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It's never really been different. Apparently you haven't watched the movie with Liv Ullman called "The Emigrants" ~ good introduction to the problem.

Back when that movie came out it made me realize that I had no idea if I had any Swedish ancestors, or if Sweden even had a history.

Took a while but I remedied the problem ~ then, more recently I found out that the Swedes kept all their official records of the 1500s and 1600s in one building which burned in the late 1600s. They've spent centuries trying to reassemble the greater part of their most formative period from private materials. Which means I wasn't as far behind them on that period of Swedish history.

There are Swedish records in America or the 1600s, and as I discovered, there are actually English and Spanish records recounting part of the deeds of intrepid Swedish explorers and surveyors as far back as 1598! We may well have more information about the Swedes back in the day than they do ~ just we don't have as many names to worry about.

There are three Swedish experiences in America ~ the 1600s and 1700s. Then there's the early 1800s, and the late 1800s. The earliest history focuses on the New Sweden Colony. They usually let you off the boat when it's just in Delaware, but pretty soon they moved to Eastern Pennsylvania, and by 1700 lived in York county. From there they spread due North, due South and Due West all the way across the country founding a string of stopping place called Uniontown ~ and variations on that name. It refers to the Kalmar Union. Swedish history starts there!

The early 1800 period is when people fled famine in Scandinavia. Parts were hit as early as 1812 with a Western extension of the massive drought that was also killing tens of millions in China. Since it occured at the same time as the Napoleonic wars no one particulary noticed it. At the same time Sweden was stripped of its European empire including Finland ~ Finland later lost the Kola to the Russians. The second period ~ late 1800s ~ is about economic collapse.

The Swedes could tell you that when you lose a big war and get your empire cut up into little bitty controllable hunks, life can get very tough. Previously existing authoritarian currents were simply strengthened!

The nail that sticks up will be hammered down!