Migrants In Britain: 3.1

Question 1

Describe the 3 main changes to Parliament in Britain in 1700-1900 and their impacts on migration

Answer 1

• 1832 Reform Act giving franchise to property-owning men, as well as the 1867 and 84 revisions of this Act to give the vote to more working class men
  [] greater rights for workers made industrial towns attractive to economic migrants
  [] political freedom attracted European migrants, esp. socialists and liberals
• 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act (allowed Catholics the same rights as Protestants)
  [] made England a viable place for Catholic migrants like the Irish
• 1830s Jews given same rights as Christians
  [] made England more attractive to Jewish migrants, especially refugees from anti-Semitic countries
• Britain’s slave trade abolished 1807, slavery made illegal in 1833
  [] black migrants saw Britain as increasingly free of racial prejudice + allowing of more freedom/agency

Question 2

Describe the 3 main changes to industry in Britain in 1700-1900 and their impacts on migration

Answer 2

• 1750-1850, Industrial Revolution
  [] more migrants from English countryside into cities and industrial towns, as the newly popularised use of agricultural machinery meant that less manual labour was needed on farms
• manufactured goods produced in factories and industries like weaving and the textile industry became dominated by the use of spinning machines, especially for cotton
  [] factories needed workers, so attracted economic migrants
  [] the goods produced in these factories elicited trade and thus more visitors and migrants
• mid 1800s, many industrial towns/cities with a rapidly rising population
  [] growing industrial towns/cities made it easier for migrant communities to grow/develop (like Chinatown in Liverpool)
• new docks built in major industrial cities, which became extremely busy and created many jobs
  [] huge demand for labour on docks + on ships attracted many economic migrants like lascars

Question 3

Describe the 4 main changes to transport in Britain in 1700-1900 and their impacts on migration

Answer 3

• by 1840, huge network of road connecting all major cities to London
• canals used to carry heavy goods in large quantities
  @ in 1761, Bridgewater canal linked coal mines (important for factories) and Manchester
  @ canals linked all major ports to major manufacturing areas by 1820s
• railway from Liverpool to Manchester opened in 1830; fast and cheap to get around
• by 1900 5 major railway companies
• steam powered ships meant could travel much greater distances more frequently to trade with faraway countries like Australia and America

[] improvements in transport meant it was easier for migrants to get into the country and move around in Britain to settle and build communities
[] improvements in transport created jobs and new opportunities for economic migrants

Question 4

Describe the significance of the growth of the British Empire for migration and the British economy

Answer 4

• growth of British Empire = more connection with the known world
  [] easier for migrants to migrate to Britain and be aware of migration to Britain as an opportunity
• growth = more trades brought to England
  [] attractive to economic migrants
• growth = increasing acceptance of and willingness to work with foreign people and different cultures
  [] attractive to migrants as meant they would be relatively safe if they migrated

Question 5

Why were the Irish forced to migrate to England in the mid 1800s ?

Answer 5

• most land owned by English Protestants (Irish = Catholic) who refused to industrialise
  [] high rents for bad housing
• widespread poverty in Ireland + resentment for the English landlords
  [] lack of industrialisation meant that the main jobs were weaving linen + enlarging docks
  @ meant were few jobs, most of which given to the English
  @ increased Irish poverty
  @ English factories were more efficient than the hand-done Irish versions, so trumped the market and made Irish rural industries collapse; hundreds out of work
• 1845, blight (plant disease) destroyed 1/3 crop
  [] 1846, blight destroyed all crop
  [] Irish potato famine
  [] British gov. exported grains/food out of Ireland believing would create money to help Irish; backfired
  [] food prices rose, many couldn’t feed family or pay rent + were evicted by the English landowners
• 1 million starved to death and 2 million forced to migrate to England

Question 6

What were conditions like in English cities after the influx of Irish migrants and why ?

Answer 6

• usually had small populations and their facilities often couldn’t cope with such a sharp increase in population
• crowded houses
• quick spread of diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, typhus etc. due to overcrowding
• many were extremely poor and this put strain on the support offered by the government
• poorer areas only had outside toilets
• no system for household rubbish disposal
• no proper drainage or sewage systems in poorer areas
  [] waste dumped into rivers that often supplied drinking water
• no running water inside homes; had to get from pumps outside

Question 7

What is a navvy ?

Answer 7

• nickname for “navigator”; the job of digging out canals + building railways
• mostly done by the Irish immigrants in Britain

Question 8

What were the main trades of Irish migrants ?

Answer 8

• navvies
  [] low paid and dangerous work
  [] many killed/injured, forcing wives + children into even greater poverty
• army
  [] by 1868, 55 000 Irish soldiers

Question 9

Why were the English prejudiced against the Irish ?

Answer 9

• rife poverty meant many resorted to stealing food to get by; earned reputation as vagrants
• Irish workers often did jobs for much lower prices than the English, meaning they would get hired more often, causing resentment
• Protestantism vs Catholicism
• viewed the Irish’s Celtic ancestors as inferior to the English Anglo-Saxon ancestors
• influx of migrants in cities made poverty in general in these cities increase
• fear of Fenians (members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (revolutionary organisation) responsible for violence against British authorities)

Question 10

Who was George II ?

Answer 10

• Hanoverian king
• a German
• German migration to England rose a lot during his reign and most of these migrants worked as merchants, in the army or for the king

Question 11

Why did Germans migrate to England in the mid-late 1800s ?

Answer 11

• avoid warfare between German states before uniting
• Greater freedom for political activists/liberals/socialists to express beliefs without fear of punishment
• British economic strength + freedom from gov. interference
  [] Germans were skilled, so liked this

Question 12

When did Germany unite into one country ?

Answer 12

1871

Question 13

When did Italy unite into one country ?

Answer 13

1861

Question 14

Why did Italians migrate to England in the mid-late 1800s ?

Answer 14

• avoid warfare between Italian states before uniting
• sought safety from severe outbreaks of typhus and cholera in Italy
• agricultural instability in Italy vs agricultural stability and prosperity in England

Question 15

Describe the experiences of German migrants in England

Answer 15

• radical thinkers like Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels were free to publish their ideas (like Marx’s Das Kapital)
• engineers + scientists set up small successful companies
  [] Ludwig Mond = research chemist who set up leading alkali manufacturing company in the country in Liverpool
  [] John Merz = electrical engineer, co-founded supplier of electricity to north-east England
  [] Paul Reuter set up successful news bureau
• many other Germans set up smaller businesses like restaurants, cafes, pubs, butchers, bakers, brewers etc.

Question 16

Describe the experiences of Italian migrants in England

Answer 16

• were farmers in Italy; had to find new trades in England
• many settled in Clerkenwell (nicknamed Little Italy)
  [] English inhabitants didn’t like the Italians but did nothing because wasn’t worth the effort in their eyes
• many worked as street musicians w/tame monkeys doing tricks
  [] by 1881, 1000+ of these in Britain, many of whom = young boys forced into labour for work gangmasters
• some did hard manual labour that the English didn’t want, like laying asphalt for roads
• some worked as tilemakers, ceramicsmakers, plasterworkers
  [] traditional Italian trades
• most made and sold ice cream from their own carts or larger, more successful ice cream parlours
• set up their own schools, hospitals, newspapers and shops once established in England