Migration of Scots

Question 1

Economic Reasons for Migration:

Answer 1

Highlands
* some landlords assisted tenants by paying their passage if they agreed to leave. This made Scots move because they were too poor to pay for the passage themselves, so with the Landlord’s help they were able to move to a better lifestyle.
* the Highland Clearances were forced evictions by Highland landlords who replaced crofters with sheep farming as they made more money that way. This made Scots move because they had nowhere to live and the Landlords could resort to brutal ways to remove them from their homes if they resisted so moved to find a home elsewhere.

Lowlands
* wages in Scotland were low compared to those offered in USA and Canada for the same jobs. This made Scots move because the promise of higher wages elsewhere for similar work attracted them to migrate steel workers could earn the same in the USA in a week as they could in Scotland in a month.
* Agricultural Revolution: changes in farming methods and new technology, such as mechanical reapers/binders and later tractors. This made Scots move because there were fewer jobs available as physical labour was not as in demand so moved to find a job elsewhere.

Question 2

Soical & Cultural Reasons for Migration:

Answer 2

• family and relations abroad wrote letters home telling of better wages, climate, living standards, etc. This made Scots move because this communication telling of how different life was appealed to them and they felt as though they would be joining a community that was quite like home when and if they migrated.
• basic living conditions in Scotland were poor - black houses, no windows or chimneys, diseases (typhus, cholera) spread quickly in poor living conditions. This made Scots move because they wanted to escape, so they migrated to the cities or abroad for improved housing in tenements in the cities.

Question 3

Transportation Reasons for Migration:

Answer 3

• the advancement of rail travel which over time became cheaper and faster. This made Scots move because it easily and cheaply enabled them to be able to migrate internally but also travel to ports to emigrate.
• permanent migration was also increasing due to the invention of the steamship. This made Scots move because it became faster and more affordable to travel to places like Canada, e.g. in the 1850s it took 6 weeks to cross the Atlantic but by 1914 it took only 1 week.

Question 4

Opportunity Reasons for Migration:

Answer 4

• cheap or free land was offered in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This made Scots move because they would be able to own and work their own land, unlike they ever could in Scotland.
• abroad, doctors, engineers and merchants could receive higher pay (e.g. a granite worker in America earned as much in 1.5 days as an equivalent Scottish worker would in a week). This made Scots move because they would be moving for a better life, and be able provide for themselves and their families for a change.

Question 5

Coercion Reasons for Migration:

Answer 5

• many tenants had no security of tenure. This made Scots move because they were easily evicted by landlords and made homeless, so had to move to find a home elsewhere.
• whole Highland districts were brutally cleared (e.g. Strathconon in 1850; South Uist and Barra in 1851; Knoydart in 1853). This made Scots move because they were forced from their homes and had to find a job and home elsewhere.