Lithuanian Americans refers to American citizens and residents who are
Lithuanian and were born in Lithuania, or are of Lithuanian descent.
New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of
Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in the United States. Lithuanian
Americans form by far the largest group within the Lithuanian
diaspora.It is believed that Lithuanian emigration to the United
States began in the 17th century when Alexander Curtius arrived in New
Amsterdam (present day New York City) in 1659 and became the first
Latin School teacher-administrator; he was also a physician.After the
fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, most of Lithuania
was incorporated into the Russian Empire. The beginnings of
industrialization and commercial agriculture based on Stolypin's
reforms, as well as the abolition of serfdom in 1861, freed the
peasants and turned them into migrant-laborers. The pressures of
industrialization, Lithuanian press ban, general discontent,
suppression of religious freedom and poverty drove numerous
Lithuanians, especially after the famine in 1867â€"1868, to emigrate
from the Russian Empire to the United States continuing until the
outbreak of the First World War. The emigration continued despite the
Tsarist attempts to control the border and prevent such a drastic loss
of population. Since Lithuania as a country did not exist at the time,
the people who arrived to the U.S. were recorded as either Polish,
German or Russian; moreover, due to the language ban in Lithuania and
prevalence of Polish language at that time, their Lithuanian names
were not transcribed in the same way as they would be today. As a
result, information about Lithuanian immigration before 1899 is not
available because incoming Lithuanians were not registered as
Lithuanians. Only after 1918, when Lithuania established its
independence, the immigrants to the U.S. started being recorded as
Lithuanians. This first wave of Lithuanian immigrants to the United
States ceased when the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act in
1921, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The Immigration Act of
1924 was aimed at restricting the Eastern Europeans and Southern
Europeans who had begun to enter the country in large numbers
beginning in the 1890s.A second wave of Lithuanians emigrated to the
United States as a result of the events surrounding World War II â€"
the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 and the Nazi occupation
that followed in 1941. After the war's end and the subsequent
reoccupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, these Displaced Persons
were allowed to immigrate to the United States and to apply for
American citizenship thanks to a special act of Congress which
bypassed the quota system that was still in place until 1967. The
Displaced Persons Act of 1948 ultimately led to the immigration of
approximately 36,000 Lithuanians. Before that, the nationality quota
was only 384 Lithuanians per year.
Lithuanian and were born in Lithuania, or are of Lithuanian descent.
New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of
Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in the United States. Lithuanian
Americans form by far the largest group within the Lithuanian
diaspora.It is believed that Lithuanian emigration to the United
States began in the 17th century when Alexander Curtius arrived in New
Amsterdam (present day New York City) in 1659 and became the first
Latin School teacher-administrator; he was also a physician.After the
fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, most of Lithuania
was incorporated into the Russian Empire. The beginnings of
industrialization and commercial agriculture based on Stolypin's
reforms, as well as the abolition of serfdom in 1861, freed the
peasants and turned them into migrant-laborers. The pressures of
industrialization, Lithuanian press ban, general discontent,
suppression of religious freedom and poverty drove numerous
Lithuanians, especially after the famine in 1867â€"1868, to emigrate
from the Russian Empire to the United States continuing until the
outbreak of the First World War. The emigration continued despite the
Tsarist attempts to control the border and prevent such a drastic loss
of population. Since Lithuania as a country did not exist at the time,
the people who arrived to the U.S. were recorded as either Polish,
German or Russian; moreover, due to the language ban in Lithuania and
prevalence of Polish language at that time, their Lithuanian names
were not transcribed in the same way as they would be today. As a
result, information about Lithuanian immigration before 1899 is not
available because incoming Lithuanians were not registered as
Lithuanians. Only after 1918, when Lithuania established its
independence, the immigrants to the U.S. started being recorded as
Lithuanians. This first wave of Lithuanian immigrants to the United
States ceased when the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act in
1921, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The Immigration Act of
1924 was aimed at restricting the Eastern Europeans and Southern
Europeans who had begun to enter the country in large numbers
beginning in the 1890s.A second wave of Lithuanians emigrated to the
United States as a result of the events surrounding World War II â€"
the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 and the Nazi occupation
that followed in 1941. After the war's end and the subsequent
reoccupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, these Displaced Persons
were allowed to immigrate to the United States and to apply for
American citizenship thanks to a special act of Congress which
bypassed the quota system that was still in place until 1967. The
Displaced Persons Act of 1948 ultimately led to the immigration of
approximately 36,000 Lithuanians. Before that, the nationality quota
was only 384 Lithuanians per year.
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