Great Migration Notes Feb. 2

The Great Migration 1815-1850

A. What was the Great Migration?

1. A wave of newcomers who came to Canada because of
    conditions in Europe
2. Economic changes in Europe led to huge increase in population

a)      left many people destitute/poor

3. Idea of sending poor people of Britain to Canada became popular among British politicians

B. Scottish and Irish Poor

1. Among these people were Scottish Highlanders

a)      driven from their land

b)     landlords eager to replace them with sheep to supply new factories with wool

c)      Many were English workers displaced by the Industrial Revolution

2. Greatest number of migrants were Irish  They were driven from their land by poverty and hunger .

a)      from 1845-49 when potato crops (Irish Potato Famine) were destroyed by disease, Irish flooded to Canada.

C. Coffin Ships

1. Irish immigrants fell ill with cholera in filthy ships
2. In 1847, 17 000 of the 100 000 Irish died of sickness on the way
3. Irish greatly changed make-up of Canadian society

a)      They were mostly Catholic

b)     not necessarily loyal to England

4. Many preferred cities to farming

a)      By 1871, there were 846 000 Irish in Canada, out of a population of 3.5 million

b)     Only the French outnumbered them

D. Great Migration Recap

1. A great many people left their homes in Britain and other counties of Europe. 
2. Economic conditions in Britain and most of Europe were poor in the years after 1815. 
3. There was a great deal of unemployment, made worse by the growing use of machines during the Industrial Revolution. 
4. Many of the migrants leaving Britain and Europe from 1815 to 1850 came to Canada. 
5. Sixty percent of these immigrants to Canada were British.  This made them the largest cultural group in Canada.  
6. Several immigrant groups had established themselves in Atlantic Canada by 1861. 
7. The main groups were British, French, and German, but there were also American Loyalists. 
8. A significant Black population had created a community in Nova Scotia.

The Underground Railroad

A. What was the Underground Railroad?

1. The UR was an above-ground series of escape routes for slaves traveling from the South to the North trying to gain freedom.
2. Slaves travelled by: foot, wagons, boats, and trains.
3. Slave runaways would usually travel by the light of the night and hide during the day in places known as stations.  These were safe houses owned by abolitionists.

B. Abolitionist

1. Abolition was the movement to end slavery
2. Slaves would hide in various places.
3. A person who believed and worked for the abolishment of slavery was called an abolitionist..

C. Henry Box Brown

1. Henry Brown convinced Samuel to pack him in a box and ship him to Philadelphia.
2. His trip there was grueling, in tight quarters.
3. Brown was set free in Philadelphia and eventually made his way to Boston, where he helped fellow escapees on the Underground Railroad.
4. Conductors were the people who led the runaways to freedom.

C. Harriet Tubman

1. Harriett Tubman was a born slave in Maryland.
2. When she learned that her owner was going to sell her, she decided to escape.
3. Tubman made 19 journeys from the South to the North as a Conductor on the Underground Railroad.
4. Southern Plantation owners offered $40, 000 for her capture.
5. Plantations owners also offered rewards for the return of runaway slaves.