AMSCO 6.6 Causes of Migration in an Interconnected World Notes

📍Topic 6.6 Causes of Migration in an Interconnected World

📖 AMSCO p.417 - p.425

Main Idea

Key Timeline

Image Courtesy of Sameeha

Things to Know

Migration Through Labor Systems

• Slavery:
  • Other than the United States, Cuba, and Brazil, most countries in the Americas had abolished slavery in the early 19th century.
  • The decrease in slave trade, however, resulted into insufficient amount of laborers so imperial powers looked to other labor systems.
• Indentured Servitude
  • This was often used to afford transportation from poor areas to one with more opportunities
  • Also used as a way to pay back debt
  • Although some planned to return to their home countries after making money, many indentured servants stayed in their new countries which led to forming communities and spreading their home culture
  • Ex: Trinidad, Fiji, Mauritius
• Asian Contract Laborers
  • Chinese and Indian workers were either forced or tricked into labor
  • Hard conditions and subsistence wages was all part of their exploitation
  • Media finally brought these conditions to light, criticizing the system as a substitute for slavery
  • Britain, United States, and Portugal later outlawed it, as well as Cuba.
• British Penal Colonies
  • Established in the late 1700s in Australia, after losing the one in Georgia due to American Revolution
  • Convicts, from all over Great Britain and India, performed hard labor for free settlers and worked on government public projects, such as the building of infrastructure
  • Majority of convicts earned their freedom after a set number of years
  • Many were unable to return because
    • (a) they were not permitted to as well as because
    • (b) transportation was much too expensive
  • Ended in 1850
• French Penal Colonies
  • Had penal colonies in New Caledonia, Africa, and French Guiana
  • Notorious for harsh treatment of convicts
  • Ended the transport of convicts in 1938 but Devil Island’s convicts were held until 1953

Migration In the Face of Challenges

• India
  • The primary reason Indian migrants moved was due to widespread poverty in India
  • They worked on plantations on multiple British colonies such as Dutch Guiana, Fiji, and the Caribbean
  • Many would renew their contracts or buy a piece of land to permanently farm off of rather than return to home countries
  • Over 1.5 Million Indians shipped to colonies in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Oceania
• China
  • Chinese diaspora began with the gold rush in the mid-19th century, but most Chinese migrants were not involved in mining.
  • They were instrumental in the building of the US Transcontinental Railroad.
  • Some Chinese also came as indentured servants and most were males who planned to return to China
  • Many people left due to the chaos and famine caused by the Taiping Rebellion
  • In the late 18th century, Chinese began to emigrate to Southeast Asia but the major wave of migration began after the first Opium War in the mid-19th century, which made it easier for Chinese migrants to leave
• Ireland
  • Some left for political reasons - Britain abolished the Irish Parliament after Ireland joined the UK
  • Some left due to religious discrimination against Catholics or Protestant dissenters
  • The Great Famine led to around 3 million Irish emigrants mainly to the Americas, as well as to England, Scotland, Canada, and Australia
  • Emigration continued even after Famine
• Italy
  • Emigration began with unification of Italy in 1861 until 1900
  • Many went to countries in Europe, New Zealand, Australia and North and South America
  • The main reason behind people migrating was poverty - those who left were workers with traditional skills and farmers who were unable to make a living
  • Others left for economic and political reasons, and would send money back, encouraging further emigration

Migration to Settler Colonies

• Technical Experts
  • Many engineers and geologists migrated to South Asia and Africa, creating a type of diaspora
  • Engineers spread Western science and technology through the world, while also using their knowledge with the experience of colonial land’s engineers
  • Western and colonial engineers worked together on public and private industrial projects
• Argentina
  • Part of Britain’s “informal empire” and got more investments than India
  • British settlers in Argentina were mainly businessman, traders, bankers, and engineers
  • As a result, they founded banks, developed agricultural export trades, built infrastructure, and imported luxuries
  • This greatly improved the quality of life in Argentina and grew its middle class
• Japan
  • Prior to the 1868 Meiji Restoration, Japan was closed off to the rest of the world.
  • In 1893, Japan’s government established the Colonization Society
  • Many Japanese went to Peru for contract work and to coastal United States cities for education, like San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle.

Migration, Transportation, and Urbanization

• Technological innovations allowed some who migrated to return or visit their home countries
• Agreements such as the one between Hawaii and Japan, were three-year contracts allowing settlers to go back
• Italian workers had a similar agreement with Argentina, but many chose to remain and settle
• Most domestic and international migrants settled in urban areas as they had the most industry jobs.
  • This increased the size and international influence of these cities

Terms to Remember