Scottish Emigration

SCOTTISH EMIGRATION 1830s-1939

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zq88q6f

PULL FACTORS FOR SCOTTISH EMIGRATION

4. Some better-off people organised help for emigration with Charities. Charities like Barnardos did some work in Scotland. Other examples are the Young Men's Christian Association or the British Women's Emigration Association.

5. There were, as well, Emigration Societies trying to help people. They helped people like weavers, who were finding it harder to make a living with the growing competition from machines in factories. Those Societies also helped women, needed in the colonies in order to balance the population.

6. The governments which ruled the different parts of the British Empire put a lot of effort into attracting certain people. Places like Canada hoped to attract well-quailified farmers and workers to develop the economy. Colonial Governments tried to persuade people by giving talks and handed out leafleats about the amazing living conditions people could find there.

PULL FACTORS FOR SCOTTISH EMIGRATION

1. Improvements in transport helped Scots to move abroad. They could travel easily and cheaply. The invention of the steamship and the building of the railways made this possible. The Clyde shipping firms could transport them worldwide.

2. Estate landlords helped with the costs of emigration because they wanted to reduce the number of people livig on their lands. Some landlords were genuinely trying to help but others were more selfish.

3. The government did very little to help emigrants in the 19th cent. More help was given after the WW1 as they wante to reduce unemployment. Some initiatives as the Overseas Settlement Committee or the Empire settlement Act didn't last very much.

lOWLANDS

The attraction of living abroad made many scots want to move. Both practical and economical reasons made people ble to emigrate:

1. Improvements in transport.

2. Help from Landlowners.

3. Use of Government money.

4. Charities.

5. Emigration Societies.

6. Colonial Governments.

HIGHLANDS

1. Population growth considerably and the steam powered and new machines and techniques had begun to replace farmer workers. The countryside was under pressure; there were more people and fewer farms to buy. Farms had grown larger and become more industrialised, making them more expensive.

2.Living conditions were poor in the slums of the industrial towns and cities.

3.Working conditions were also far from ideal - people worked long hours and often in dangerous environments. Wages were also low. Industries such as coal-mining and ship-building were hit by a lack of demand for long periods between 1830 and 1930.

4. Scots were suffering a lack of opportunity and had to look elsewhere for employment and better living conditions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zt22tfr

push factors for SCOTTISH emigration

1. The rising costs of the tenements and a series of crop failures meant people went hungry and unable to pay their rents. There was no alternative to working on the land.

2. The population was increasing causing competition for land, jobs and housing.

3. The failure of fishing, linen and kelp industries led to high unemployment in the Highlands, especially after World War One.

4. Landowners wanted, as well, use their states to develop sheep farming, goose shooting and deer hunting, so they encouraged people to emigrate, even paying the costs. Landowners were heavily criticised for this and for the Clearances.

5. Forced evictions or Clearances (1840-1850) made people move away from their homes. They tried luck in the cities in the South and, sometimes, abroad, to places like Canada, where wages were higher.

CRIMINALS, FIRST WORLD WAR AND EMIGRATION UP TO 1930S

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zyppyrd

1. Up until 1867, criminals convicted of serious crimes were often sent to Australia. After serving their sentences, many chose to stay there. This increased the emigration.

2. After WW1, many people had to emigrate as well. Scotland struggled to get foreign order and some industries had problems with the foreign competition. This made people move as well.

3. Scots continued to emigrate in small numbers because the traditional industries were still doing badly and there was no developing for new enterprises and jobs.

At that time, Scots had to deal with many problems that made them move from home:

1. Agricultural depression after many crop failures.

2. Homelessness as a result of poverty and lack of opportunity and unemployment.

3. Their situations were different depending of their living place. There were differences between the Highlands and the Lowlands.

- Highlands: they had no choice but to move.

- Lowlands: they were likely to move because they wanted a better standard of living.

( http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z4h39j6/revision/2 )