Causes of Migration
What factors triggered global mass migration in the late 19th century?
Industrialization, political instability, and natural disasters.
How many Europeans migrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries?
Around 60 million people.
What jobs did European immigrants do in the U.S.?
Steel mills, factories, and mines.
What work did Chinese migrants perform?
Building railroads, mining, and plantation work.
What was the purpose of the Johnson-Reed Act?
It limited immigration with quotas favoring northern Europeans.
What is diaspora?
The scattering of people from their homeland while maintaining cultural ties.
Why did Europeans leave their home countries?
To escape poverty, political turmoil, and religious persecution.
What challenges did immigrants face in the U.S.?
Harsh conditions, discrimination, and xenophobia.
Why did Latin America recruit Chinese workers?
Because slavery was abolished and labor was needed.
What was a law that restricted Asian immigration in the U.S.?
The Chinese Exclusion Act.
What caused the Chinese diaspora?
Extreme poverty and the Taiping Rebellion.
What was the main destination for European migrants?
The United States.
What is indentured labor?
Contract labor under restrictive agreements often leading to servitude.
How did Brazil’s immigration strategy change?
It shifted from European to Japanese laborers.
What policy did Canada use to limit Chinese immigration?
A tax on Chinese immigrants.
What factors led to Japanese emigration?
Economic depression and falling rice prices.
Why did countries like Argentina and Brazil encourage European immigration?
They wanted labor and to “whiten” their populations.
What conditions did Chinese laborers experience abroad?
Debt bondage, confinement, and brutal working conditions.
How did Indian migration impact Fiji?
It changed demographics and created cultural blending but also tension.
How did Australia restrict non-European immigration based on language?
A dictation test in a European language.
What structural economic transformation drove worldwide migration patterns in the 19th century?
The global demand for labor in mines, factories, and export agriculture during industrial expansion.
What percentage of Argentina’s population was made up of immigrants at one point?
Approximately 30 percent.
How did indentured labor function as a post-abolition labor system?
A coercive labor system replacing slavery, binding workers through long-term contracts and limiting freedom.
What social transformation occurred among Indians in Fiji?
The breakdown of caste systems and formation of a unified identity due to labor conditions and demographics.
What ideological foundation underpinned anti-Asian immigration laws in the Western world?
State-sponsored racial exclusion justified by fears of “unassimilable” populations, shaping immigration systems globally.