A Brief Overview of Swiss Emigration
Links for Site Navigation: Home Page Family Tree The Wildy Family Book	There were three major waves of emigration from Switzerland. The first was from 1816-17 and was caused by large population growth and famine. The second wave was from 1845-1855 and was during Switzerland's revolutionary period. During this period, Catholic cantons seceded and created their own union called the Sonderbund, but were later defeated and Switzerland was made whole again. During this periond at least 8,000 people left Switzerland. The third wave was from 1880-85 wherein more than 17,000 Swiss left Switzerland for the United States. Sources: http://www.swissworld.org/en/history/the_federal_state/emigration http://www.swissroots.org/swissroots/en/stories/heritage/Swiss%20 Emigration%20to%20the%20USA.html