Hungarian American
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
Hungarian Americans |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ohio, New York, California, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida | |
| Languages | |
| English (American English dialects), Hungarian, and Yiddish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Greek Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Hungarians, Székely Hungarians, Csángó Hungarians, European Americans |
Hungarian Americans
1,468,069
Hungarian Americans (Hungarian: amerikai magyarok) are Americans of Hungarian descent. There have been several waves of substantial Hungarian immigration, notably about 650,000-700,000 ethnic Hungarians leaving during the four decades leading up to World War One, the majority of whom were unskilled laborers.
Hungarians have long settled in the New World, such as Michael de Kovats, the founder of United States Cavalry, active in the American Revolution. Hungarians have maintained a constant state of emigration to the United States since then; however, they are best known for three principle waves of emigration.
Agoston Haraszthy, who settled in Wisconsin in 1840, was the first Hungarian to settle permanently in the United States and the second Hungarian to write a book about the United States in his native language. After he moved to California in the Gold Rush of 1849, Haraszthy founded the Buena Vista Vineyards in Sonoma (now Buena Vista Carneros) and imported more than 100,000 European vine cuttings for the use of California winemakers. He is widely remembered today as the "Father of California Viticulture" or the "Father of Modern Winemaking in California."
The first large wave of emigration from Hungary to the United States occurred in 1849-1850 when the so-called "Forty-Eighters" fled from retribution by Austrian authorities after the defeat of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Lajos Kossuth gave a seven-month speaking tour of the US in 1851 and 1852 to great acclaim as a champion of liberty, thereby unleashing a brief outburst of pro-Hungarian emotions. He left embittered because his refusal to oppose slavery alienated his natural constituency, and his long-term impact was minimal. By 1860, 2,710 Hungarians lived in the US, and at least 99 of them fought in the Civil War. Their motivations were not so much antislavery as a belief in democracy, a taste for adventure, validation of their military credentials, and solidarity with their American neighbors.
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