada where the authorities apparently were not as concerned as New York [13]. This practice of ‘helping’ criminals continued until the 1920s [1:126].
Emigration to Canada from Denmark before 1900 was insignificant compared to the time after the turn of the century. Before 1900, the number of people leaving for Canada was 5000 individuals compared to approximately 70,000 individuals in the 20th century with the main influx in the 1920s and 1950s. [8:11] Following World War I and the poor working conditions that resulted from the war, emigration from Europe was very strong [7:98], but “…the largest wave of Danish emigration to Canada did not occur until the 1950s…” [6:38] Canada became the choice of Danish emigrants second only to the United States.
The first phase of Danish emigration was in the period 1872 to 1914; the second phase was from the end of World War I and until the Depression in the early 1930s; and the third phase was the period after the Second World War. Immigrants of the three phases had both similarities and differences in their way of settling in Canada. The similarity in the first two phases was that “unlike the cases of the Norwegians and the Swedes, this tendency to settle in colonies became a characteristic trait of Canadian immigration.’ [4:3] The immigrants after 1945 settled mainly in the big cities.
The first Danish settlement in Canada was in New Brunswick in 1872 in an area later known as New Denmark. “On April 11, 1872 the parliament of New Brunswick passed the new ‘Homestead Act’…which guaranteed all immigrants over 18 years of age 100 acres of land free of charge on the fulfilment of certain easy conditions.” [1:52] It did not take long for the Danes, encouraged by a local Canadian representative in Denmark, to get there. By the end of May 1872, “27 people, five families with children and seven single men” [11:23] were on their way to New Brunswick. It is difficult for today’s people to understand the hardship they went through: “New Denmark’s first settlers in the 1870s faced all the usual challenges of pioneer life in Canada: poverty, isolation, and the necessity of carving farms from trackless forest, requiring endless hours of backbreaking labour. Many became discouraged and left.” [11:21] Another group, called the ‘New Danes’, came to New Denmark in the 1920s “- but there has been no immigration here since then…” [11:23] Unlike other Danish settlements where most of them came via the United States, the unique thing about New Denmark is that all the Danish immigrants came directly from Denmark. The settlement in New Denmark is still there and has a strong Danish influence possibly due to the isolation of the area. It is still possible to find third and fourth generation ethnic Danes in New Denmark who speak the Danish language.
The next settlement, in Cape Scott on the north west of North Vancouver Island, was less successful. Rasmus Hansen and a group of about 100 Danes first settled at Cape Scott in 1897 [10:133]. The settlers were mainly Danes from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota [16]. After several years of hardship and isolation, the circumstances forced them to give up and leave in 1907 and “the government had little choice but to terminate the settlement.” [10:135] Little remains of the Danish settlement in Cape Scott. Only a few names in the area “- Niels Bight, Hansen Lagoon, Frederiksen Point – and a few fragile buildings and other man-made relics” indicate the Danish presence. Today, Cape Scott is a provincial park [16]. In the same period, forty butchers arrived in 1893 in Canada from Denmark and settled in London, Ontario [18].
The direct and indirect influence on immigration to Danish settlements in the Canadian Prairies came from the two Danish churches in America: the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Danes came to the Prairies in three periods. The first period was from the latter part of the 19th century up to World War I, and most of those settlers came via the United States. The second period was from just after the war until the onset of the Depression in about 1930 with most of the new settlers coming directly from Denmark. The third, and last, period is from just after the Second World War until 1970 when Canada began imposing strict quotas on immigration. The first and second periods saw most Danes settle in rural areas, whereas in the third period most of the Danes settled in the urban areas [4:2].
The first group of Danes on the Prairies came from Omaha, Nebraska in 1903, and they settled in Dickson, Alberta. Some years later, two other Danish settlements were established in Standard (1909) and Dalum (1917) in Alberta. All three colonies were established through efforts of the two Danish church groups in the United States. The first and the third settlements established themselves through the more conservative and mission-oriented United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church which had less emphasis on the Danish cultural background. The group in Dalum established itself through the more ‘folkelige’ (people oriented) and ‘kirkelige’ (church oriented) Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church and was in line with the teachings of Grundtvig, the founder of the Folk High School movement in Denmark [5:48]. Later on, this would be one of the main differences in how much each group would maintain the Danish language and tradition. The Grundtvigian Church helped maintain the Danish tradition and language, and as a result, Dalum has probably been the most successful of the Prairie colonies [4:9].
Another colony of Danes was in Dannevirke near Redvers and Alida, Saskatchewan. In the case of Dannevirke, the colony was not established by a church group but by an individual named Simon Hjortsnæs [4:6] [1:153]. After World War I, other farming settlements came about in Ostenfeld, Manitoba, in 1926 and Tilley, Alberta, in 1930; both were established by or through the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church mainly by settlers who came predominantly via Montana and Nebraska. In Ostenfeld, most of the Danes left by 1939 and only two individual Danes remained [4:10]. As for Tilley, due to the familiarity with English from their time in the United States, most traces of ‘Danishness’ have disappeared [4:11]. The other settlements, with their emphasis on mission work and religious matters, did not encourage language retention [5:54], and the traditions and the language faded out over a short period. Not many Danish traditions have survived in the Prairie colonies, apart from the serving of Danish ethnic food. Two additional farming settlements were in Pass Lake, Ontario, and Wallace, Nova Scotia in 1920s, but today there is very little information about them.
Due to the Depression, the 1930s saw Danes going back to Denmark from Canada. However, approximately 60% of the Danes stayed behind in Canada [1:144] and the censuses from 1931 and 1941 show that 34,118 and 37,439 persons, respectively, of Danish origin lived in Canada [3:A125-163]. Life was not easy for the new immigrants, and many went through rough times. In 1926, Ivar Lassen Andersen “arrived in Canada, and the conditions here were simply a fight for survival. Some managed brilliantly, and those are probably the ones mentioned most often. The others sunk to the bottom without a trace.” [7:98] In a series of letters to his family in Denmark, Andersen gives a non-romantic picture of how some Danish emigrants fared:
(1927) “There were about two hundred Danes in Edmonton last time I was there. Most had no money. Many were begging in the streets.” [7:100]
(1928) “It can be estimated that 95% are worse off than they were in the old country, but you don’t hear too much about them.” [7:102]
(1930 or 1931): “Abroad they report how Canada improves, but they don’t write about all the unemployed who are starving here.” [7:106]
(1931): “The banks don’t want to give credit anymore, and the grocers are not able to. It is a peculiar world. Everything is here in abundance and yet people in the thousands starve and lack the most necessary things.” [7:108]
Although these are very personal observations, they show a side of the immigration story not often told. Ivar Lassen Andersen was a very active union man and a member of the Canadian Communist Party, and so he had a realistic view of conditions faced by the immigrants [7:116].
To determine the numbers on today’s Danish presence in Canada Statistics, Canada provides the latest numbers from the 2001 Census [17]:
Canadian Statistics – Population by Danish ethnic origin, Canada, 2001[4] |
|||
|
|
Totals |
Single Response[5] |
Multiple Response[6] |
|
Newfoundland and Labr. |
455 |
60 |
395 |
|
Prince Edward Island |
420 |
30 |
385 |
|
Nova Scotia |
3,010 |
465 |
2,550 |
|
New Brunswick |
3,390 |
685 |
2,705 |
|
Quebec and Ontario[7] |
45,975 |
10,205 |
35,770 |
|
Manitoba |
7,230 |
1,045 |
6,185 |
|
Saskatchewan |
9,375 |
1,225 |
8,155 |
|
Alberta |
50,465 |
9,050 |
41,410 |
|
British Columbia |
49,695 |
10,915 |
38,775 |
|
Yukon |
395 |
55 |
40 |
|
North West Territories |
275 |
40 |
230 |
|
Nunavut |
105 |
20 |
85 |
|
Totals |
170,780 |
33,795 |
136,985 |
The above figures show that there is a presence of Danes in every province and territory today with the main concentration on the West Coast, the Prairies, and Central Canada. However, this is not an indicator of how well they have maintained their tradition and language. It seems as if the process of assimilation had already started with the first settlers and only a few of them have maintained the traditions and language. The Danes seem to follow the line of least resistance in their assimilation, and they have willingly become ‘Canadianized’ at a very early stage.
“The Scandinavians in particular are assimilating…and amalgamating quickly.” [6:36]
“Herberg stresses that the fact that both religious and ethnic endogamy are deemed essential for the survival of ethnic group solidarity.” [6:36]
“However, compared to other ethnic languages, the Scandinavian rate of language loss is the highest with that of the Dutch.” [6:39]
“A study conducted in 1975 reveals that both Dutch and Scandinavians express little interest in ethno-cultural maintenance.” [6:41]
“For most Canadians of Scandinavian origins, their ethnic consciousness is often minimal and can simply amount to the knowledge of their ancestry.” [6:44]
The Danes have experienced positive integration and assimilation into the Canadian society and have blended in with the general Canadian population, but it has been at the price of tradition and language retention. Although not all had success with their efforts to adapt to a new country, the number of people with Danish ethnic background in today’s Canada must indicate a certain level of success.
Although the first immigration
of Danes to Canada took place about 1,000 years ago it involved an
insignificant number of people and it was short-lived. Danish immigration first
took off in large numbers at the beginning of the twentieth century. The
arrivals took place in three phases. The first two phases, during the period
from 1872 to about 1930, saw the immigrants predominantly settling in rural
areas. During the third and last phase, following the Second World War, the
average immigrant went to the big cities of Canada. The toll was high, and many
of the immigrants went through a lot of adjustments to their new environment.
Living conditions, especially in the period before 1940, were often dominated
by poverty and primitive housing. Danish immigrants would assimilate and
integrate well, but they would also see their language and traditions disappear
probably due to their eagerness to adjust to their new country. There is still
a fair number of people with a Danish ethnic background in Canada, but many of
them do not speak the old mother tongue and follow only a few of the
traditions.
Works Cited:
[1] Bender, Henning, and Larsen, Birgit Flemming, eds. Danish Emigration to Canada. Aalborg: Danes Worldwide Archives in collaboration with the Danish Society of Emigration History, 1991.
[2] Hvidt, Kristian. Flight to America: The Social Background of 300,000 Emigrants. New York: Academic Press, 1975.
[3] Leacy, F. H., ed. Historical statistics of Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada in joint sponsorship with the Social Science Federation of Canada, 1983.
[4] Hale, Christopher. “Go West, Young Dane: Danish Settlements on the Canadian Prairies.” Scandinavian-Canadian Studies. Volume 11, pp. 1-14, 1998
[5] Hale, Christopher. “Happy, Holy or Anglican.” Religious Studies and Theology, vol. 17.2, pp. 47-58, 1998
[6] Delafenetre, David G. “The Scandinavian presence in Canada: emerging perspective.” Canadian Ethnic Studies, vol. 27.2, pp. 34-60, 1995.
[7] Hansen, S Manoe. “An Emigrant Destiny.” Canadian Ethnic Studies, vol. 19.1, pp. 96-117, 1987
[8] Bender, Henning[8]. “Dansk Udvandring Til Canada 1868-1901.” (Danish Emigration to Canada 1868-1901). Danish Federation Conference Book 1996 pp. 1-11 [9]
[9] Hardwick, Francis C., and Moir, Philip. “The Return of the Vikings – Scandinavians in Canada.” Canadian Culture Series (Tantalus Research), vol. 7, 1978
[10] Jamieson, Eric. “Cape Scott: An Ill-conceived Providence.” Canadian West, vol. Winter 1987, pp. 132-139.
[11] Lanken, Dane. “New Denmark.” Canadian Geographic, Sept/Oct 1993, pp.21-31.
[12] Bech-Petersen, Ole. “Destination U.S.A. – The Mid Nineteenth-Century Danish Intellectual Encounter with the United States.” Scandinavian Studies, vol. 70.4, pp. 441-459, 1998.
[13] Larsen, Christian. ”Hvor mange Forbrydere eller vordende Forbrydere, Ladegaardslemmer, Tumultuanter og andre Misfornøjede har Amerika ikke befriet os for? Københavns Politis eksport af kriminelle personer 1864-1905.” (The export of criminal individuals 1864-1905). Fortid og Nutid (Past and Present), December 2001. 2 [Online Document] Retrieved on: www.landsarkivetkbh.dk/fortid/udvand.pdf
[14] The Encyclopaedia Americana. Danbury, Grolier Incorporated, Vol. 14, 1991.
[15] Hansen, Peter Mikael. Militærvægring 1849-1917. (Military Conscription Resistance 1849-1917)[10] [Online Document] http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/pmhansen/ud.htm
[16] “Cape Scott Provincial Park”. Vancouver Island's Cape Scott Provincial Park Pages [Online Document] http://www.vancouverislandabound.com/cape_scott.htm
[17] Canadian Statistics - Population by selected ethnic origins, Canada, 2001 Census [Online Document] http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/demo28m.htm
[18] “The Danes in Canada- a thousand year saga” Danish Canadian National Museum
http://dancanmuseum.ca/incanada.html
[1] “Emigration denotes movement from the point of view of the country of exit rather than the country of entrance.” [14:803]
[2] “Immigration is the voluntary movement of nationals of one country into another country for the purpose of resettlement.” [14:803]
[3] Text Paraphrased from the Danish original text.
[4] Calculations errors for some of the provinces and territories are as they appear on the Statistics Canada web site. Figures are as given on the Statistics Canada web site.
[5] Denotes one ethnic origin given
[6] Denotes more than one origin given
[7] The two Provinces do not have specific figures for the Danish group, and the figures are the total figures for Canada given in the statistic material subtracted by the other provinces and territories.
[8] Manuscript received as an email attachment directly from Henning Bender, Danes Worldwide Archives, Aalborg, Denmark. According to Henning Bender, the manuscript was part of the Danish Federation conference book in 1996.
[9] Text Paraphrased from the Danish original text.
[10] Text Paraphrased from the Danish original text.