Context: The world was largely shaped by industrialization.
Demographic Changes:
Global population exploded, especially in Europe.
From 1850-1914, the population of Europe grew rapidly due to new medicines and varied diets that increased lifespans.
Rural areas faced increasing joblessness due to industrialization and mechanization of farming, pushing people to migrate to cities for industrial jobs.
Famine:
Primitive agriculture in unindustrialized areas led to famines.
Irish Potato Famine (1840s):
The potato was the staple food of the Irish poor.
A blight struck potato crops, leading to widespread famine.
Millions died of starvation, and millions emigrated, especially to urban centers in the United States.
Facilitation of Migration
New Transportation Technology:
Demographic change, famines, and political turmoil were not new, but transportation options were.
Cheap transportation like railroads and steamships facilitated migration within and between countries.
Most migrants settled in urban centers in imperial states and colonial territories for manufacturing jobs.
Urbanization:
Cities experienced massive growth (e.g., European cities with 1000% growth).
Cheap transportation allowed some migrants to return home.
Lebanese Merchants:
Migrated to places like Argentina and Brazil for economic opportunity and to escape religious persecution in the Ottoman Empire.
Because of steamships, many were able to return home.
Economic Causes
Job Seeking Migration:
People moved to find work.
Two Types: Free and forced/coerced.
Free Migration:
Migrants relocated based on their own decisions.
Examples: Irish, Italian, and German immigrants to the US East Coast, and Chinese immigrants to the US West Coast for railroad work.
Coerced Labor:
Migration for work that was forced.
The globalized economy relied on coerced and semi-coerced labor.
Coerced Labor Examples:
Atlantic Slave Trade: Still active at the beginning of the period; caused the forced movement of people.
Convict Labor:
British and French empires established penal colonies (e.g., British Australia, French Guiana).
Convicts were sent to do hard labor (e.g., railroad building) in colonial holdings instead of being jailed at home.
Semi-Coerced Labor:
Indentured Servitude:
Laborers signed contracts to work for a set number of years (3-7) in exchange for free passage to their destination.
Addressed the need for cheap labor after the abolishment of slavery.
British facilitated the migration of indentured Indians to places like the Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast Asia due to growing poverty in India.
The British also used Chinese indentured servants in tin mines in Malaysia, who were suffering hardship at home.