<P> Swedish emigration dropped dramatically after 1890; return migration rose as conditions in Sweden improved . Sweden underwent a rapid industrialization within a few years in the 1890s, and wages rose, principally in the fields of mining, forestry, and agriculture . The pull from the U.S. declined even more sharply than the Swedish "push", as the best farmland was taken . No longer growing but instead settling and consolidating, the Swedish - American community seemed set to become ever more American and less Swedish . The new century, however, saw a new influx . </P> <P> In the 1800s--1900s, the Lutheran State Church supported the Swedish government by opposing both emigration and the clergy's efforts recommending sobriety . This escalated to a point where its priests even were persecuted by the church for preaching sobriety, and the reactions of many congregation members to that contributed to an inspiration to leave the country (which however was against the law until 1840). </P> <P> Emigration rose again at the turn of the 20th century, reaching a new peak of about 35,000 Swedes in 1903 . Figures remained high until World War I, alarming both conservative Swedes, who saw emigration as a challenge to national solidarity, and liberals, who feared the disappearance of the labor force necessary for economic development . One - fourth of all Swedes had made the United States their home, and a broad national consensus mandated that a Parliamentary Emigration Commission study the problem in 1907 . Approaching the task with what Barton calls "characteristic Swedish thoroughness", the Commission published its findings and proposals in 21 large volumes . The Commission rejected conservative proposals for legal restrictions on emigration and in the end supported the liberal line of "bringing the best sides of America to Sweden" through social and economic reform . Topping the list of urgent reforms were universal male suffrage, better housing, and general economic development . The Commission especially hoped that broader popular education would counteract "class and caste differences" </P> <P> Class inequality in Swedish society was a strong and recurring theme in the Commission's findings . It appeared as a major motivator in the 289 personal narratives included in the report . These documents, of great research value and human interest today, were submitted by Swedes in Canada and the U.S. in response to requests in Swedish - American newspapers . The great majority of replies expressed enthusiasm for their new homeland and criticized conditions in Sweden . Bitter experiences of Swedish class snobbery still rankled after sometimes 40--50 years in America . Writers recalled the hard work, pitiful wages, and grim poverty of life in the Swedish countryside . One woman wrote from North Dakota of how in her Värmland home parish, she had had to earn her living in peasant households from the age of eight, starting work at four in the morning and living on "rotten herring and potatoes, served out in small amounts so that I would not eat myself sick". She could see "no hope of saving anything in case of illness", but rather could see "the poorhouse waiting for me in the distance". When she was seventeen, her emigrated brothers sent her a prepaid ticket to America, and "the hour of freedom struck" </P>

Most european immigrants to the united states moved to rural areas and became farmers