Industrial Britain c.1700-c.1900: Migrant Groups and Reasons for Migration

Prior Learning & Introduction

• Challenge Task:
  • Match migrant groups to statements about their reasons for migrating to Britain.
  • Statements cover various periods.
    1. Roman Era to 1500s: Domestic servants.
    2. 1500s: Roma/Gypsy migrants avoiding war.
    3. 1100s: Jewish migrants aiding kings with finance.
    4. c.800: Viking invasion for land and wealth.
    5. French Huguenots seeking religious safety (invited by Edward I).
    6. 1709: Poor German Protestants (Palatine migrants).

Industrial Period Migrant Groups

• Learning Objective: Examine migrant groups and their reasons for migrating to Britain between 1700-1900.
• Migrant Groups Mentioned:
  • Chinese, Jewish, Indian, African, Italian, French, German, Irish.
• Challenge Task:
  • Identify new vs. previously studied migrant groups.
  • Predict which groups will be discussed.

Reasons for Migration Within Britain

• Challenge Task:
  • Explain reasons for migration within Britain on a map worksheet.
• Key Factors:
  • Transport: Improved transport (quicker, easier, more reliable) facilitated movement for both rich and poor.
  • Economic: Urbanization - migration from countryside to industrial towns seeking higher wages and better life.
    • Main towns attracting migrants: London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham.
  • Developments in Farming: Industrial Revolution introduced technology replacing farm workers (e.g., mechanised seed drill).
  • Highland Clearances: Wealthy Scottish landowners evicted farmers, replacing fields with sheep farms.
    • Unemployed farmers migrated to Canada, USA, New Zealand, or industrial towns in England.

Reasons for Migration - Map Worksheet

*Challenge Task: Complete map worksheet about reasons for migration using information provided.

Review of Migrant Groups & Reasons

• Challenge Task:
  • Categorize main reasons for migration to Britain during the Industrial period for each group.
  • Categories: Forced, Education, Better Life, Economic, Warfare, Health, Transport, Religion
• Migrant Groups Listed:
  • Irish, French, Indian, African, German, Italian, Chinese, Jewish

Evaluating Reasons for Migration

• Challenge Task:
  • Determine most important reasons for migration in this period.
• Categories Listed:
  • Forced, Education, Better Life, Economic, Warfare, Health, Transport, Religion

Plenary & Essay Planning

• Challenge Task - Plan Examples:
  1. Explain why Irish migrants came to Britain in the 1800s, using:
     • The Catholic Emancipation Act (1829).
     • Potato Famine (1845-46).
  2. Essay Plan: Evaluate the statement: "The biggest cause of migration to Britain in the period 1700-1900 was the impact of the British Empire.", using India and Ireland as examples.

Key Terms

*Internal Migration
*Jewish Migration
*Trish Migration
*French Migration
*German Migration
*African Migration
*Italian Migration
*Chinese Migration
*Indian Migration
*Transport
*Urbanisation
*Agriculture
*Scotland
*Catholic Emancipation Act
*Potato Famine
*Industrialisation
*Transport
*Food Prices
*Protestants
*End of restrictions
*Russian Empire and Eastern Europe
*East India Company
*Opium Wars
*East India Company
*Education
*Indian Princes
*Servants and Ayahs
*Lascars
*The Slave Trade
*British Empire in Africa
*French Revolution
*German Unification
*Freedom
*Economy
*Italian Unification
*Agriculture
*Disease

Irish Migration (c.1700-c.1900)

• Context:
  • English monarchs sought control over Ireland since the 1600s; full British control by 1801 forming the United Kingdom.
  • Tension between Catholic Irish and Protestant British.
  • British landlords controlled land in Ireland, leading to feelings of unfair treatment among Irish Catholics.
• Reasons:
  • Protestant Landowners: High rents for poor housing led to poverty among Catholic farmers.
  • Catholic Emancipation Act (1829): Gave equal rights to Catholics, attracting them to Britain.
  • High Food Prices: Growing population and food shortages caused poverty and starvation.
  • Little Industrialisation: Belfast was the only industrialized city; lack of jobs elsewhere pushed people to Britain
  • The Potato Famine (1845-1846): Disease destroyed potato crops, leading to starvation and mass migration.
• Impact of Industrialisation & Transport:
  • Irish migrants found work as navvies (railway, dock, canal builders).
  • Cheap transport facilitated seasonal work on British farms.
  • In 1841, approximately $60,000$ Irish workers came to Britain for harvest work.

Jewish Migration (c.1700-c.1900)

• Early 1800s:
  • Jewish community in Britain grew to around $65,000$, with many prospering.
  • Restrictions on Jews gradually ended, improving their experiences in Britain.
• Key Events:
  • 1822: Jewish school opened.
  • 1833: Jews allowed to serve on juries and become lawyers.
  • 1856: Jews allowed to study at Cambridge University.
  • 1860: A Jew opened the first fish and chip shop in London.
• Jewish Migration in the 1880s:
  • Dramatic increase: Over $100,000$ Jews arrived between 1880-1900.
  • Reasons: Fleeing religious and racial persecution in the Russian Empire.
  • Conditions: Desperately poor, with few possessions, speaking only Yiddish.
  • Settlement: Primarily went to established Jewish communities for support.
• Challenges:
  • Existing Jewish communities worried new migrants would damage their reputation.
  • Even the chief rabbi discouraged refugees from coming to England.
• Support:
  • Jewish communities set up soup kitchens and charities.
  • Poor Jews’ Temporary Shelter in London provided temporary housing.

African Migration (c.1700-c.1900)

• Early Migration:
  • Some Africans brought to Britain as domestic servants by 1700.
• Growth of the British Empire & Slave Trade:
  • Led to more African migration after 1700.
  • By 1750, Britain was the largest slave trading nation in Europe.
  • British ships transported over $3$ million Africans until slavery was abolished in 1809.
• Forced Migration:
  • Millions of families taken from homelands as slaves to the Caribbean or North America.
  • Some were directly brought to Britain.