History of Poles in the United States

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The history of Poles in the United States dates to the American Colonial era. Poles have lived in present-day United States territories for over 400 years—since 1608. There are 10 million Americans of Polish descent in the U.S. today. Polish Americans have always been the largest group of Slavic origin in the United States. Historians divide Polish American immigration into three big waves, the largest lasting from 1870 to 1914, a second after World War II, and a third after Poland's regime change in 1989. Before those major waves, there was a small but steady trickle of migrants from Poland to the Thirteen Colonies and early United States, mainly comprising religious dissenters, skilled tradesmen, and adventurous nobles. Most Polish Americans are descended from the first major wave immigrants, which consisted of millions of Poles who departed parts of Poland annexed by Germany, Russia, and Austria. This migration is often called in Polish za chlebem (for the bread), because most of the...

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