Swiss Americans


Swiss Americans are Americans of full or partial Swiss descent.
Swiss emigration to America predates the formation of the United States, notably in connection with the persecution of Anabaptism during the Swiss Reformation and the formation of the Amish community. In the 19th century, there was substantial immigration of Swiss farmers, who preferred rural settlements in the Midwest. Swiss immigration peaked in the 1880s and diminished after 1930, although limited immigration continues. Between 1700 and 2000, an estimated 460,000 Swiss immigrants entered the United States.
The number of Americans of Swiss descent is nearly one million. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs reported the permanent residency of Swiss nationals in the United States as 80,218 in 2015. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 26,896 individuals born in Switzerland declared that they were of Swiss ancestry in 2015, 3,047 individuals born in Switzerland declared that they were of German ancestry in 2015, 1,255 individuals born in Switzerland declared that they were of French ancestry in 2015, and 2,555 individuals born in Switzerland declared that they were of Italian ancestry in 2015.

History

Origins

The first Swiss person in what is now the territory of the United States was Theobald von Erlach of Bern, a member of René de Laudonnière's expedition who disappeared in Florida. Swiss artisans, whose exact origins are unknown, participated in the construction of Jamestown, Virginia in 1608. In the 17th and especially the 18th century, Swiss immigrants mostly consisted of members of religious communities from the cantons of Zurich and Bern, such as Anabaptists, Pietists and Mennonites, who settled in Georgia, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. The Swiss in the British colonies, especially those from German-speaking regions, were often mistaken for Germans. Therefore, the figure of 25,000 Swiss immigrants in 1790, when the first American census was conducted, is significantly underestimated. Most Swiss settled in cities, such as Philadelphia, Germantown, Charleston, and Savannah, or in existing villages, while some founded colonies. New Bern and Pequea, both founded in 1710, and Purrysburg, founded in 1732, were among the first Swiss colonies in the Americas. Of the 25,000-30,000 estimated Swiss who had moved to the United States by 1820, most settled in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas.

19th century

In the 19th century, poverty was one of the main reasons for emigration from Switzerland. After the famine of 1817-1818, many Swiss municipalities attempted to replace long-standing mercenary service with organized and subsidized civilian emigration. Swiss immigration to the United States, particularly from the Alpine valleys, increased significantly in the 1850s. Between 1851 and 1880, American authorities recorded the arrival of 76,653 Swiss in the country. They mostly settled in the Midwest, where they founded numerous colonies and settlements, such as Vevay, Tell City, Highland and New Glarus.
Between 1881 and 1893, over 100,000 Swiss citizens immigrated to the United States, amounting to nearly 8,000 arrivals per year. This large exodus can be attributed primarily to the population surplus in agricultural areas, which was linked to a drop in grain prices. The American economic crisis between 1894 and 1900 led to a decline in immigration. In 1900, the Swiss in the United States were a diverse group: around 38% of them were agricultural workers, one of the highest proportions among immigrant communities, while 35.5% lived in cities with over 25,000 inhabitants. Of Swiss immigrant involvement in the Civil War, David Vogelsanger writes, "More Swiss participated in the American Civil War than in any other foreign conflict except the Battle of Marignano in 1515 and Napoleon's Russian Campaign of 1812."

20th and 21st centuries

From the beginning of the 20th century, the proportion of Swiss immigrants working in the third sector increased. With the exception of the years of the First World War, immigration from Switzerland remained high until 1923, with over 4,000 Swiss arriving annually. It then entered into a period of decline, particularly during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Following the Second World War, the number of Swiss immigrants stabilized at an average of about 2,000 per year, although statistics have become less accurate. 23,700 more Swiss arrived from 1930 to 1960, followed by 29,100 more between 1961 and 1990, many of whom were professionals or employees in American branches of Swiss companies who later returned to Switzerland. An estimated 78.5% of immigrants returned to Switzerland between 1958 and 1974. In 2010, 75,252 Swiss citizens resided in the U.S., two-thirds of whom held dual citizenship.

Cantons of origin and U.S. destinations

Immigration to the United States affected all Swiss cantons, albeit to varying degrees and with different periods. The U.S. was the preferred overseas destination, particularly between 1870 and 1920, when it received 83% of all Swiss emigrants. The only exceptions during this period were the cantons of Fribourg, Valais and Geneva, from which fewer than 60% of emigrants went to the United States. Most Swiss immigrants to the U.S. came from the cantons of Bern, Ticino, and Zurich. In the early 19th century, the majority of Swiss, like Germans and Scandinavians, settled in the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. In 1870, the two regions were home to around 65% of Swiss immigrants.
The Swiss later went primarily to the West Coast, where especially the Italian-speaking Swiss were taking part in California's winegrowing culture, or then took up residence in more industrial and urban areas such as New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, Denver or San Francisco. In 1930, the West Coast population accounted for 24.4% of the Swiss and 6.7% of the country's overall population. In other regions, the differences between the proportions of the Swiss and overall American populations around 1930 were minimal, with the exception of the Southern United States, which had never been attractive to Swiss immigrants and was home to only 5.8% of them. Although Swiss settlers also followed the general migration to the West, they were generally not among the pioneers of the American frontier.

Population

Swiss Americans by numbers

Swiss Americans by percentage of total population

Communities settled by Swiss immigrants

Swiss American historical societies

  • Beech Island Historical Society, a historical society in South Carolina dedicated to the preservation of Historic Beech Island, including the early Swiss settlement led by John Tobler.
  • Grundy County Swiss Historical Society, a historical society in Grundy County, Tennessee, site of former Swiss colony of Gruetli.
  • Highland Historical Society, a historical society centered in Highland, Illinois, site of one of the oldest Swiss settlements in the United States. It was founded in 1831 by Swiss pioneers from Sursee, Switzerland.
  • Orangeburgh German-Swiss Genealogical Society, a genealogical society focused on the early Swiss and German settlers of Orangeburg, South Carolina.
  • Santa Clara Utah Historical Society, a historical Society dedicated to the preservation of an early Swiss Settlement in Utah.
  • Swiss American Historical Society – focuses on the involvement of the Swiss and their descendants in American life, aspects of Swiss American relations, and Swiss history.
  • Swiss Heritage Village & Museum – begun in 1985, it is currently the largest outdoor museum in northern Indiana. It is located in Berne, Indiana.
  • Swiss Mennonite Cultural and Historical Association – consists of descendants of the Mennonites who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine in the 1870s.
  • The Swiss Center of North America includes an extensive list of Swiss clubs.
  • , founded in 2019, honors the legacy and achievements of Swiss men and women who settled in North America prior to March 5, 1798, which marks the end of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

    Notable people

Articles about the Swiss in the United States

  • Hacken, Richard. Swiss American Historical Society Review, vol.56, no. 1, pp. 115–162.
  • The is the story of a former Swiss colony in Minnesota written by Wayne C. Blesi.
  • Article by University of Illinois – Chicago emeritus professor Dr. Leo Schelbert about Swiss Americans.
  • Article by Harold Miller about Berne, NY.

    Research links

  • Brigham Young University-Idaho Special Collections at the David O. McKay Library.
  • Archival collection of every Journal de Genève, Gazette de Lausanne and Nouveau Quotidien.
  • The , including correspondence, reports, minutes and other materials, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
  • . Articles and reviews featuring Swiss American history and life.
  • University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN.
  • The Swiss Poster Collection at Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Housed at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Richard J. Daley Library's Special Collections Department.
  • Housed at Tulane University as part of the Louisiana Research Collection, at the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.
  • Housed at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Richard J. Daley Library's Special Collections Department.
  • Graphic Arts Collection in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Princeton University Library.
  • The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at The University of Toledo.
  • Housed at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.
  • Housed at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.
  • Housed in the Archives & Special Collections at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.
  • Housed at the Special Collections of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at The Johns Hopkins University.
  • Housed at Auburn University Special Collections and Archives.
  • Housed at the Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University.
  • Housed in Special Collections Green Library Stanford University.
  • Housed at The Victoria University Library of the University of Toronto.
  • Housed in University of Cambridge.
  • Housed at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.
  • Hosted by University of California, Santa Barbara.
  • Housed at Tulane University as part of the Louisiana Research Collection, at the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.
  • Housed at University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, Special Collections.
  • Very extensive Collection of Swiss and Swiss-American Mennonite information hosted in the Archives and Special Collections Librarian at Musselman Library, Bluffton University.
  • —searchable English translations of 19th-century works by Swiss settlers in southwestern Illinois.
Category:American people of Swiss descent
Category:European diaspora in the United States
American