Several causes operating on the western side of the Atlantic augmented these natural advantages of the Norwegians. In their settlements they had ten or fifteen years the start of the Swedes, and in the formative period of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Dakota they greatly outnumbered both the Swedes and Danes. They went into new States and territories, and, settling on farms, profited by the power which the rural portion of a developing region usually exercises in politics. On the other hand, tho the Swedes in Illinois since the early fifties, and in Kansas since the late sixties, have formed decidedly the larger part of the Scandinavian population of those two States, they have by no means taken a part in politics equal to that taken by the Norwegians. In 1890 the foreign-born Swedes in Iowa were more numerous than the foreign-born Norwegians, and in Minnesota about equal in number, but these figures do not fairly represent the political strength of the two elements, for to the foreign-born Norwegians must be added those of the second and third generation of persons of purely Norwegian extraction.[342] The sons, and even the grandsons of the early Norwegian settlers were voters before the Swedish immigration greatly exceeded the Norwegian.[343] Broadly speaking, the early political pre-eminence of the Norwegians has never been overcome. [342] Statistics for foreign-born in 1890: Iowa Minnesota Norwegians 27,078 101,169 Swedes 30,276 99,913 Danes 15,519 14,133 [343] In 1850 the total of foreign-born Scandinavians was 12,678, of whom 3,559 were Swedes. In 1860 the corresponding figures were 43,995 and 18,625. In 1880 the Swedes numbered 194,337, and the Norwegians, 181,729. _United States Census Reports_ for the years 1850, 1860, 1880.