Balancing, networking and the causes of emigration: early German transatlantic migration in a local perspective, 1700-1754

Population growth, social relations and transatlantic emigration in and fro m Gobrichen (Baden) during the eighteenth century are investigated in this article. The traditional explanation for emigration - overpopulation-is dis missed. During the process of population growth, local social networks beca me more close-meshed and inegalitarian. Transatlantic migration was, howeve r, not undertaken solely by the poor or by victims of the local oligarchy. Loose-knit transatlantic networks provided information on opportunities in America which made emigration an option for all social strata. It is sugges ted that networks provide a more useful context for the understanding of em igration than territorial demographic and economic systems, and that the wo rkings of networks can be both positive and negative.