 About 15,000 people emigrated, out of a total population of 70,000.A national consciousness arose in the first half of the 19th century, inspired by romantic and nationalist ideas from mainland Europe.An Icelandic independence movement took shape in the 1850s under the leadership of Jón Sigurðsson, based on the burgeoning Icelandic nationalism inspired by the "Fjölnismenn" and other Danish-educated Icelandic intellectuals.