Unit 6: Topic 6 - Migration Causes Flashcards
Great Hunger
A horrible famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine, in Ireland that plagued Ireland from 1845 to 1849. This was caused by a potato blight that infected all the potatoes of Ireland. Some causes of the intensity of the famine included the single crop system and absentee landlordism. Over the course of 4-5 years, over 1 million Irish people died, and over 1 million Irish emigrated. Additionally, the British bar on Irish exports led to dissenting opinions and started anti-British sentiment.
Emigrate
To emigrate means to leave one’s own country in order to settle and live in another. There are many reasons for people to emigrate, called push or pull factors. Push factors are what “push” you away from your country, like poverty, violence, or persecution. Pull factors are reasons why someone would like to settle in the country that they are emigrating to, like economic prosperity, education, or political stability. A large wave of Europeans emigrated to the US in the 1840-1860s due to many of these push and pull factors.
The Colonial Service
Originating in 1837, the Colonial Service or His/Her Majesty’s Colonial Service was the British government service that oversaw and administered the significant majority of Britain’s overseas possessions (colonies & plantations) excluding India, Sudan, or Southern Rhodesia.
Penal colony
A penal colony is a colony where convicts are sent as indentured servants and forced to work. Britain set up many penal colonies, and one of the best examples is Australia.
Diaspora
The dispersal or scattering of a population from their place of origin to different locations. The main motives for migrations are expulsion, expansion, commercial endeavors, environmental crises, and/or pursuit of employment.
Contract labour
Workers whose freedom is bound by the terms of the contractual relationship and is permissible and enforceable by law. Contract labor has mostly been affiliated with poverty and political/ religious intolerance. Historically, deception, kidnapping, and coercion have been used to obtain contract laborers. Indentured labor was a common form of contract labor in North America in the 17th and 18th centuries.
American Colonizaton Society
American organization founded in 1816 dedicated to transporting freeborn blacks and emancipated slaves to Africa. Members included Francis Scott Key and Henry Clay and had support from all levels of government and churches. The overwhelmingly white membership all generally agreed with the prevailing view of the time that free blacks could not be integrated into white America.
