The Great Migration

By,Tom, Mack, Ricardo, Trudy, Matt, and Caitlyn

Pressure of Population

• 19th century- Birthrates and death rates declined, which was caused by the medical revolution and increased standards of living

• From 1800-1900 the population more than doubled• Majority of immigrants went to North and South America,

New Zealand, Australia, and Siberia• Areas of European settlement

• By 1914, Europeans were 38% of the total population• Increase in population was the primary drive behind

Western expansion• Typical pattern was for emigration to increase 20 years after

a population boom

• The number of men and women who left Europe increased rapidly before WWI

• Growing number of Europeans was the driving force for the emigration• Not enough land• Hunger• Overpopulation

The Great Migrationand Imperialism

• Imperialism was a driving force behind Western Expansion

• Imperialism created more colonies due to political ambitions

• More colonies Many immigrants migrated to colonies• Preference given to British Immigrants in the British

Empire (India, South Africa, etc.)

Why the Great Migration Happened

• Pressure of population growth gave people reason to find a less populated place• Less births however drastically lower death rates

• Nationally drive to occupy and expand their colonial empires• Especially Britain, nations drove to occupy their holdings

and explored regions• Gain benefits through agricultural expansion• Blacks in America, Italians in Argentina, Indians in India

• Agriculture: huge expansion tool!

Where They Went

• Argentina• Brazil• Australia, New Zealand• Canada• Asiatic Russia• United States

European Migrants

• Types of Migrants • Younger generation, usually not married• Ordinary peasants or traditional worker• Old ways of life threatened• Search for more beneficial lands

• Ex. German peasants• Held down by Friedrich List’s “dwarf economy”• Tiny landholdings and declining craft industries

• The general European migrants wanted to keep or improve their social status• Above poverty, but below “living it up”• People would migrate in large family chains

• The European migrant was more of the migrant rather than immigrant• Tended to never settle down in new lands• Work hard for benefits, then return home• Ex. “swallows:” Italian farmers migrate back and forth

between Italy and Argentina for harvest seasons• hard life yet very profitable

• Did not always migrate to new continents • More common to easily move to nearby European countries• Depending on the nationality, different Europeans became

either migrants or immigrants • Balkans had more land and job offerings, more likely for

people to return• Ireland had little available land, most immigrated away from

the country • Generally European migration depended on agriculture• How to get more land cheaper and produce more crops for

more money

Asian Immigrants

• China, Japan, India, Philippines• Response to rural hardship• 3 million Asians moved abroad by 1920• Plantations or gold mines in the New World, southern

Asia, Africa, and Australia• - Replaced or supplemented blacks after the

suppression of the slave trade• Chinese laborers recruited in Cuba as field hands

(1840s)

Asian Immigrants (cont.)

• Fled gold mines and plantations to ASAP to find better trade and towns

• Great white walls • - discriminatory laws designed to stop Asian

immigration in America and Australia (1880s)• “whites only”• - western dominance• - Australian, Canadian, and U.S. citizens had

higher average incomes than people in Great Britain by 1913

Restrictions on Immigration

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882• A 10 year act that suspended Chinese worker immigration

to the US that actually lasted till 1943• Breeding ground for discrimination again Chinese • Goal: to stop Chinese immigration so that men who were

not new immigrants could find work too• The Chinese took jobs with very low pay and treatment

• Emergency Quota Act• Passed in 1921 and was a “turning point” in American

immigration• Put a numerical limit on immigration numbers and used a

quota system to do that• Changed restriction to 3% of the population from that same

nation per the 1910 census• Slowed immigration of Eastern and Southern Europe

• Immmigration Act of 1924• “revised” edition of the Emergency Quota Act • Limited the number from 3% down to 2% per the 1890

census• Aimed towards limiting Southern and Eastern Europeans as

well as Middle Easters, East Asians, and Asian Indians • Goal: to keep the “ideal of American homogenity”

• Removed under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

“Poem from Angel Island”

There are tens of thousands of poems       on these walls They are all cries of suffering       and sadness The day I am rid of this prison and       become successful I must remember that this chapter       once existed I must be frugal in my daily       needs Needless extravagance usually       leads to ruin All my compatriots should       remember China Once you have made some small gains,       you should return       home early

Written by one from Heungshan (An anonymous Chinese immigrant in the 1800s)

Bibliography

• "American Immigration Past and Present." SCORE History/Social Science. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/immigration/>.

• "Digital History." Digital History. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=419>.

• "Home." Our Documents -. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true>.

• "US Immigration History." Rapid Immigration. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.rapidimmigration.com/1_eng_immigration_history.html>.