Slovak American
Encyclopedia
Slovak Americans are Americans
of Slovak
descent. In the 1990 Census
Slovak Americans made up the second-largest portion of Slavic
ethnic groups. There are currently about 790,000 people of Slovak
descent living in the United States
. http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf
. Sarosi arrived in the religious colony of Germantown
, Pennsylvania
, founded by Mennonite
preacher Francis Daniel Pastorius
, to serve as a teacher and a preacher. Sarosi returned to Europe after two years. In 1754, Andrej Jelik fled Slovakia to escape military conscription. After much travel in Europe, he eventually reached American shores, via the West Indies, on a Dutch trading ship.
After being proclaimed emperor in Madagascar
, and bearing letters of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin
and funds from a descendant of Ferdinand Magellan
, Móric Beňovský
came to America and fought with American troops in the War for Independence. He joined a cavalry corps led by General Pulaski and fought in the siege of Savannah. He died in Madagascar in 1786, but his wife, Zuzana Honschová, spent the years from 1784 until her death in 1815 in the United States.
Another Slovak fought in the American Revolution; Major Jan Polerecky, who trained at the French Royal Military Academy of St. Cyr, came to America from France to fight with George Washington's army in the War for Independence. He was in the company of the 300 "Blue Hussars" to whom the British formally surrendered their weapons after the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. When the war was over, Polerecky settled in Dresden, Maine, where he served in a number of public positions.
, Abraham Lincoln approved a request to organize a military company named the "Lincoln Riflemen of Sclavonic Origin." This first volunteer unit from Chicago, which included many Slovaks, fought in the Civil War and was eventually incorporated into the 24th regiment of the Illinois infantry. Slovak immigrant, Samuel Figuli, fought in the Civil War, owned a plantation in Virginia, and later joined an exploratory expedition to the North Pole.
Large scale Slovak immigration to the United States began in the 1870s with the forced magyarization
policies of the Hungarian government. Because U.S. immigration officials did not keep separate records for each ethnic group within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is impossible to determine the exact number of Slovak immigrants who entered the United States. Between 1880 and the mid-1920s, approximately 500,000 Slovaks immigrated to the United States. More than half of Slovak immigrants settled in Pennsylvania. Other popular destinations included Ohio, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
In 1914, Štefan Banič
, a Slovak inventor, constructed and tested a prototype of a parachute in Washington, D.C., by jumping from a 41-floor building and subsequently from an airplane. His patented parachute became standard equipment for U.S. pilots during World War I
. Banič worked in the United States from 1907 to 1920, with two interruptions.
In 1915, the leaders of the Czech National Alliance and the Slovak League of America signed the Cleveland Agreement, in which they pledged to cooperate for the common goal of independent statehood for the Czechs and Slovaks. The agreement's five articles laid out the basics of a future joint state for the two nationalities. Three years later, the Pittsburgh Agreement
was concluded by representatives of Czechs and Slovaks at a meeting of the American branch of the Czechoslovak National Council in Pittsburgh. The agreement endorsed a program for the struggle for a common state of Czecho-Slovakia and agreed that the new state would be a democratic republic in which Slovakia would have its own administration, legislature, and courts. On October 18, 1918, the primary author of the agreement, T. G. Masaryk, a Slovak, declared the independence of Czechoslovakia
on the steps of Independence Hall
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was elected the first President of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1920.
Communists took control of Czechoslovakia's government in 1948, leading to a mass migration of Slovak intelligentsia
and post-war political figures. Another wave of Slovak immigration was fueled by the Soviet Union's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the Soviet response to the cultural and political liberalization of the Prague Spring
. Many members of this wave belonged to the intelligentsia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
descent. In the 1990 Census
United States Census, 1990
The Twenty-first United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 Census....
Slovak Americans made up the second-largest portion of Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
ethnic groups. There are currently about 790,000 people of Slovak
Slovak
Slovak may refer to:* Related to, from, or belonging to the country of Slovakia* Slovaks, An ethnic sub-group of the Western Slavic people inhabiting the nation of Slovakia.* Slovak language...
descent living in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf
Eighteenth century
Isaac Ferdinand Sarosi was the first known immigrant from what is now SlovakiaSlovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. Sarosi arrived in the religious colony of Germantown
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, founded by Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
preacher Francis Daniel Pastorius
Francis Daniel Pastorius
thumb|right|300px|Home of Francis Daniel Pastorius in Germantown, PA as it appeared circa 1919Francis Daniel Pastorius was the founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, now part of Philadelphia, the first permanent German settlement and the gateway for subsequent emigrants from Germany. He was "the...
, to serve as a teacher and a preacher. Sarosi returned to Europe after two years. In 1754, Andrej Jelik fled Slovakia to escape military conscription. After much travel in Europe, he eventually reached American shores, via the West Indies, on a Dutch trading ship.
After being proclaimed emperor in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, and bearing letters of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
and funds from a descendant of Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
, Móric Beňovský
Móric Benovský
Maurice Benyovszky, born as Benyovszky Móric Ágost? , was a Hungarian count with Hungarian, Polish and Slovak ancestry. He was a globetrotter, explorer, colonizer, writer, chess player, ruler of a community in Madagascar, a French colonel, Polish military commander, and Austrian soldier...
came to America and fought with American troops in the War for Independence. He joined a cavalry corps led by General Pulaski and fought in the siege of Savannah. He died in Madagascar in 1786, but his wife, Zuzana Honschová, spent the years from 1784 until her death in 1815 in the United States.
Another Slovak fought in the American Revolution; Major Jan Polerecky, who trained at the French Royal Military Academy of St. Cyr, came to America from France to fight with George Washington's army in the War for Independence. He was in the company of the 300 "Blue Hussars" to whom the British formally surrendered their weapons after the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. When the war was over, Polerecky settled in Dresden, Maine, where he served in a number of public positions.
Nineteenth century
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Abraham Lincoln approved a request to organize a military company named the "Lincoln Riflemen of Sclavonic Origin." This first volunteer unit from Chicago, which included many Slovaks, fought in the Civil War and was eventually incorporated into the 24th regiment of the Illinois infantry. Slovak immigrant, Samuel Figuli, fought in the Civil War, owned a plantation in Virginia, and later joined an exploratory expedition to the North Pole.
Large scale Slovak immigration to the United States began in the 1870s with the forced magyarization
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
policies of the Hungarian government. Because U.S. immigration officials did not keep separate records for each ethnic group within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is impossible to determine the exact number of Slovak immigrants who entered the United States. Between 1880 and the mid-1920s, approximately 500,000 Slovaks immigrated to the United States. More than half of Slovak immigrants settled in Pennsylvania. Other popular destinations included Ohio, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
Twentieth century
Štefan Banic
Štefan Banič was a Slovak inventor who devised a military parachute, the first parachute ever deployed in actual use....
, a Slovak inventor, constructed and tested a prototype of a parachute in Washington, D.C., by jumping from a 41-floor building and subsequently from an airplane. His patented parachute became standard equipment for U.S. pilots during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Banič worked in the United States from 1907 to 1920, with two interruptions.
In 1915, the leaders of the Czech National Alliance and the Slovak League of America signed the Cleveland Agreement, in which they pledged to cooperate for the common goal of independent statehood for the Czechs and Slovaks. The agreement's five articles laid out the basics of a future joint state for the two nationalities. Three years later, the Pittsburgh Agreement
Pittsburgh Agreement
The Pittsburgh Agreement paved the way for the creation of the state of Czechoslovakia and was signed by a group of 20 Czechs, Slovaks, and Rusyns on May 31, 1918...
was concluded by representatives of Czechs and Slovaks at a meeting of the American branch of the Czechoslovak National Council in Pittsburgh. The agreement endorsed a program for the struggle for a common state of Czecho-Slovakia and agreed that the new state would be a democratic republic in which Slovakia would have its own administration, legislature, and courts. On October 18, 1918, the primary author of the agreement, T. G. Masaryk, a Slovak, declared the independence of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
on the steps of Independence Hall
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was elected the first President of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1920.
Communists took control of Czechoslovakia's government in 1948, leading to a mass migration of Slovak intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
and post-war political figures. Another wave of Slovak immigration was fueled by the Soviet Union's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the Soviet response to the cultural and political liberalization of the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
. Many members of this wave belonged to the intelligentsia.