causes of migration 6.6

Environmental Causes of Migration

• Demographic Change

  • Global population explosion (1850-1914)

  • In Europe, population grew due to:

    • New medicines

    • Varied diets which increased lifespan

  • Rural areas were particularly affected, leading to job losses due to industrialization

  • Increased poverty in rural areas prompted migration to cities for job opportunities

• Famine

  • Some regions still practiced primitive agriculture, leading to famines. Example:

  • Irish Potato Famine (1840s):

    • Potato was a staple for the poor

    • Blight devastated crops, resulting in starvation, forcing millions to emigrate, notably to the U.S.

Facilitating Migration

• Transportation Technology

  • New and cheap transportation modes facilitated migration:

  • Railroads

  • Steamships

  • Enabled both internal and international migrations

  • Migrants predominantly settled in urban centers of imperial states and colonial territories, leading to urbanization and significant city growth, e.g., some cities saw growth rates around 25%

  • Return migrations were possible; example of Lebanese merchants to Argentina and Brazil

Economic Causes of Migration

• Job-seeking Migration

  • Two types of job-related migration:

  1. Voluntary Migration

     • Migrants freely relocated to seek better job prospects (e.g., Irish, Italian, German immigrants to U.S.)

     • Chinese immigrants also sought jobs in the growing railroad industry

  2. Forced Migration

     • Millions were coerced into migration due to economic factors:

       • Coerced Labor:

       • Atlantic slave trade was significant in early part of this period

       • Abolition happened later, but forced movement persisted

       • Penal colonies established by British and French (e.g., Australia, Guiana) used convicts for hard labor instead of imprisonment like railroad building

       • Semi-Coerced Labor (Indentured Servitude):

       • Laborers signed contracts for years of work in exchange for passage

       • For instance, British facilitated migration of impoverished Indians to the Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast Asia

       • Chinese indentured servants were also used in British-operated tin mines in Malaysia

Conclusion

• Migration during the period of 1750-1900 was heavily influenced by environmental changes, technology, and economic factors, leading to massive demographic shifts and urban growth across the globe.