AMSCO 6.7 Effects of Migration Notes

📍Topic 6.7 Effects of Migration

📖 AMSCO p.429 - p.435

Main Idea

Key Timeline

Image Courtesy of Vibhi

Things to Know

Changes in Home Societies

• Most immigrants were male, as most women stayed home in the mother country, demonstrating a shift in demographics and gender roles.
• Men often sent remittance (money from their jobs) to their homes, and if enough, women would take on less responsibility to focus more on time on family.

Effects of Migration on Receiving Societies

• Chinese Enclaves
  • Southeast Asia
    • Indo-China: The French forced Chinese immigrants to engage in commerce.
    • Malaya people managed opium farms and distribution for the British.
    • Dutch East Indies had the Chinese immigrants work on colonial government duties.
    • Many immigrants became business owners and traders, making money through family businesses, money lending, or international trade.
    • The Chinese controlled trade in southeast Asia due to their significant presence during the 1800s.
  • The Americas
    • Chinese people came to the US during the gold rush season, peaking in 1852.
    • Most worked in mines, but others had jobs in farms or San Francisco’s garment industry.
    • In Peru and Cuba, railroad workers would most likely be Chinese, and some would be merchants or farm workers.
    • For example, some Persian foods contain Chinese ingredients!
• Indian Enclaves
  • Indians in Africa
    • Indians went to Mauritius islands and Natal to work on sugar plantations as indentured servants.
    • 32,000 indentured Indians were sent to Kenya to work on railroads, but only 7,000 chose to keep their jobs.
    • Hindus and Muslims both migrated. Initially, the Hindu caste system followed but slowly died down; however, the immigrants were still divided based on class, language, and religion.
    • The Indians were heavily discriminated against, and Mohandas Gandhi started up the Natal Indian Congress shortly after studying law for the purpose of equality towards Indians. In 1914, he continued his movement towards the British rule in India.
  • Indians in Southeast Asia
    • The Kangani system helped entire families work on tea, coffee, and rubber plantations in Ceylon, Burma, and Malaya.
    • The advantages of the Kangani system included less restrictive lives than indentured servants and keeping in touch with family.
    • Before the Kangani system, around 6 million Indians migrated through the system.
  • Indians in the Caribbean Region
    • The largest ethnic enclaves were in the Guyana and Trinidad and Tabago regions of the Caribbean Islands.
    • Many others with different nationalities had migrated to Caribbeans—their cultures’ blended in with Indian culture and produced unique cuisine, film, and music.
• Irish Enclaves
  • Scotch-Irish people came to North America through indentured servantry, settling in northern cities.
  • Irish immigrants moved to North America during the Great Famine; however, they still faced problems in America, including anti-immigrant activists and anti-Catholic sentiments.
  • The Irish immigrant population started decreasing in the 1880s when the Great Famine ended.
  • Women who came to America were looking for husbands—the men were unskilled laborers, and more than half became domestic servants.
  • Second-generation Irish people were white-collar or blue-collar workers who became the idols of pop culture.
  • The Irish implemented Saint Patrick's Day in North American culture. They also advocated for workers' rights through the spread of Catholicism and the forming of labor unions.
• Italians in Argentina
  • In the 18th and 19th centuries, America surpassed Argentina in the amount of migrating immigrants entering the country.
  • Italian culture affected Argentinean culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Over half of the immigrants moving to Argentina were Italian.
  • Italians had moved to Argentina to live more comfortably; Argentina had good paying jobs, great fertile soil, and lower living costs than Italy.

Prejudice and Regulation of Immigration

• Regulation in the United States
  • In 1879, Californian nativists created a revised constitution that implemented ideas such as prohibiting the hiring of Chinese workers, preventing citizenship for the Chinese, and encouraging containing Chinese residents in certain areas.
  • The Chinese Exclusion Act was made permanent in 1902. The act was initially for ten years. However, it continued until 1943.
  • During the time the US excluded the Chinese immigrants, many of them were migrating towards Mexico. Porfirio Diaz, the president of Mexico, used immigration to increase Mexico's development.
  • Most Chinese immigrants worked as farmers, shopkeepers, or manufacturers.
• White Australia
  • 1855: Chinese Immigration Act, which limited the number of Chinese people who could enter Australia through ships. However, if they went to Southern Australia, the act would not apply to them.
  • Starting in December 1860, multiple attacks were performed on the Chinese by the New South Wales miners who were white. These attacks injured and killed many of the Chinese immigrants. The worst attack was on June 30, 1861.
  • Chinese Immigration Regulation and Restriction Act, made by the New South Wales, was passed in November of 1861 and then repealed in 1867. At the end of the gold rush, New South Wales also passed the Influx of Chinese Restriction Act.
  • Chinatowns began to form throughout Australia. However, most of the economic gain the Chinese were making was in the North Territory and northern Queensland regions. As the Chinese continued to work, resentment also increased; this resulted in anti-Chinese leagues.
  • As the Chinese population declined, the leftover Chinese grouped in Melbourne and Sydney. The White Australia Policy preserved a white Australia that the British could rule, which was in effect until 1970.

Terms to Remember