ABSTRACT
Both continuity and change characterize Nebraska’s population. The principal ethnic groups—Germans, Swedes, Czechs, blacks—had arrived in large numbers by 1890. American-born whites with midwestern or northeastern backgrounds were the largest group in Nebraska during the settlement period. The first sizable migration of blacks to Nebraska coincided with the dramatic movement of the “Exodusters” from south to north in 1879. Germans were the largest immigrant group in Nebraska. In 1900 German Americans made up more than 14 percent of the state’s population. Swedes are the third-largest European nationality in Nebraska. The population of Spanish background in the state is primarily of Mexican origin. Several factors have led to a decreasing impact of ethnicity upon the appearance and behavior of communities. Most important has been the decline of native languages. Nebraska’s population has been growing slowly, but fairly steadily, since 1900. Only between 1930 and 1940 did the state’s population decline.
