Key people

Olaudah Equiano

• Published horrifying autobiography of experience in slave trade

• Persuade public and MPs transatlantic slave, trade and slavery itself should be abolished

• 1807 Parliament voted abolished transatlantic slave trade

• 1833 abolished slavery in British empire

• Anti-slavery campaign

Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

• German migrants

• Radicalists

• Impact on way people believe society should be organised

• Communist manifesto outlined how industry and property should be owned by community: believed would make society fairer

Jack the Ripper

• Increased anti-semitism: speculation he was Jew

• Murderer killed people in Whitechapel (widely populated Jewish area)

Michael Marks & Tom Spencer

• Marks & Spencer shop chains everywhere in UK

• Changed economic system: consumers bought from factories instead of merchants

What impact did Industrial revolution have?

Britain 1st country have industrial revolution

Huge change to British society

• Towns and cities (Bradford & Manchester) grew rapidly because of urbanisation

• Population in towns from 5 mil to 32.5 mil

• Population growth: rapid growth of work available in factories as a result of industrialisation

• Transport links: roads canals and railways improved

• Easier and quicker transport materials to factories

• Easier and quicker transport finished goods to docks

• New docks in Liverpool, London, Glasgow, Bristol (busiest in the world as trade link grew)

• Agriculture changed: enclosure of fields, better crops grown, high-quality meat and wool produced (Matt needs of growing population)

• Fewer work on agriculture

• Demands from growing population, led to wide representation in parliament

• More people able to vote

• Laws pass by Parliament show gradual change in attitude

• People felt free year to express different attitudes to way which society run - Demand, of civil liberties

The British Empire

17th century, England gained first colonies

Colonies on East Coast, North America

Some islands in Caribbean

1700 - 1900 developed into vast British Empire

Transatlantic slave trade

• 1750 Britain sold more black Africans into save slavery than other European nations

• British triangular trade:

• 3.5 mil Black Africans transported across Atlantic in British ships

• Sold into slavery on sugar and cotton plantations in Caribbean and southern America

• Ships returned to Britain with cargoes of sugar, cotton, tobacco and rum

• Enslaved laboured in brutal conditions

• Slave traders became rich

• Reinvested profits from trading humans back in Britain in buildings (towns and schools)

• Non Conformists: (Methodist) emphasise Christian belief that all people were equal in eyes of God slavery wrong

The East India Company

• Company formed in 1600 to trade in Indian ocean

• Run vast areas of India, with own army and administrators

• British government ruled India in British Raj

Why did Irish migrate?

• Ireland, mainly rural lot of the land, poor quality

• Irish moved to England to earn more money

• 1845 Potato famine - 1 mil died 2 mil force migration

• Flee poverty and starvation

• Food prices rise: food shortage

• Catholics persecuted in Europe attracted to Britain

• Believe chances of survival better in mainland Britain than Ireland

• Liverpool and Glasgow nearset port to Belfast and Dublin: quicker and cheaper to reach (many Irish settled)

• Migrants regarded Britain as ‘stopover’ on the way to America or Australia: Hundreds couldn’t afford travel stayed in Britain, lived in poorest parts of cities or already established communities

• Rural occupations collapse in Ireland (Spinning and weaving) because of English competition: English factories produce goods, more quickly at lower cost

Why did migrants from British Empire (Asian migrants) migrate?

• English families return to Britain from India. Indian servants came with them to keep jobs (ayahs)

• Indian students migrated to study British university (law)

• Indian princes came to Britain, preferred Britain was ruled

• East India, company recruited sailors (lascars) from India to transport goods to Britain: Working conditions, poor. Many lascars stayed in British ports in search of better life, others abandoned by employers

Why did Jewish migrate?

• Moved to Spitalfields and Whitechapel into established Jewish community

• Although anti-Semitism still existed, increasing tolerance in Britain

• Flee persecution in Russia and eastern Europe

• 1880-1900 100,000 Jews arrived in Britain

Why did Italians migrate?

• Agriculture in Britain, prosperous compared to Italy

• Britain, peaceful and less dangerous than Italy

• Italy at war

• Italy, outbreaks of typhus and cholera

Why did Germans migrate?

• Britain, greater freedom for political thinkers to express ideas

• Free from government interference

• Britain peaceful, compared to warfare between German states

What did Irish experience?

• Settled in Britain’s industrialising cities took on labouring work as few had skills needed for factory work

• Irish navvies dug canals and constructed railways, work: hard, dirty and dangerous

• Navvies were killed while working: Families pushed into poverty

• Faced prejudice from English people because they were Catholics living in protestant country

• Worked for lower wages than English

• English people thought all Irish migrants were ’Fenians’ (Irish independence who ran bombing campaigns in London in 1880s)

• 1829 Catholic emancipation act - Catholics same civil rights as everyone else, however, couldn’t attend universities, hold certain public offices or become monarch

What did migrants from British Empire (Asian migrants) experience?

• Ayahs stayed with families moved to England

• Some ayahs abandoned by English employers: Became destitute

• Christian charity set up hostel for them: raise money for passage back to India, or found work in England

• Some lascars abandoned by shipping companies when reached port, others chose to leave their ships

• Many lascars found work in ports

• Others became destitute, begging, and stealing to keep alive

• Hostel set up to help

What did the Jewish experience?

• New Jewish migrant settled in Jewish communities

• New migrant Jews worked in clothing industry

• Faced anti-Semitism seen as different in clothes, food, language and religion

• People thought income threatened because new Jewish migrants often prepared to work longer hours for lower wages

• Authorities couldn’t do anything to stop it unions furious: fought too long and hard to get hours of work regulated

• Settled Jews, afraid that arrival of thousands of poor Jewish families cause increase in anti-Semitism

• Sweatshops run by settle, Jews exploited, new Jews illegal

• Worry lose existing carefully won acceptance

• Jack the Ripper Jewish speculation

• Language barrier in workhouses: illegal police cannot communicate

What did the Italians experience?

• Italian settled in London

• Italian make tiles and ceramics or labouring on roads

• Developed new skills, making and selling ice cream and working as street musicians

• Italian contributed to economy generally well regarded

What did the Germans experience?

• German migrant settled throughout Britain

• German engineers and scientist set up companies became very successful (Bruner Mond company in Liverpool)

• German set up small businesses (shops and restaurants)

• German contributed to economy generally well regarded

Role of media

Media played important part in changing social attitude toward migrants

• Newspapers publicise judgement of Lord Justice Mansfield 1772, said slavery did not legally exist in England

• Judgement, delighted many black Africans in Britain & People who wanted slavery/Transatlantic slave trade to end

• Those who benefited from slave trade less happy

• Paul Reuter German migrant started London based ‘1851 Reuter News Agency’ sold international news to newspapers made British readers feel part of wider world

• Newspapers publicise plight of Mary Seacole Jamaican nurse left destitute after caring for soldiers during Crimean war

• Fundraising gala held in 1858 raised substantial amount of money due to publicity she received

• Rail network carried newspapers all over Britain so what they printed was widely read

What impact did Irish have?

• Digging canals and constructing railways made Britain’s economy successful

• 1880s, real network, linked all major cities, towns and ports, transporting, raw materials and finished goods

• Names after Irish area

What impact did Asian migrants have?

• Chinese and Indian restaurants

• Oldest Chinatown in Europe

• Indian community growth in Liverpool

• 1890 Mosques built

What impact did Jewish migrants have?

• Own shops and run businesses

• Did well and British economy, grow and prosper

• Michael Marks own stall in Leeds market by 1900 Marks & Spencer had shops in Britain’s major towns

• Helped industries thrive: eastern European Jews worked in the clothing trade

• Synagogues built, so Jews could worship

• Jewish restaurants

What impact did Italian migrants have?

• Own shops and run businesses

• Did well and British economy, grow and prosper

• Gelato

What impact did German migrants have?

• Karl Marx

• Friedrich Engels

• Sausage

Case study - Liverpool

Liverpool prospered from transatlantic slave trade

Traders made fortune from plantations worked by enslaved people in terrible conditions

Invested in Liverpool city

Merchants began importing and exporting wide range of goods, instead of slaves

19th century Liverpool became flourishing port with migrant communities

The growth of the port of Liverpool

• Liverpool faced Atlantic ocean, so Liverpool merchants traded with America (imported raw materials and exported finished goods)

• Raw cotton Liverpool’s main import

• Needed to meet demand of growing number of spinning and weaving mills in Manchester

• 80% of Britain’s cotton imports from USA, through port of Liverpool

• 1845 Liverpool’s docks handle 2.5 mil tons of goods

• 1900 port had 7 miles of docks that handled 10.5 million tons of goods

• Liverpool second most profitable port in the world 2nd to London

• Steam ships gradually replace sailing ships: carry more cargo and needed less skill to sail

• Liverpool very attractive to migrants work readily available

The Irish community

• Irish Navy built docks thousands of migrants worked on them afterwards

• 1840s Irish business opened

• Irish pub gave advice and support to new arrivals

• 18 51/20% of population Irish

• Most Irish lived in poor, rundown, districts of city - areas where disease flourished

• Irish people fell ill, looked after by Liverpool workhouse infirmary

• 60,000 caught typhus

• Huge sheds by ducks, used to isolate, those with disease

• Restriction put on Irish migrants coming into Liverpool

• Disease known as ‘Irish fever’ Caused resentment among English

• Irish migrants: Catholics

• 8 Catholic parishes in city

• Many people prejudiced against Irish migrants crime often blamed on them

• 1850 6,000 people brought before magistrates were Irish

Indian sailors

• Worked as sailors for other shipping lines

• Took what work they could find

• Some set up lodging houses

• Many married, English women: Help them to settle

• Mosque open for Muslim Indians

Chinese sailors

• 1850s Liverpool merchants began trading in silk and tea from Shanghai and Hong Kong

• Chinese sailor stayed in Liverpool, setting up businesses, shops and cafés

• Gained reputation for hard work

• Liverpool had largest Chinatown in Europe

• Many married women

• Well known for support they gave their families

African sailors

• Increasing trade with Africa, brought African sailors to Liverpool

• Many hired by shipping companies, because willing to work for lower wages

Case study - Jewish migrants in London

Late 19th century: large number of Jewish migrants from eastern Europe and Russia arrived in Britain

Facing persecution at home saw Britain as safe place

Living and working in East end of London

• After 1880 150,000 Jews arrived in London

• Desperate to reach safety of Britain

• Journey, long and uncomfortable brought with them, only what they could carry

• Whitechapel and Spitalfields: areas in east end of London most of new Jewish migrants went

• Jewish community leader establish shelter where migrants could stay maximum of 14 days

• Jewish people found work in sweatshops: worked for long hours in poor conditions for little pay

• Produced range of clothing from cheap to expensive

• Spoke little English

• Jewish leaders introduced crash in English language and customs: help new migrants integrate & allow them to retain Jewish he

• Jewish free school: educating London’s Jewish children in new way of life

Sweatshops

• Unemployment in East End, arrival of thousands of Jews, looking for work created tense situation

• English people living in London, believed Jewish working in sweatshops, taking away work from them

• Trade unions worked hard to establish basic working conditions

• Sweatshop owners ignored the working conditions and produce goods more cheaply than properly regulated factories

• All sweatshops illegal

• Not all sweatshops run by Jews but Whitechapel was

• Difficult to shut down because of language barrier: Jewish only spoke yiddish, police didn’t

Racial tension

• Violence, targeting Jewish people

• Police afraid to patrol streets, alone in some areas

• Parliament set up two committees of enquiry into anti-Semitism

• Five women murdered by Jack the Ripper, some blamed on Jewish community

• Suggestion that knives of Jewish ritual slaughters had been used: not true

• Graffiti blaming Jewish people near bloodstained apron, belonging to one of the victims: connection to murder not proved

• Various witnesses testified seen women, talking to foreigners before killed: not verified

• Murder was never caught: anti-Semitism continued to increase