6.6: Causes of Migration in an Interconnected World

Essential Question: How did environmental and economic factors contribute to patterns of migration between 1750 and 1900?

Migration through Labor Systems

• desire for low-wage labor was linked to exploitation of natural resources

• European states recruited new laborers to work on plantations after the abolition of slavery around the world

• Indian laborers migrated to British colonies in the Caribbean, South Africa, East Africa, and Fiji

• Chinese laborers migrated to California and British Malaya to build railroads and serve as farmhands, gardeners, and domestics

• Japanese laborers migrated to Hawaii, Peru, and Cuba to work on sugar plantations

• Slavery - most countries in Americas abolished it by 1800s, but it continued with the decline of the institution. In US, enslaved people increased after abolition.

• Indentured Servitude - people who worked a set time before becoming free. As a result to their travels, indentured laborers brought their home cultures to their new home lands and altered those lands’ demographics

• Asian Contract Laborers - tricked into servitude. Not anyone’s property, but they were substitutes for slaves. Popular in China and India, these workers were sent to colonies

• Penal Colonies - overseas settlements used to punish criminals through labor and harsh treatment

  1. British: colony in Australia in 1700s. Actually imprisoning the criminals was rare. Many convicts earned their freedom after a certain number of years.

  2. France: had penal colonies in Africa, New Caledonia, and French Guiana.

Migration in the Face of Challenges

Diaspora - mass emigrations from a country or region that took place over many years. Many were the result of poverty, politics, or famine

• India: poverty drove people to leave. British sent Indians to work on their plantations as indentured servants after slavery. The maistry (supervisors) system recruited laborers within a hierarchy and sent them to exploitative plantations

• China: began with the gold rushes in California, South Australia, and western Canada. Instrumental in the US Transcontinental Railroad. Many left China after the Taiping Rebellion in 1850-1864.

• Ireland: political reasons, famine. The Great Famine in Ireland (destroyed potato crop for 4 years) 3 million people emigrated.

• Italy: mainly because of poverty, some for political/economic. Those who left sent money back to family members, encouraging more emigration

Migration to Settler Colonies

Many people who moved away from Britain went to live in settler colonies, such as Canada, South Africa, Australia, or New Zealand.

• Technical Experts - British engineers spread western science and technology through the world.

• Argentina - people who migrated to Argentina were primarily businessmen, traders, bankers, and engineers. They grew the middle class as they built infrastructure.

• Japan - 1893, Japan’s gov decided to establish the Colonization Society, with the goal of exporting surplus population and commercial goods.

Migration, Transportation, and Urbanization

Many people planned to return to their homelands because of improvements in transportation technology allowing them to do so. Since most industry was located in urban areas, both internal and external migrants often settled in cities, which increased in size and influence.

Voluntary Migration Patterns in the 19th Century

Italy to Argentina - pro immigration policies, Argentina offered better wages

Japan to Hawaii - sought financial opportunities on sugar/pineapple plantations

China to US - sought work in gold mines, then farm/factory work, and you could work on the Transcontinental Railroad

Ireland to US - Irish people wanted to escape the Great Famine, sought labor opportunities

6.7: Effects of Migration

Essential Question: How and why did patterns of migration affect society between 1750 and 1900?

This period was a time of migration from rural areas to urban areas, because the growth of cities offered more opportunities for people in lower classes. The transatlantic slave trade brought millions of enslaved Africans to the Americas, affecting the demographics of the region.

Changes Within Home Societies

People left their home countries to escape poverty and persecution, leading to a decline in population and a loss of skilled labor. This migration also led to changes in the labor market, as people left traditional occupations to work in the new industries and economies of the Americas. These migrations resulted in a gender imbalance as more men migrated for work or were forced into enslavement.

• Since it was often men who migrated and women and children who stayed behind, the home society had a change in demographics

  • Sometimes if they were

Effects on Receiving Societies

• Influxes of immigrants led to a severe change in demographics of urbanized regions

• Enslaved Africans worked on plantations and in mines, labor that was essential to the development of the agricultural and industrial economies of Americas

• Migration and especially forced migration led to the creation of a racial hierarchy that still influences systems in the world today