Graduates of the universities of Uppsala and Lund in Sweden started the college in 1860 in Chicago. In 1863, Augustana moved to Paxton, Illinois. In 1875, it moved to Rock Island, Illinois to be near a large Swedish Lutheran community. After 1890 an increasingly large Swedish American community in America promoted new cultural institutions, including a lively Swedish-language press, many new churches, several colleges, and a network of ethnic organizations. The result was to build a sense of Swedishness in the United States. This made a self-confident Americanized generation. Augustana College put itself in the lead of the movement to affirm Swedish American identity. In the early years, all the students had been born in Sweden but by 1890 the second generation of American-born students predominated. They typically had white-collar or professional backgrounds; few were the sons and daughters of farmers and laborers. These middle class youth developed an idealized view of Sweden, characterized by romanticism, patriotism, and idealism. The new generation was especially proud of the Swedish contributions to American democracy and the creation of a republic that promised liberty and ended slavery.