This energy, together with the opening of the Nieuwe Waterweg to Hoek van
Holland, enabled Rotterdam to regain its dominant position; 8,500 Dutch emigrants
embarked there compared to 5,500 through England. The more southerly ports of Le
Havre and Antwerp competed with Rotterdam for the immigrant traffic. The con
struction in 1859 of a canal between the Meuse and the Scheldt rivers better enabled
Antwerp to tap its hinterland.10 In the 1850s Antwerp attracted nearly one-fifth
(17 percent) of all Dutch emigrants.
For the entire period from 1820 to 1880, 25,000 Dutch crossed to America out of
Rotterdam, 10,000 from Liverpool, 6,200 from Antwerp and about 3,000 each from
Amsterdam, Le Havre, and London. In percentages, 47 percent sailed from
Rotterdam, 18 percent transshipped from Liverpool, 11 percent used Antwerp, and
Amsterdam, London and Le Havre each had approximately 6 percent (Table 1).
The next question is: who sailed from which ports? As Table 2 shows, in the 1840s
and 1850s Zeelanders, along with all the Dutch except Limburgers, much preferred
Rotterdam. But in the next decades Zeelanders took their business to Antwerp and
Liverpool shippers. Before 1860, 72 percent of Zeelanders departed from Rotterdam
or Amsterdam, 19 percent left from Antwerp or Le Havre, and only 9 percent embar
ked at Liverpool or London. After 1860, 39 percent fewer sailed from Dutch ports and
63 percent more chose Antwerp, because the canal made it very convenient. In those
years Rotterdam shipped 44 percent of Zeelanders, Antwerp 31 percent, and
Liverpool 25 percent. Zeelanders thus used Rotterdam and Antwerp more and
Liverpool less than did other Dutch emigrants."
Table 2: National Ports of Embarkation by Province of Origin, Pre- and Post-1860
(in percent)
Provinces
National Ports of Embarkation
Dutch
British
Belgian
-French
German
35-60
61-80
35-60
61-80
35-60
61-80
35-60
61-80
Western:
Noord-Holland
84
51
9
44
7
1
0
4
Utrecht
89
61
2
26
10
9
0
4
Zuid-Holland
86
67
4
29
9
3
0
1
Northern:
Drenthe
94
56
0
41
4
0
2
3
Friesland
72
63
14
25
12
2
2
0
Groningen
87
48
9
44
4
1
1
8
Eastern:
Gelderland
84
32
3
52
13
12
0
5
Overijssel
80
52
12
44
6
2
4
2
Southern:
Limburg
24
32
0
22
76
45
0
1
Noord-Brabant
70
29
7
55
23
11
1
5
Zeeland
72
44
9
25
19
31
1
0
Source: Data file: Dutch Immigrants in U.S. Ship Passenger Manifests, 1820-1880
TRAVEL ROUTES OF ZEELAND EMIGRANTS
21
