(Self-)Identity among Early Migrants from Bulgarian Lands to the United States

• In Event: Freedom, Hope, and Uncertainty in a Bulgarian Longue durée Perspective

Abstract

Bulgaria’s modern national identity emerged as formerly Ottoman territories in the Balkans achieved liberation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This paper explores the complexity of ethnic, regional, and linguistic identities among migrants from historically Bulgarian lands to the United States during that period. Factors influencing how these immigrants identified and were identified are explored, including the lack of familiarity in the U.S. with Balkan populations, the vagaries of U.S. migrant classifications, common migration motivations and objectives, strategies for success in migration, and collective goals of homeland liberation.

Author

• William F Zieske, Zieske Law and Fine Arts Legal