Earlier end to serfs in Tsarist Russia causing mass migration to America in the 1850s-1890s

How could this shape American history with mass migration from the Irish as well. My theory is that the Russians instead of coming through New York like the Irish do theres a route the Russians use coming into the port of New Orleans. Just like the Union Army with the Irish The Confederates have the Russians sign up for the CSA Army at the port. The large population allows for the Civil war to last longer than it does in this time line. Ideas suggestions?
Railways ?
 
An extra few thousand immigrants, at best, in the South isn't going to do squat for the CSA.

After the Civil War they still will mostly go elsewhere than the South and probably won't make much of a difference in the end.



That's why New Orleans already had a ton of immigrants and already was a center of immigration. But New Orleans is just one city, and the vast majority of Russians are going to go elsewhere.

New Orleans is a hub, there is opportunity to open dry good stores, farm. Perhaps the Sicilian immigrants would attempt t extort Russian store owners resulting in earlier Russian crime families forming to protect each other.
 
New Orleans is a hub, there is opportunity to open dry good stores, farm. Perhaps the Sicilian immigrants would attempt t extort Russian store owners resulting in earlier Russian crime families forming to protect each other.
A significant urban Russian immigrant population would result in at least gangs regardless of which ethnicity the stereotypical gangster
has at the moment (which in the 1850s to 1890s would presumably be Irish or possibly Jewish towards the end.)

Also still curious about why they choose to disembark at New Orleans when everybody else disembarks at New York.
 
A significant urban Russian immigrant population would result in at least gangs regardless of which ethnicity the stereotypical gangster
has at the moment (which in the 1850s to 1890s would presumably be Irish or possibly Jewish towards the end.)

Also still curious about why they choose to disembark at New Orleans when everybody else disembarks at New York.

New Orleans did receive non-trivial immigration from France well into the 19th century, but that has to do with established and obvious links. Nothing like that linked Russia, or any Russian population, to that city or to the south generally.
 
New Orleans is a hub, there is opportunity to open dry good stores, farm. Perhaps the Sicilian immigrants would attempt t extort Russian store owners resulting in earlier Russian crime families forming to protect each other.

The rest of America has just as many, if not more, opportunities, and successful farming is pretty much impossible when all the best land is owned by plantation owners with their dozens/hundreds of slaves. Even the crappier land was already owned by smaller-scale farmers (some of whom had a few slaves themselves). Texas was decently open, where they'd integrate with the immigrants in the Texas Hill Country, where a lot of Germans and Slavs lived. And IIRC that was also one of the most Unionist parts of Texas. Small-scale farmers in the South tended to be skeptical of the Confederacy even though their operations were an important part of the system--like East Tennessee's farmers growing the grain to feed slaves in Virginia.
 
New Orleans did receive non-trivial immigration from France well into the 19th century, but that has to do with established and obvious links. Nothing like that linked Russia, or any Russian population, to that city or to the south generally.

In this timeline the Russians go to New Orleans because many of the Russian immigrants were illiterate and thought that New Orleans and Chicago were near each other. When the first wave of Russian immigrants arrived in New Orleans and established themselves they wrote home telling them how great the city was. Eventually over time New Orleans became a hub for Russian immigration where there was even a part of town known as little Russia with Russian orthodox churches, russian restaurants and signs in Russian. Eventually a young Russian named Alek Belikov, of aristocratic background made the trip to New Orleans in 1887 settled down and opened a tea room in New Orleans. The Russian Tea Room became a regular hangout for the political elite of New Orleans and Belikov was able to make friends with local power brokers and began a campaign to run for Mayor of New Orleans with the promise of creating better housing laws for the city's immigrants who were living in decrepit conditions. Belikov allied himself with the landlords of the apartment complexes as well as store owners and leaders of these immigrant communities was able to secure his nomination as Mayor of New Orleans. New Orleans Russian community contributed to the unique food of the city. In the french quarter people would eat Beignets while in the Russian quarter they would eat ponchiki. Borsch a russian favorite became a popular dish in New Orleans as well as Beef stroganoff.
 
From 1850s-1878 the Russian immigration to New Orleans was of about 20,000 people. Among the first immigrants were many thieves from Russia who were highway robbers. the Russian thieves quickly grouped up and began forming gangs. the russian street gangs were disorganized and mostly were involved in pick pocketing, and robberies on the Natchez Trace. The robbers during the Civil War were involved in bush whacking of Union troops as the CSA paid criminals generously to bring scalps for rewards.
 
In the midst of the blockade on New Orleans many Russian street gangs would sell stolen goods from bush whacking of Union soldiers on the Black market for a considerable up charge. The Union Generals at the time were appalled that the Russian criminals had so many tattoos and were so loyal to one another refusing to rat each other out. The Russian Orthodox church would often hide the thieves since the Union blockade was viewed as cruel and unnecessary. The Union soldiers would often grab russians, take them to where russian prisoners were and demand they translate though many would deny they knew English. Flag officer Louis Goldsborough hated that in addition to Confederate bushwhackers the Union soldiers also had to fear attacks from Russian criminals using Shashka swords and guns they brought from russia
 
In the midst of the blockade on New Orleans many Russian street gangs would sell stolen goods from bush whacking of Union soldiers on the Black market for a considerable up charge. The Union Generals at the time were appalled that the Russian criminals had so many tattoos and were so loyal to one another refusing to rat each other out. The Russian Orthodox church would often hide the thieves since the Union blockade was viewed as cruel and unnecessary. The Union soldiers would often grab russians, take them to where russian prisoners were and demand they translate though many would deny they knew English. Flag officer Louis Goldsborough hated that in addition to Confederate bushwhackers the Union soldiers also had to fear attacks from Russian criminals using Shashka swords and guns they brought from russia
That's really interesting detail of the ACW, I never heard of before. Could aswell be posted in the thread , Things thats look alternate history but aren't'.
 
In this timeline the Russians go to New Orleans because many of the Russian immigrants were illiterate and thought that New Orleans and Chicago were near each other.

This does not seem very plausible to me. International migration is a huge and costly effort, something that people with at least a bit of economic and social capital do in order to better that lives. In traditional networks, earlier migrants communicate to later ones. If such a huge mistake was made by early migrants, later ones would be informed and a move made.
 
The Russian population in Louisiana has always been hard working and not representative of their criminal compatriots who would often butt heads with the Sicilian street gangs. Historian John Swift wrote "The Irish came to America escaping the potato famine, the Italians escaping war, but the Russians came because they heard New Orleans wasn't so cold. The Russian section of New Orleans would have street musicians playing Russian folk music, the smell of Borsch and sausage filled the streets. Rabbi Belinsky a minor Historian on Russian Jews in New Orleans noted in his book "Beignets and Borsch: A tale of Russian immigre in New Orleans" that when one went to the 'Little Moscow' you would leave with no money, either because the merchants were so savvy or you were pick pocketed by the Russian children enlisted by local gangs. Marina Alexandrova who came to New Orleans in 1859 quickly learned English and was a translator for many Russian businesses when dealing with non Russians. Alexandrova who married a Russian carpenter would translate and haggle prices for her husband who was still learning English. Another Russian, Ivan Glebov who worked in the fur trade in Russia found work selling alligator leather to local shoe makers. Glebov after learning his trade from locals began recruiting other Russians to help in his new business. Glebov noted that the work was dangerous, the swamps smelled, but the money was worth it. Glebov later opened a leather shop. The Russians who did enlist in the Civil War were often ex mercenaries. Nikita Sokolov who served in the Russian army, as a mercenary and later as a body guard to Nicholas I eagerly enlisted knowing that the American armies weren't as well trained as the Prussians he fought in battle. Sokolov who enlisted with other Russians of military background were armed with pick axes, tomahawks, and shovels would operate in New Orleans as guerrilla soldiers. For the Russians in the Confederacy the war was about protecting their children and women. Pavel Mikhailov saw first hand Union soldiers harassing Russian immigrant women who could not speak English well. For this reason Union Soldiers would rape Russian women knowing they couldn't report it. Some Russian soldiers in the CSA Army would kill Union soldiers out on patrol. In the Union Army patrol duty was considered a punishment by senior officers knowing you would be dead with in the week. Russian soldiers would hangout in whore houses or bars and wait for Union soldiers to show up and kill them in 'bar fights'. One Russian soldier began an affair with a local Russian madam in a whore house, it was there that he discovered that Union Generals Benjamin Butler and David Farragut frequented Natalia Lagunova's house of repute. It was in Lagunova's whore house that a plot was hatched to kidnap or kill the generals. Butler and Farragut were murdered on their way to the whore house. Once Butler and Farragut were killed CSA bushwhackers along with other regiments that were requested, over ran the Union barracks after the many Irish Union soldiers were drunk from 4th of July festivities. Once the Union barracks were overrun and the Union leadership dead, Lincoln suffered a humiliating loss of New Orleans. The nation began asking 'was Lincoln fit to lead'? Historian Shelby Foote, noted in an interview, Lincoln believed the CSA would attempt to take back Nashville, he never thought that New Orleans would be taken back. Though the South did lose the Civil War and the Union was saved Lincoln lost reelection when his opponent George B. McClellan ran on the platform that Lincoln did nothing to help the nation and that the Civil War could go on for 10 more years. McClellan upon winning the Presidency negotiated with CSA leaders agreements that were more favorable to the South.
 
Last edited:

Toraach

Banned
Why do russian peasants go to the US when closer they have their own empty lands of Siberia, Central Asia, steppes and finally some growing industry in cities? Example during the post-serfdom era a population of horses in the Russian Empire dropped, because many steppes, which supported vast herds were put under cultivation.
 
The Russians came to America instead of America because of a terrible draught that happened in the 1850s. At this point there was a small but established Russian community in New Orleans, upon hearing of how great New Orleans was many Russians set sail for America.
 
This does not seem very plausible to me. International migration is a huge and costly effort, something that people with at least a bit of economic and social capital do in order to better that lives. In traditional networks, earlier migrants communicate to later ones. If such a huge mistake was made by early migrants, later ones would be informed and a move made.

Historian Jacob Biel found a letter in an old desk he had purchased in the Russian Quarter. In the letter a Russian immigrant writes home informing that New Orleans is nowhere close to Chicago but that the city has so much to offer. Even though the Russians found out New Orleans was no where close to Chicago by the time many began to show up the community was established and thriving. The synagogue that was built by the Russian Jews is considered to be a treasure by the States Jewish society.
 
Top