This series explores the transatlantic journey undertaken by Norwegian emigrants bound for America between 1825 and 1925. Across several chapters, it examines both the human experience on board and the dramatic maritime evolution—from small wooden sailing ships to modern steam liners—driven by the surging wave of migration. While the story is told primarily through the eyes of Norwegians, the trials, hopes, and conditions at sea were shared by emigrants from across Europe.
This series is an expanded edition of an article I originally wrote for the National Library of Norway’s digital exhibition Det Løfterike Landet (The Promised Land) in 2006, translated into English by Harry T. Cleven. As the research grew far too extensive for a single piece, I divided the work into multiple themed chapters.
Together, these chapters explore the transatlantic crossing between 1825 and 1925, tracing both the personal realities of life on board and the dramatic evolution in ship construction that made mass migration possible. While drawn primarily from Norwegian accounts, the conditions and hardships documented here reflect the universal emigrant experience across the Atlantic.
The Transatlantic Crossing:
- Chapter 1: Early Norwegian Emigrants
- Chapter 2: Steerage Passengers - Emigrants Between Decks
- Chapter 3: By sail across the ocean - daily life aboard
- Chapter 4: Children of the ocean - life and death on the Atlantic
- Chapter 5: Sailing ship provisions - Food and drink
- Chapter 6: Sanitary conditions on board - health and sickness on emigrant ships
- Chapter 7: From sail to steam
- Chapter 8: The largest, the fastest and most comfortable ships - by steamship across the ocean
- Chapter 9: The giant express steamers - The transatlantic crossing following 1900
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