Pregledni rad
Slavonian Archive and Newspaper Records on Croatian Emigrants to the USA from the Second Half of the 19th Century to 1905
Ivan BALTA
Sažetak
The paper deals with the analysis of Slavonian archive and
newspaper records and historiographic materials about
Croatian emigrants in the USA from the second half of the
19th century to the year 1905. The causes of emigration
were both economic and political: low cost-effectiveness of
soil cultivation and smallholding; industrialisation and the
growth of the number of wage labourers; rapid growth of
population, intensive Germanisation and Hungarisation of
Slavonia, mostly through the Greater-Hungarian July Action
Programme, party clashes, and population disintegration.
The Slavonian population was mostly oriented towards
mining and agricultural areas and industrial and commercial
cities of the United States. Emigration to America was not
frequent until the end of the 19th century, so that
immigration to Slavonia from Bosnia and Herzegovina was
at one time more disturbing due to the uprisings there. From
the second half of the 19th century to 1905 the migration of
the Croatian people was constantly growing, despite the
difficulties encountered in the new homeland, despite the
American authorities who were constantly introducing
restrictions into the immigration policy, in spite of the
Government of Croatia and Slavonia which was warning of
the difficulties the emigrants experienced while leaving for
the USA and restrictions in issuing passports, in spite of the
newspaper articles publishing the letters of disillusioned
emigrants. The development of the wood-processing industry
and construction of the railroad in Slavonia enabled the
survival of a smaller number of people, mostly foreigners.
The important issue of disintegration of Slavonian household
cooperatives and agricultural crisis is mentioned, especially
the change of the national population structure in Slavonia caused by the emigration of Croatian population and
immigration of German, Hungarian and other immigrants
into Slavonia. Several generations of Slavonian emigrants
remained in the new homeland as fully recognised citizens of
the United States of America.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
18288
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.2006.
Posjeta: 2.336 *