After the 1851 Treaties of Mendota and Traverse des Sioux officially opened up millions of acres of Minnesota land to white settlement, even more people came here in search of an opportunity to build a new life.

These people were born in North America to families that had been here for generations, or they were children of immigrants who initially moved to other states. Many new settlers moved from New England states like Maine and New York, transplanting their Yankee culture and values to the area. Recently freed African Americans also moved north to make a living and establish a new home. Some people even came from Canada, crossing Minnesota's northern borders.

European-Americans from the New England states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut moved into the newly opened territory of Minnesota in the 1850s. These settlers wanted to create a New England in the west. They founded towns, schools, churches, institutions, and businesses that reflected their unique political, religious, and educational values.

In order to encourage more people who shared their culture and values to join them, town founders like John and Anne North of Northfield sent letters and newspaper articles back home to encourage and recruit others.

Many other early Euro-American arrivals in Minnesota originally hailed from New York state. Similar to the New Englanders, they traveled west individually or in groups and established settlements of like-minded people. Several elected officials and public servants in the young state were born in New York.

People came here from other states in the United States, too. They migrated slowly from east coast states like Maryland and the Carolinas. Many stopped to live in lower Midwestern states like Indiana and Ohio before eventually coming to Minnesota to stay. They were drawn to the rich farmlands and business opportunities of the new territory.

Some of the first African Americans in Minnesota were enslaved people owned by military officers. Some of them, including Rachael, Dred and Harriet Scott, Eliza Winston, and James Thompson, used their residence here to try to obtain their freedom, with varied success.

The first territorial census of Minnesota listed 40 free Black people, most of whom were living in St. Paul. In the 1850s, free Blacks and escaped slaves migrated to Minnesota to join those already here. After the Civil War, African American migrants continued to move to the state for jobs and land. St. Paul became a social and cultural center for urban Black Minnesotans.

Some notable African Americans in early Minnesota history include Dan Eddings, who came to Eden Prairie with twelve other former slaves and later worked as a farm laborer near Shakopee, and George Washington Daniels. Daniels was an escaped slave who came to Minnesota to work for General William LeDuc in Hastings. He and his wife Chloe later moved to South Dakota and started their own farm.

Canadians came to Minnesota as part of several different groups. Some of the first included French Canadians whose families had originally come to North America in the 1600s and 1700s. Others were Metis, descendants of indigenous and French Canadians. The French Canadians and Metis people came primarily as explorers and fur traders. Once the fur trade ended, some of them decided to stay.

Other Canadians originally immigrated to North America from Great Britain. Their descendants traveled further south to make their homes in Minnesota. At the time, the border between the United States and Canada was fairly open and people crossed it both ways for better jobs and opportunities.

Learn about the European, Asian, and Latino immigrants to Minnesota by exploring the pages below.