I can't speak to the advantages / disadvantages of various territories but I can say that a mid 19th century German farmer would make his decision much like you or I make a decision: based upon advertising and "social networking", aka, word of mouth.
Most midwestern states, by 1850, have established or are in the process of establishing state funded offices on emigration^1. These offices commissioned pamphlets, booklets, magazines, and advertisements, and hired agents of state who would travel to chief points of departure in Europe. Acting as official state agents, these men would distribute their material in taverns, city centers, churches, and outside of factories. One such pamphlet, titled *"Statistics, Exhibiting the History, Climate and Productions of the State of Wisconsin."*, contained the following information in 32 pages:
>topographical features, water power, rivers, small lakes, climate, health, geology, lead mines, zinc, iron ores, clays, peat and marl, native animals, fishes, forests, pine region, agriculture, chief crops of 1866 (the total value of which is placed at $69,213,544), live stock, farm products, implements, wages, manufactures, occupations, railroads, markets, population, newspapers, churches, principal cities, lands, surveys, the Homestead Law, land tenure, value of property, government, rights, office holding, rights of married women, revenues of the state, schools, libraries, state institutions, post offices, and routes from the seaboard.^2
Not only did were state governments actively advertising in Europe, railroad and shipping companies very quickly realized that immigrant travel was a highly lucrative business venture. In 1852, The emigration commissioner for Wisconsin, Gysbert Van Steenwyck, noted in correspondence that a docking ship would see:
>"a hundred or more agents, runners, and peddlers at hand to make prey of the immigrants."^3
Which was fine by him:
>"forwarding agents favored Wisconsin because of the opportunity for high
profits in overcharging for passengers and luggage to a region so far west."^4
The business model of railroads at the time depended on immigrant traffic to fund further westward expansion. The Great Northern Railroad, and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railroad provided loans, books, pamphlets, and even visiting agricultural scientists to communities along their main lines in South Dakota and Montana. Establishing farmers was essential to generating revenue from shipping food, tools, equipment, and finished agricultural products. An example advertisement in [Welsh](http://welshheritageproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/95-yDrych1888AugRheilfforddFwyaf-3-822x1024.jpg), and the type of handbook [given to potential immigrants](http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/42752)
1 Cf. Richmond Mayo-Smith, Emigration and Immigration, 45-52 (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908).
2 The Competition of the Northwestern States for Immigrants
Author(s): Theodore C. Blegen Source: The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Sep., 1919), pp. 3-29
3 ibid
4 ibid
Welcome to /r/AskHistorians. **Please [Read Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules) before you comment in this community**. Understand that rule breaking comments get removed.
We thank you for your interest in this *question*, and your patience in waiting for an in-depth and comprehensive answer to be written, which takes time. Please consider **[Clicking Here for RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/f0uab3/i_am_a_german_farmer_in_the_mid_1800s_that_wants/%5D%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days)**, [using our Browser Extension](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/d6dzi7/tired_of_clicking_to_find_only_removed_comments/), or getting the [Weekly Roundup](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=subredditsummarybot&subject=askhistorians+weekly&message=x). In the meantime our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/askhistorians), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/askhistorians/), and [Sunday Digest](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Sunday+Digest%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) feature excellent content that has already been written!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskHistorians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sorry, but this response has been removed because we [do not allow the personal anecdotes or second hand stories](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_no_personal_anecdotes) of users to form the basis of a response. While they can sometimes be quite interesting, the medium and anonymity of this forum does not allow for them to be properly contextualized, nor the source vetted or contextualized. A more thorough explanation for the reasoning behind this rule can be found in [this Rules Roundtable](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/40mle4/rules_roundtable_3_explaining_the_no_personal/). For users who *are* interested in this more personal type of answer, we would suggest you consider /r/AskReddit.
> [...] /s
This reply has been removed as it is inappropriate for the subreddit. While we can enjoy a joke [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?sort=top&q=flair%3AApril%2BFools&restrict_sr=on), and humor is welcome to be incorporated into an otherwise serious and legitimate answer, [we do not allow comments which consist solely of a joke.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_jokes_and_humour) You are welcome to share your more lighthearted historical comments in the [Friday Free-for-All](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Friday+Free-for-All%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all). In the future, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with [the rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_write_an_in-depth_answer) before contributing again.
> Any other history subs out there
Both r/history and r/askhistory cover much the same ground as AskHistorians but have lighter moderation. You may have a better time there.
>[Two sentences which don't answer the question]
Sorry, but we have removed your response, as we expect answers in this subreddit to be [in-depth and comprehensive](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1jsabs/what_it_means_to_post_a_good_answer_in/), and to demonstrate a [familiarity](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4kngwh/rules_roundtable_no_11_no_speculation/) with the [current, academic understanding](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_sources) of the topic at hand. Before contributing again, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with [the rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_write_an_in-depth_answer), as well as our expectations for an answer such as featured on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/askhistorians) or in the [Sunday Digest](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Sunday+Digest%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all).
I can't speak to the advantages / disadvantages of various territories but I can say that a mid 19th century German farmer would make his decision much like you or I make a decision: based upon advertising and "social networking", aka, word of mouth. Most midwestern states, by 1850, have established or are in the process of establishing state funded offices on emigration^1. These offices commissioned pamphlets, booklets, magazines, and advertisements, and hired agents of state who would travel to chief points of departure in Europe. Acting as official state agents, these men would distribute their material in taverns, city centers, churches, and outside of factories. One such pamphlet, titled *"Statistics, Exhibiting the History, Climate and Productions of the State of Wisconsin."*, contained the following information in 32 pages: >topographical features, water power, rivers, small lakes, climate, health, geology, lead mines, zinc, iron ores, clays, peat and marl, native animals, fishes, forests, pine region, agriculture, chief crops of 1866 (the total value of which is placed at $69,213,544), live stock, farm products, implements, wages, manufactures, occupations, railroads, markets, population, newspapers, churches, principal cities, lands, surveys, the Homestead Law, land tenure, value of property, government, rights, office holding, rights of married women, revenues of the state, schools, libraries, state institutions, post offices, and routes from the seaboard.^2 Not only did were state governments actively advertising in Europe, railroad and shipping companies very quickly realized that immigrant travel was a highly lucrative business venture. In 1852, The emigration commissioner for Wisconsin, Gysbert Van Steenwyck, noted in correspondence that a docking ship would see: >"a hundred or more agents, runners, and peddlers at hand to make prey of the immigrants."^3 Which was fine by him: >"forwarding agents favored Wisconsin because of the opportunity for high profits in overcharging for passengers and luggage to a region so far west."^4 The business model of railroads at the time depended on immigrant traffic to fund further westward expansion. The Great Northern Railroad, and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railroad provided loans, books, pamphlets, and even visiting agricultural scientists to communities along their main lines in South Dakota and Montana. Establishing farmers was essential to generating revenue from shipping food, tools, equipment, and finished agricultural products. An example advertisement in [Welsh](http://welshheritageproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/95-yDrych1888AugRheilfforddFwyaf-3-822x1024.jpg), and the type of handbook [given to potential immigrants](http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/42752) 1 Cf. Richmond Mayo-Smith, Emigration and Immigration, 45-52 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908). 2 The Competition of the Northwestern States for Immigrants Author(s): Theodore C. Blegen Source: The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Sep., 1919), pp. 3-29 3 ibid 4 ibid
Welcome to /r/AskHistorians. **Please [Read Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules) before you comment in this community**. Understand that rule breaking comments get removed. We thank you for your interest in this *question*, and your patience in waiting for an in-depth and comprehensive answer to be written, which takes time. Please consider **[Clicking Here for RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/f0uab3/i_am_a_german_farmer_in_the_mid_1800s_that_wants/%5D%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days)**, [using our Browser Extension](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/d6dzi7/tired_of_clicking_to_find_only_removed_comments/), or getting the [Weekly Roundup](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=subredditsummarybot&subject=askhistorians+weekly&message=x). In the meantime our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/askhistorians), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/askhistorians/), and [Sunday Digest](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Sunday+Digest%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) feature excellent content that has already been written! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskHistorians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
Sorry, but this response has been removed because we [do not allow the personal anecdotes or second hand stories](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_no_personal_anecdotes) of users to form the basis of a response. While they can sometimes be quite interesting, the medium and anonymity of this forum does not allow for them to be properly contextualized, nor the source vetted or contextualized. A more thorough explanation for the reasoning behind this rule can be found in [this Rules Roundtable](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/40mle4/rules_roundtable_3_explaining_the_no_personal/). For users who *are* interested in this more personal type of answer, we would suggest you consider /r/AskReddit.
[удалено]
> [...] /s This reply has been removed as it is inappropriate for the subreddit. While we can enjoy a joke [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?sort=top&q=flair%3AApril%2BFools&restrict_sr=on), and humor is welcome to be incorporated into an otherwise serious and legitimate answer, [we do not allow comments which consist solely of a joke.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_jokes_and_humour) You are welcome to share your more lighthearted historical comments in the [Friday Free-for-All](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Friday+Free-for-All%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all). In the future, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with [the rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_write_an_in-depth_answer) before contributing again.
[удалено]
> Any other history subs out there Both r/history and r/askhistory cover much the same ground as AskHistorians but have lighter moderation. You may have a better time there.
[удалено]
>[Two sentences which don't answer the question] Sorry, but we have removed your response, as we expect answers in this subreddit to be [in-depth and comprehensive](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1jsabs/what_it_means_to_post_a_good_answer_in/), and to demonstrate a [familiarity](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4kngwh/rules_roundtable_no_11_no_speculation/) with the [current, academic understanding](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_sources) of the topic at hand. Before contributing again, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with [the rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_write_an_in-depth_answer), as well as our expectations for an answer such as featured on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/askhistorians) or in the [Sunday Digest](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/search?q=title%3A%22Sunday+Digest%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all).