Dala Painting of a Civil War Soldier
This is a Dala-painted panel of a Swedish man volunteering for the Civil War. He represents the many Swedes from Minnesota and Illinois who served in the War. Peter Magnus Nelson, who lived in Illinois, was in the Civil War and later came to Scandia. He was the father of Isaac T. Nelson (who was born in the Prast Hus at Gammelgarden).
According to Time.com, “Immigrants tended to be young and male, but they enlisted [in the Civil War] above their quota. Many immigrants left jobs to fight for the Union, enlisting before the draft—and the bounties—were even introduced. They volunteered, fought, and sacrificed far beyond what might be expected of strangers in a strange land.”
The online article continues, “So it was a civil war, but for many foreign-born soldiers and citizens, this was much more than America’s war. It was an epic contest for the future of free labor against slavery, for equal opportunity against privilege and aristocracy, for freedom of thought and expression against oppressive government, and for democratic self-government against dynastic rule. Foreigners joined the war to wage the same battles that had been lost in the Old World. Theirs was the cause not only of America, but of all nations.”
