Reasons for migrations of Scots (push) Flashcards
Decline of Cottage industries
Small industries and villages were severely impacted by growth of large factories in town and cities. Workers in traditional craft such as tailors and shoemakers could not compete with factories.
Tied accommodation
Single and married farm workers were accommodated on the farm, so to be without work was to be without a place to stay- forcing migration if they became unemployed.
Overpopulation
Population in rural towns in lowlands was rising 10% per decade. This put pressure on food supplies in forced money to migrate.
Land
Farm consolidation (enclosures) meant thought there was less chance of landownership.
Highland Clearances
Sheep farming and deer hunting was more profitable for landowners than rent from crofters- who were evicted from their land in their homes. Evictions continued until the Crofters holding act of 1886.
Potato Blight
Potato blight caused the disease of the potato crop in 1846, threatening an estimated 200,000 highlanders with starvation.
Decline in Kelp industry
The kelp industry which had employed up to 150’000 workers at its peak, was in decline causing widespread unemployment.
Hours
Life working on land was hard with long hours e.g. before 1914 a ploughman would start at 6am and finish at 6pm. Jobs in towns and cities such as railway porter or policeman were less demanding.
Bright lights
Cities provided a more vivid social life- young people were attracted to cinemas, theatres and dances.
Mechanisation
New machinery on farms meant fewer labourers were needed and increased unemployment. New machinery included steam threshers and (in 20th century) tractors and combine harvesters.
Wages
Urban areas provided higher wages than rural areas. An industrial town worker could earn up to 50% more than an agricultural labourer.
Housing
Many young farm labourers lived in poor quality shared accommodation, known as bothies.
Decline in Herring industry
When the Russian revolution brought an end to the largest European export trade in Herring, the men of the North East who worked on trawlers and the women who worked as fish gutters lost their jobs.
Transport
It was easy to get to Glasgow from the west Highlands by boarding one of the steamboats which by the 1830s and the 1840s were sailing regularly to the most important places on the West Coast.
Pressure on land
Sub-division and sub-letting led to smaller and smaller farm holdings which were unable to support a family.
