Network strategies of nineteenth century Hesse-Cassel emigrants Simone A. Wegge ⁎ College of Staten Island, City University of New York, United States The Graduate Center, City University of New York, United States CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York, USA Abstract Between 1820 and 1930 over 5 million Germans emigrated to overseas destinations, most to the U.S. By the 1850s the number of German migrants living in the U.S. was large, a consequence partly of cumulative causation. I provide evidence for the dramatic increase in networks by using micro-level data for the German principality of Hesse-Cassel in the mid-nineteenth century. A conservative measurement of network relationships finds that after 25 years almost half of them were related to a previous family member from the same village. Migrants who used family networks tended to move in small units. Usually only a few years separated networked family members, but some links lasted over a decade. Women were unlikely to start a network but more likely than men to travel to the U.S. Within some families, migrants switched from continental destinations to the U.S., perhaps due to the failure of the 1848 March Revolution. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Migration; Networks; Migration behavior; Inter-generational relationships; Siblings; Gender; Cumulative causation, Strong ties 1. Introduction In the years between 1820 and 1930 over 50 million Europeans emigrated for overseas destinations. About 10 million of these people left German-speaking countries (Baines, 1991, 3). Most of them settled permanently in the United States. A chief reason many left for the U.S. was the large differential in economic opportunities that they faced between their homeland and the United States. So while their decisions were based primarily on economic differentials in wages, living standards, and expected lifetime opportunities for themselves and their children, many may not have moved without the assistance of a personal network of some type, based on family members and/or friends. Such connections facilitated families to implement their various strategies of improving their situation materially and setting up children for their adult lives. A personal network manifested itself in various ways. Migrants used pre-paid tickets or remittances, for example, to finance their move, more so in the latter part of the 19th century as the numbers of overseas migrants and immigrants living in new places grew. 1 Another common strategy was to migrate with friends and/or with close relatives, or migrate to specific destinations where family members or friends were already in residence. Over time the number of these personal networks expanded as the number of migrants to the U.S. increased. By the 1850s the number of migrants living in the United States from certain source countries such as Great Britain, Germany, Available online at www.sciencedirect.com History of the Family 13 (2008) 296 – 314 1 For figures on the growth of remittances, see Baines (1985), p. 85. ⁎ Department of Political Science, Economics and Philosophy, College of Staten Island, CUNY 2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314, United States. Tel.: +1 718 982 2897. E-mail address: Wegge@mail.csi.cuny.edu. 1081-602X/$ - see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.hisfam.2008.08.002