European Emigration

Explain the reasons for and the results of European emigration between the 16th and 20th centuries

Since the 1492, Europe has had a tradition of emigration. Besides the mass European emigration during the 19th and early 20th centuries there were the early settlers in the 16th century in North America, the establishment of colonies around the world as well as the transfer of prisoners to Australia. The reasons for and the results of this are various.

Starting in the 16th century, emigration was the result of discovery and conquest on the part of European explorers like Christopher Columbus who went to discover gold in India and discovered by mistake America. Soon after, the Spanish and Portuguese migrants settled in South America for its abundance of resources in sugar, chocolate, potatoes and tobacco. These people were mostly poor. Nevertheless, they carried with them a strong cultural baggage through their language, architecture and religion (mainly Catholicism). Even if French emigration to America was limited, French explorers like Jacques Cartier who went to Québec in 1541 looking for free territories in order to expand the French culture. In the early 1600s, Pilgrims arrived in search of religious freedom. Some of America’s first settlers came in search of freedom to practice their faith. In 1620, a group of 100 people later known as the Pilgrims fled religious persecution in Europe and arrived at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they established a colony. They were soon followed by a larger group seeking religious freedom; 20 000 Puritans migrated to the region between 1630 and 1640. As time went by, British emigration became more and more popular.  Political, economical and social reasons encouraged emigration. The Empires greatly supported emigration since it gave them stronger power (trading, land expansion…). By the end of the 18th century, a demographic transition came into force in most of the European countries. Due to the industrial revolution (1750-1900) and important improvements on the medical front, mortality rates diminished strongly while the birth rate stayed stable. As a result, European countries’ populations increased significantly. Therefore, cities like London got overcrowded and unsanitary as land became increasingly scarce. Economically, the lives of Englishmen were undergoing dramatic changes since no more jobs were available and more people became impoverished. In addition, British people envied the American system where, unlike in Britain, no class system existed which meant that your future didn’t depend on your parents’ situation. Furthermore, by the time of the American Revolution (1775-1783), the average American had more personal freedom and a better standard of living than counterparts in Europe, even in the better-off countries of Western Europe.  Lastly, as a result of the Potato Famine in Ireland, 1 out of 9 people were killed. Consequently, by 1850, 14% of the population emigrated to escape poverty and religious persecutions as well as have the opportunity to own their land and property. The New World and its opportunities, known as “the American Dream” or paradise began to seem more appealing to the poor, the unemployed, and the younger sons of the gentry. Seemingly limitless tracts of farmland both relatively inexpensive and highly productive and the potential for trade and commerce offered possibilities for producing new wealth. Nevertheless, America was not the only host country for the British emigrants. Between 1788 and 1868, with a lack of space in British prisons, over 165 000 British convicts, mainly from London were transported to Australia as a way of populating the country. Following that, Italians immigrated to the United States from 1890 onward and became part of what is known as “New Immigration,” which is the third and largest wave of immigration from Europe and consisted of Slavs, Jews, and Italians. This “New Immigration” was a major change from the “Old Immigration” which consisted of Irish, British, and a few French. During the 1890s, some 600,000 Italians migrated to America, and by 1920 more than 4 million of them were settled there. This was the largest nationality of “new immigrants”. The main inducement for Italian emigration was the fact of gaining money to acquire land in Italy. Therefore, young men left their families and moved to America to work and earn money which they would repatriate when they went back to Italy. 30 to 50% of them stayed 5 years while getting well payed. Political hardship was also a motivating factor for Italian emigration. Starting in the 1870s the government took measures to repress political views such as anarchy and socialism. In general, Italians came to the United States to escape political policies. Eastern Europe as well as Russia was none the less concerned by emigration. Jews had no job opportunities and lived in enclaves where they ought to deal with overpopulation, misery and bad living conditions. Consequently, between 1880 and 1913 more than 2 million Jews went to the USA as a way of escaping religious persecutions. Even if migrants arrived safely to their host countries, their problems were not completely resolved.

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