ASSIGNMENTS - FILM 1
ASSIGNMENTS - FILM 1
Film 1: The flight from Denmark
Thousands of Danes journeyed from Denmark to America in the mid-1800s. Danish society was changing. The population was rising rapidly and people began to move towards cities for jobs in new industries. It was a hard life for farm workers and they had little hope for the future. Many instead tried to pursue the dream of a better life in America.
Assignments - film 1
These assignments are about the flight from Denmark. Why did people leave? And who were the people who made such a journey?
These assignments are about the flight from Denmark. Why did people leave? And who were the people who made such a journey?
Assignment 1: Letters
In Hallebyore in west Zealand, August Rasmussen was working hard as a farm laborer. A better life and his own land seemed to August to be an impossible dream. In a letter written later in life, he described the conditions in Denmark:
“I gave my back to the estate owner’s rattan cane, my shirt to the lieutenant’s blade, and my cheek to the manager’s slap. Beating and flogging were not allowed, but the big ones hit the small anyway. They knew that we had no rights.”
In 1853, August received a letter that would change his life. The letter was from a friend, Christian Jensen, who had fled to America two years earlier to escape poverty in Denmark:
“Here there are tremendous plains and woodlands to buy for almost nothing. The Americans are honest people, and the country is ruled by a president who is elected for four years. There is good administration of justice and there are beautiful girls, and I am marrying one of them”.
1. Why do you think that Christian is so positive in his letter? Is he telling the truth and describing what he has experienced? Or could he have other motives?
2. Continue the exchange of letters between August and Christian.
3. Why type of source is a letter? To whom do people write letters and why? What different types of letters are there? And how does the exchange of letters differ between 1853 and today?
2. Continue the exchange of letters between August and Christian.
- Write a letter where August describes more about his troubles as a farm worker and asks Christian about the possibility of journeying over to him.
- Then write a letter from Christian to answer August about his life in America.
3. Why type of source is a letter? To whom do people write letters and why? What different types of letters are there? And how does the exchange of letters differ between 1853 and today?
Assignment 2: The dream
This is an American ad from 1885. The ad was designed to get people to emigrate to America and further west to the state of California.
1. Make a list of the different parts of the advertisement (text and images) indicating what immigrants can look forward to in California.
2. Why do you think the advertisement was made? Why does the American government want people to move to California?
3. Make an updated version of the advertisement from this year. Imagine that you are trying to entice Danes to move to the United States. What can the United States offer today, as opposed to Denmark?
- Discuss why these things are positive.
- Use your list to create opposites – for instance, the conditions the immigrants had experienced in Denmark.
2. Why do you think the advertisement was made? Why does the American government want people to move to California?
3. Make an updated version of the advertisement from this year. Imagine that you are trying to entice Danes to move to the United States. What can the United States offer today, as opposed to Denmark?
Copyright
California cornucopia poster.
California cornucopia poster.
Assignment 3: Paradise
Freedom of religion in Denmark was adopted in the new Danish Constitution of 1849.
Quote from the Danish Constitution:
"According to section 67 of the Constitution, the Danish people have the right to ‘unite in society to worship God in the manner of their belief, limited only by the consideration of morality (moral conduct especially in connection with sexuality) and public order.”.
Quote from the Danish Constitution:
"According to section 67 of the Constitution, the Danish people have the right to ‘unite in society to worship God in the manner of their belief, limited only by the consideration of morality (moral conduct especially in connection with sexuality) and public order.”.
But the protection that the Constitution provided for religious minorities did not work. The widespread harassment and persecution of religious minorities such as Jews and Catholics did not end with the new Constitution.
Around the time that the Constitution was adopted, a smaller group of Danes left the Danish national church. They established the Danish Mormon Church and became Mormons.
1. Research how the Danish Mormon Church was established.
Jens Christian Andersen Weibye became a Mormon in 1854. He soon became a priest and leader in the church. This is an excerpt from the book Drømmen om et nyt liv (The Dream of a New Life) by Ole Sønnichsen, about Jens Christian Andersen Weibye’s experience becoming a Mormon.
Naturally, Weibye dreamt about following the Mormons to America. But first there was work to be done for the church in Denmark—though it was not always easy. In many places, missionaries were welcomed, but in some places people endured both verbal and physical assaults. At a meeting in Wenneberg, for example, they were promised beating and broken legs. The local clergyman from Skallerup shouted at them. "He slandered the Prophet Joseph Smith and spoke of miracles, etc., called us fools, parrots, Satan, devil's servants and seducers ..."
…Sometimes the Mormons had to flee out of the city in the shelter of the night. Other times they smuggled people out in the dark to perform baptism on adults, as they would otherwise attract too much attention and create turmoil.
In his diary, Weibye recounted that “in the evening, the house was surrounded by the mob, upon which I and Brother Heiselt wanted to call the police. Then the people came at us as if we were monsters. They swore and threw a stone after us.”
2. Why do you think the Mormons were threatened and assaulted?
3. Make a video greeting as if you were Jens Weibye addressing all the Mormons in Denmark. Talk about oppression and the opportunity for a new and better life in America.
3. Make a video greeting as if you were Jens Weibye addressing all the Mormons in Denmark. Talk about oppression and the opportunity for a new and better life in America.
Assignment 4: The Ticket
Various types of people chose to emigrate and embark on the journey to America: craftsmen, farm workers, servants, and thieves. All of them had to buy a ticket for the ship to sail them over the Atlantic Ocean.
The ticket could be purchased from a ticket agent. Some of these agents cheated the travelers, so in 1868 a law was passed that the police should keep strict records of who bought tickets and traveled to America.
The police kept a database of all immigrants from 1868-1940 and it is available online at Det Danske Udvandrerarkiv (Copenhagen Police Emigration Protocols): www.udvandrerarkivet.dk/udvandrerprotokollerne/
An English version can selected at the top of the page.
An English version can selected at the top of the page.
1. Try searching the database using a common Danish surname (Hansen, Jensen, Larsen, Andersen, Nielsen, etc.) What information is available on each traveler?
2. Pick a person from the archive and research him/her. Make a video where you are the person you have chosen from the database. Describe your life in Denmark, your reasons for emigrating, and what you hope for in America.
2. Pick a person from the archive and research him/her. Make a video where you are the person you have chosen from the database. Describe your life in Denmark, your reasons for emigrating, and what you hope for in America.