Inequalities on the eve of mass migration: Agricultural holdings in Sweden and The United States in 1845–1850

Abstract

A comparison of economic conditions in Sweden and America in the middle of the 19th century is of vital interest because it highlights the push-and-pull aspects of migration to America. One method of analysis of this topic would be to compare the distribution of wealth in real estate in Sweden in 1845, say, with that in Illinois or Wisconsin in 1850, or with the distribution in Minnesota in 1860, or, more technically, for Swedes in those states and at those times. Surely the results of such a comparison would point vividly to the fact that the average individual could do better in America; letters from America bear strong testimony that this indeed was true.

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Lee Soltow

Lee Soltow, born 1923, professor of economics at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.