Migrants In Britain: 3.2 Flashcards
Jewish migrants, African (forced) migrants, Asian migrants
Why did many Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe migrate to Britain in the 1880s ?
- Jews gaining rights in Britain in the 1830s made Britain more attractive to Jewish migrants
[] economic opportunities
[] anti-Semitism still prevalent but allowed Jewish communities to prosper -> possible aid for poor Ashkenazi refugee Jews in Britain - were fleeing from religious persecution in the Russian Empire
[] the Pale of Settlement created in the west of the Russian Empire, forbidding Jews from living elsewhere in the empire and from migrating into the capital unless they converted to Russian Orthodox
[] many pogroms
[] Jews were conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army from age 12 by Tsar Nicholas I and used as cannon fodder in attempt to kill as many Jews as possible without appearing genocidal
When were legal restrictions on Jews in terms of what jobs they could do and their rights lifted in Britain ?
1830s (1858 could be MPs)
What was the state of most Ashkenazi Jews upon arrival in Britain ?
- most only spoke Yiddish (German-Hebrew mix spoken by Ashkenazi Jews)
- most desperately poor
[] were fleeing and couldn’t take many worldly possessions on the long journey - exhausted from journey
[] many walked up to the Eastern European coasts before catching boats to Britain
[] boats travelled from Hamburg, Rotterdam, Libau (in Latvia) and Bremen - (largely) unskilled labourers
[] many Ashkenazi Jews had been farmers, especially in Ukraine, or had worked in clothing manufacturing, tavern-keeping and selling/producing alcohol in the Pale of Settlement
How were Ashkenazi Jewish migrants received by the established Jewish communities in England (mostly in the East End) ?
- fear of upsetting delicate balance and acceptance from the English
[] BECAUSE ASHKENAZI JEWS WERE UNSKILLED AND POOR UNLIKE THE ESTABLISHED ENGLISH JEWS, WOULD COMPETE WITH THE ENGLISH POOR, CAUSING TENSION - didn’t want to help them directly (eg. housing and employing Jews on their own property or finding them jobs etc.) because didn’t want to be the focus of English resentment after much hard work to quieten overt anti-Semitism in England
- still had compassion for these Jews on account of having the same religion and knowing what it was like to be a struggling migrant
- English rabbis wrote to Eastern European rabbis to discourage Ashkenazi Jews from continuing to migrate as to not upset the English anti-Semitics
How were Ashkenazi Jewish migrants supported by the established Jewish communities in England (mostly in the East End) ?
- the Poor Jews’ Temporary Shelter set up
[] would give shelter and meals for 14 days then gave two meals a day whilst they looked for work and housing
[] encouraged Ashkenazi Jews to settle into English life without directly helping them to take jobs from the English - soup kitchens and hostels arranged for new Jewish migrants
- charities set up by local synagogues and richer Jews for the poor
[] Four Per Cent Dwellings Company set up by Lord Rothschild (from established banking family) to investigate and improve (via alternate housing) the often crowded, unhygienic and poor living conditions of Ashkenazi immigrants - encouraged to learn English and adopt English customs whilst retaining Jewish identity
[] London Jewish Free School set up (head teacher for 51 years = Moses Angel) to help Jewish children integrate into English society
Describe the experiences of Jewish immigrants in terms of assimilating into English society whilst retaining Jewish identity, as many Jewish religious leaders in London urged the immigrants to do
- children educated in Jewish schools like the London Jewish Free School
- adults taught English in evening classes by English Jews
- very difficult balancing act; hard for many to do in the early years of migration
Describe where many Ashkenazi Jews settled in England and what their living conditions were like
- many wanted to settle in Whitechapel and Spitalfields
[] couldn’t due to crowding from original British Jew community residing there, as well as earlier Huguenot migrants - many stayed in the East End, close to established Jewish communities
- housing was crowded and unsanitary, deemed “unfit for human habitation” by people like the Four Per Cent Dwellings company
[] by 1901, the average people per household had risen from 9 to 14
[] was common for multiple people to share a single bed, with children sleeping “top to toe”; 3 or 4 per bed - over 4000 Jews were rehomed by the Four Per Cent Dwellings Company’s Sanitary Committee in 1884 due to poor conditions in their original lodgings/homes
Describe the working conditions and occupations of many Ashkenazi Jewish migrants to Britain in the late 1800s
- 2/3 of Jewish population (across genders) worked in shoemaking, clothes making and furniture making due to the lack of heavy or expensive equipment needed to make them
[] worked in crowded sweatshops for long hours and little pay, making these manufactured goods as fast and as cheaply as possible
[] the introduction of simple, lightweight machinery like singer sewing machines transformed the industry and made these trades even quicker, cheaper and easier to do
Describe the causes for the rise in anti-Semitic attitudes in England after the arrival of Ashkenazi Jews
- xenophobia
[] different food
[] different clothes
[] different language(s)
[] EMPHASISES WHY JEWISH LEADERS IN COMMUNITIES URGED IMMIGRANTS TO TAKE ON ENGLISH CUSTOMS AND LEARN ENGLISH - when Jewish people established sweatshops, they tended to hire almost exclusively Jews
[] took jobs away from English poor people - the Jewish holy day was Saturday, meaning they could work on Sunday when Christians (the vast majority of English) couldn’t
[] would lead to Christian shop owners being driven out of business - drove down wages, combatting the age-long struggle of English poor people and unskilled labourers for higher pay
What was the Triangular Trade ?
trading route of the British slave trade
- first (from Europe) took manufactured goods and weapons that there were high demands for to African kingdoms
[] in exchange for these goods, picked up African prisoners of war to sell as slaves
[] more European weapons = more ability to wage war; led to an African arms race and wars became centred around capturing prisoners to trade rather than actual disputes; wrecked African economy and society, making African nations and tribes easier to colonise later on
- slaves/prisoners from Africa transported to the Americas and West Indies to work on plantations producing raw materials like sugar, cotton and tobacco (all important for manufacturing goods)
[] raw materials bought from plantation/slave owners by British merchants and brought to Britain where they were again sold to manufacturers
Who were the black population of Britain comprised of ?
- more recent forced immigrants due to the Transatlantic Slave Trade; weren’t technically slaves by law but were treated as such under the name of ‘servant’
- black families that had lived in Britain for centuries, dating back to the Roman Era
[] these black people faced increasing racism and discrimination due to changing white views of black people since 1619 when the slave trade first began
Who was Granville Sharp ?
- white (slavery) abolitionist
- worked closely with the black community and brought many people’s cases to trial to give them legal freedom where their masters treated them as slaves despite being legally free
Who was James Somerset ?
- black slave to American Charles Stewart
[] forced to travel with Stewart to Britain in 1771, where slavery technically didn’t exist (meaning Somerset was technically free when setting foot on British soil - Stewart still treated him like his slave on British soil, capturing him when he tried to run and hide away in London’s black community
- Granville persecuted Stewart for this, and took to court to Judge Mansfield; wanted Mansfield to decide whether slavery was legal or not in Britain
What was Judge Mansfield’s verdict on the 22 June 1772 regarding the case Granville and Somerset had against Stewart, and what was its significance ?
- verdict = slavery had never been in use in England (didn’t legally exist)
- Somerset freed from Stewart’s ownership
- black community of England rejoiced, as the only way to make slavery legal in full was to pass a law allowing it, which was unlikely
[] important to note that Mansfield didn’t outlaw slavery, simply said it didn’t exist; slavery continued to happen under the legal guise of servanthood
[] despite this, meant that any cases against servant employers acting live slave owners could be easily won
Describe the experiences of American (formerly enslaved) black migrants to Britain after the American Independence War (1775-83)
- promised freedom from slavery if supported the British rather than Americans in the war
[] did so because many Americans were slave owners - when British lost in the war, migrated to Britain
[] many couldn’t find work and became beggars - 1786, Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor set up
[] gave food and clothing to black beggars until they could find work and housing
[] eventually tried to get rid of black beggars in Britain by encouraging migration to Africa
[] for poor black people who wanted to stay in Britain, the Committee ceased aid to further encourage migration - April 1787, ship sailed to Sierra Leone with many black beggars on board; 133 of the 401 died on board the ship or just days after arriving
[] lack of consideration towards conditions on board - racism
Where were black communities strongest in Britain and why ?
- Liverpool, Glasgow and Cardiff
[] port cities; slave trade was particularly strong, as well as the sale of slaves there
[] once many slaves were technically freed in the early 1700s or rebranded as “servants” the black community grew exponentially
What occupations were performed by Africans in Britain ?
- many different
- some Africans (usually those who had lived in Britain for centuries) had high paying jobs, whilst others were very poor
- once the slave trade picked up in the 1700s where the black community was strongest (port cities), black horror at the Triangular Trade led to many becoming abolitionists
Which Asian people moved to Britain (primarily after 1858) ?
- Chinese
- Indians
- Malaysians
- Yemenis
- Somalians
Why did many Asians migrate to Britain (primarily after 1958) ?
- British presence in India strengthened and trade between the nations increased after 1958 when the British took control of India from the East Indian Company
[] by this time, much Indian political power had been taken due to the EIC’s extension of influence deeper into central India
[] defeated a combined (Nawab-led) Bengali (up until 1947 and the British partition of India, Bangladesh was part of India) and French (had an EIC of its own and were allies to the Nawabs) army were defeated by the EIC in the Battle of Plassey 1757, helping the British EIC take control of Bangladesh from the Nawabs
[] took lands and riches from Indian princes, forcing them out - Indian princes evicted by the EIC and later the British migrated to Britain with their riches
[] faced less racism and harassment due to having money - Indian university students moved to Britain to study (usually studied law)
[] educational opportunities attracted many and meant economic growth of the Indian communities in Britain due to skilled workers/lawyers - lascars hired by the EIC from Malay, Somalia, Yemen, India and China chose to stay in the British docks to work and live due to poor working conditions and wages when with the EIC
- ayahs hired on ships after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 to Britain to take care of children abandoned in Britain by employers who “forgot” to buy return tickets to India
- ayahs and Indian servants had migrated with their colonial families and numbers increased after 1700s due to them being cheaper than English servants, as well as being seen as status symbols
Describe the impact of the Suez Canal’s opening in 1869 for Indian and Asian migration to Britain
- cut off thousands of miles between Asia and Britain, making travel cheaper, faster and easier
[] increased opportunities for migrants like lascars and ayahs to travel to Britain - many ayahs who had worked on ocean liners and were abandoned in Britain by their employers who “forgot” return tickets to India were left destitute
[] hundreds lived in slums and overcrowded houses together - lascars who either chose to remain in Britain or were abandoned by EIC employers in Britain had a range of occupations
[] some found work in the docks and ports
[] some were left destitute and became homeless beggars or thieves (<- led to harassment and bad reputation for Indians in England)
[] 1880s, Yemeni lascars helped to build the Manchester Ship Canal then settled in the area of Old Trafford (<- useful economically for Britain)
Describe English support for destitute lascars and ayahs who migrated in the late 1800s
- mid-19th century, English women supported by the London City Mission (Christian missionary organisation) opened a hostel for destitute ayahs
[] later the LCM took over the hostel
[] worked to try and find ayahs employment in Britain or return tickets to India
[] LCM hoped to convert the (majority Hindu and some Muslim) ayahs to Christianity through working closely with them - hostels opened for lascars in the same way
[] gave food and clothing
[] helped lascars to find work
[] Christian missionary groups hoped to convert the lascars to Christianity through their aid to the lascars
Why was there a rise in Chinese immigration to Britain ?
British victory in 1839-42 war with China opened up passage for Chinese migrants and trade with China, as well as opportunity for the EIC to recruit Chinese lascars
