At the end of the 18th century, Germany was made up of a collection of small and very small states. Politics was dominated by each state and ruler pursuing his own individual interests. In 1806 Bremen became an independent free state and named itself "Free Hanseatic City". It also became a member of the Deutscher Bund (1815).
Economic hardship and political and religious oppression caused many people to attempt a new start. Most were drawn to North America.
The rescinding of the ban on emigration in Germany in 1814 accelerated added force to the rising wave of emigration.
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen saw in this a business opportunity as Bremen trading had reached a low point due to the scarcity of export commodities.
In the 1820s, the western ports of France and the Netherlands were the main ports of embarkation for emigrants. In the early 1830s, a great stream of emigrants was redirected to Bremen due to the fear towns had of being swamped by penniless vagrants. These displaced persons had been forced to uproot themselves because of failed harvests in northern Germany and a combination of events in other countries – the July Revolution in Paris, a cholera epidemic on the Atlantic coast and a ban on settlement in Holland and Hamburg.
Within a short time, passenger transport had become an indispensable factor in the Bremen economy. Together with the tobacco trade, it soon became the most lucrative source of income for Bremen's merchants.
Reference:
Armgart, Arno. Bremen, Bremerhaven, New York : Geschichte der europäischen Auswanderung über die Bremischen Häfen = A history of European emigration through the ports of Bremen. Bremen 1991
