1826 Russian Decembrist emigration to US

The Russian Decembrists were sort of enamoured with Western political liberty and for many of them (like Prince Volkonsky) America was the shining example in this regard.

In a similar vein, after the failure of the 1848 German revolutions many middle-class Germans emigrated to the US, where they played a major part in contributing to their new country - especially with regards to the slavery question, which almost all were opposed to.

So the question is this: how would the US change if the Russian Decembrists (and their middle-class supporters) immigrated en masse to the United States in 1826? How would the politics, culture and society of the new country change with the addition of a new class that grew up with autocracy, serfdom and, also importantly, a strong French [not a typo] background?

For the sake of simplification, Let's say Tsar Nicholas allows this (instead of Siberia) and most of the Princes etc. bring some portion of their substantial wealth along, and the US accepts them. Obviously due to the nature of the Russian middle class the immigration wave isn't going to be as large, but then again the US isn't as populated back in the 1820s and the major Irish/German/Scandinavian waves haven't occurred yet, which gives the Russians some time to entrench themselves.
 
Last edited:

Driftless

Donor
How many emigres would you think?

In 1826, would their Russian Orthodox religion be a significant issue? I don't know one way or the other.

What areas would be a likely set of destinations in 1826 - New York, Philadelphia, a previously undeveloped piece of the frontier? I don't think there was a significant Russian populace in the US until 1850's or later. If it were later, maybe California.
 
Would the US even let them immigrate? They were still wringing their hands about Irishmen, let alone Eastern Europeans.
 
Would the US even let them immigrate? They were still wringing their hands about Irishmen, let alone Eastern Europeans.
Irishmen? I say good sir, these men are princes. Nothing like the rabble. ;)

Though the common soldiers are a bit of a different story.
 
How many emigres would you think?

In 1826, would their Russian Orthodox religion be a significant issue? I don't know one way or the other.

German immigration from 1841 - 1850 was around 500,000 out of a German population of c.30m, so around 2% immigrated throughout the decade. Russia's population was around 70m and we'll assume that Russia's emigration proportion is 10% of Germany's, so that gives a 0.2% of Russians emigrating to the US which adds up to 125,000 people, which would be 1.3% of the US population (comparing to the 1848 Germans being around 3% of US population). Number still seems a bit high by my reckoning, but let's just run with it and assume that large sections of young aristocrats and the middle class leave + Poles. Main point is, qualitatively, these guys are probably not so different from the actual 1848 German immigrants.

Orthodoxy is obviously going to be a big issue, but no worse than Catholicism by my reckoning. Seeing that most who move will be gentry maybe frontier settling will be a bigger part of the movement? Also, Louisiana is probably a major destination due to the French education, as mentioned earlier. Not sure how pro-serf attitudes would translate to the slavery question.

Oh, and assume that the US accepts them. Some of the richer emigres are going to be bringing a lot of money into the country, after all.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Nobody who showed up and wasn't obviously dying got

Nobody who showed up and wasn't obviously dying got turned away, generally - especially in the 1820s...

And Russo-American (Americo-Russian?) relations were interesting in this period; there was some interest back and forth, for obvious reasons, so I don't really see any doors being closed, especially as (essentially) European liberal refugees from monarchy.

As far as the religious issues go, the first Orthodox diocese did not come until the 1860s, but Eastern Rite Catholics were present earlier than that, and the first Catholic archdiocese, that of Baltimore, was founded in the 1780s.

Individuals like John B. Turchin were welcomed (granted, that was in the 1850s), but still - I can see "colonies" akin to the Mennonites and Amish etc being created in the Old Northwest and trans-Mississippi; plenty of parallels to the steppe on the prairie.

Cossack-drover-vaquero "cowboys" would be interesting.

Best,
 
The Russian Decembrists were sort of enamoured with Western political liberty and for many of them (like Prince Volkonsky) America was the shining example in this regard.

In a similar vein, after the failure of the 1848 German revolutions many middle-class Germans emigrated to the US, where they played a major part in contributing to their new country - especially with regards to the slavery question, which almost all were opposed to.

So the question is this: how would the US change if the Russian Decembrists (and their middle-class supporters) immigrated en masse to the United States in 1826? How would the politics, culture and society of the new country change with the addition of a new class that grew up with autocracy, serfdom and, also importantly, a strong French [not a typo] background?

For the sake of simplification, Let's say Tsar Nicholas allows this (instead of Siberia) and most of the Princes etc. bring some portion of their substantial wealth along, and the US accepts them. Obviously due to the nature of the Russian middle class the immigration wave isn't going to be as large, but then again the US isn't as populated back in the 1820s and the major Irish/German/Scandinavian waves haven't occurred yet, which gives the Russians some time to entrench themselves.

There could be some interesting cultural reprecussions here across both sides of the Atlantic; but I'll just stick to the United States: One thing to keep in mind, is that there wasn't nearly as much hardcore anti-immigrant xenophobia in 1826, as there would have been just 30 years later. There probably *would* be some requests to limit the number of Russians coming to America over any given period in time, although primarily out of concerns of not upsetting the labor market too much, and nothing quite like what supported the Know-Nothings in the 1850s.

There may, however, be a significant exception in the South, depending on how the incoming Russians feel about slavery; chances are, TBH, many of them probably wouldn't be too fond of it(although there certainly could be a few exceptions, of course), which could pose serious problems later on as pro-slavery sentiment really takes off, especially in the Deep South(mainly, Miss., Ala., Ga., and S.C.).
 
Oh, and assume that the US accepts them. Some of the richer emigres are going to be bringing a lot of money into the country, after all.
IIRC a lot of noble capital was held in property/land, serfs or debts. You can't exactly take any of those assets overseas with you, so the would have to mortgage. Which meant a lot of the aristocracy actually was kind of hugely indebted (Alexander II was able to proclaim the emancipation because everyone owed too much money to protest).

I'm not sure about the Decembrists in particular. They seemed to be mostly military men so at a minimum they would have have formally had an officer's wage (not all that great). The rest depends on what wealth their families have (and how willing they would be to let the black sheep of the family run and take all the money to America), and the liquidity of their capital.
 

Driftless

Donor
Also, which flavor of Decembrists be likely to emmigrate (if allowed...)The anti-monarchists, or the more constitutional minded?

By 1826 in the US, the President would be John Quincy Adams, shortly to be followed by Andrew Jackson. Adams had served about five years as US Minister to Russia, so he was more knowledgeable than most US officials about conditions. I think Adams may have been inclined to allow emigres with republican ideals, particularly those escaping from some form of tyranny. Jackson, I'm not so sure about, as his focus was more internal to the US.

*edit* On the slavery question, weren't the Decembrists in favor of overhauling the serf system?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembrist_revolt

The political aims of the more moderate Northern Society were a British style constitutional monarchy with a limited franchise, the abolition of serfdom and equality before the law. The Southern Society, under Pestel's influence, was more radical and wanted to abolish the monarchy, establish a republic and redistribute land: taking half into state ownership and dividing the rest among the peasants.[
 
Last edited:
Also, which flavor of Decembrists be likely to emmigrate (if allowed...)The anti-monarchists, or the more constitutional minded?

All Decembrists, any of whom I think Nicholas I would be happy to see the back of. I guess you can determine for yourself which one is the more dominant position, or if they will go settle in different places because of it.
 

Redhand

Banned
I think there would be no issues if they stayed far away from the true halls of power, and like the Swedes after them, went up to Minnesota.
 
Top