Download St Andrew`s RC Secondary Intermediate 2 History Immigrants and

St Andrew’s RC Secondary
Intermediate 2 History
Immigrants and Exiles
Scotland 1830s – 1930s
Revision Booklet
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Problems in Ireland
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No growing industries to provide work
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Population growing steadily
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Ireland could not compete with Britain in attracting trade – their
prices for goods were higher
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Absentee British landlords evicted tenants

Few Irish owned their land – rents could go up at any time resulting
in eviction
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in towns and cities
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Ireland was governed by Britain who had no idea how to run the
small country
Famine
 1840s potatoes are hit by blight
 50% of Irish population rely on potatoes as only source of food due
to small and poor farmland
 Happened in 1845, 1846 and 1848
Results of potato blight
 Over a million died
 Many lost their land because they could not pay rent
 British government did little – eventually sent corn which was too
little, too late
 Britain continued to take other foods out of Ireland
 Workhouse system could not cope with demand
 Many emigrated if they could afford it
IMMIGRANT – comes IN to a country (Irish into Scotland)
EMIGRANT – leaves a country (Scot to Australia)
PULL
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factors of Scotland
Easy to reach from Ireland
Fast and cheap passage by ship available
Higher wages in Scotland
Scotland needed workers for expanding industries
Whole families could work in industries like mining and textiles (inc.
women and children)
 Work was available all year round (In Ireland, a lot of work was
seasonal)
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Where did the Irish go and why?
 Glasgow – first point of arrival, lots of work available
 Dundee – textile industries such as jute
 Edinburgh – lots of work available
 Ayrshire – close to North of Ireland and mining work available
 Coatbridge – mining work available
What did the Irish work as?
 Farmers
 Miners
 Textile industries
 Navvies (building railways)
 Most worked long hours in a hard job for low pay
 Some managed to work their way up to success (i.e. Lipton
family)
Homes for Irish immigrants
 Miserable homes (Scottish housing poor until 20th century)
 Overcrowded
 Close to factories (pollution)
 No clean water supply
 No ventilation
 Poor sanitation
 Disease spread easily
Some improvements came – Scottish Poor Law, clean water supplies etc
Most Irish stuck together – Royston, Govanhill, Coatbridge etc
Why was the Catholic Church so important to Irish immigrants?
 Football teams like Hibernian and Celtic grew from the Church
(football was a hobby for Irish)
 It allowed immigrants to go on worshipping the way they knew
 Many priests were Irish
 The Church provided somewhere to share information about homes,
jobs etc for new Irish immigrants
 It provided a social life – dances, bingo, trips etc
 It helped people in need – Saint Vincent De Paul etc
 It provided good Catholic schools were children could be brought
up in the way Irish parents wanted
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Divisions amongst Irish immigrants
 Irish Catholics v Irish Protestants
 Ulster Protestants found it easier to settle in – many had Scottish
names, they shared same religion as Scots and were skilled workers
 Disagreement over Home Rule – Irish protestants supported an
Ireland ruled by Britain; Catholics wanted Ireland to govern itself
 Orange Order set up in Scotland to protect Protestant faith
 Often violence between Catholics and Protestants on Orange walks
 Masonic Lodge also dominated by Protestants
 Religious issues seep into football Rangers v Celtic
 During Irish Civil War, many Irish Catholics support IRA and Sinn
Fein
 Many Protestants take the side of the Loyalists and British Army
 Many shipyards in Glasgow would not employ Catholics
 Many Irish run building companies would not employ Protestants
Were the Irish welcomed?
 Many Scots worried about the poverty they were bringing into
Scotland
 Many said the Irish were violent and had rowdy behaviour
 Many said the Irish were heavy drinkers (navvies especially)
 Many Scots were worried that the Protestant religion would be
damaged by all these Catholics arriving
 Organisations such as the Scottish Protestant League (SPL)
became popular
BUT
 Many thought they were excellent and honest workers
 The Irish did essential work that Scotland did not have enough
people to do
 They brought new life to the Catholic Church
 There was already poverty in Scotland long before the Irish came
How did the Irish integrate into Scotland?
 Many married Scots
 Some changed their surname – O’Neill to McNeil
 Many became involved with Trade Unions
 Many joined or voted for the Labour Party
 Many joined the Suffragettes
 Many fought in WWI
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The Catholic Schools became part of the state school programme
in 1918 (allowed Catholic children to be educated in same way as
non-Catholics)
Why
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did people leave Scotland?
Poverty in Scotland (poor housing, poor health etc)
The Depression (1930s, time of unemployment)
Many heard success stories from friends and families
Higher wages in countries like the USA
Bigger and Better farmland available in countries like Canada and
New Zealand
Some did not choose to go – criminals were sent to Australia until
1867
Poor rural housing
Potato blight in the Highlands – 1840s
Highland landowners would often evict tenants if they could make
more money from sheep etc
Highlands had a growing population – not enough resources for
everyone
New farming machinery was putting people out of a job
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How did people afford to travel abroad?
 Some had the money themselves
 Some landowners would pay for their tenants to leave (the
government helped them with grants during the famine)
 Charities would often help – YMCA, William Quarrier, British
Women’s Emigration Association
 Colonial governments – governments of the British Empire i.e.
Canada often offered free farmland or grants to immigrants
 British Government – their help was limited. During the 1930s they
helped people leave but only as a solution to mass unemployment
How did countries attract Scots?
 Countries only wanted people who were educated, skilled, ambitious
and had a bit of money
 They used leaflets, lectures, posters and photos to try and show
their country off to Scots
 Incentives such as free farmland or a starting grant (money) for
new immigrants were common (especially in places like Canada
where there was lots of unused land)
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Missionaries
 These were people who went abroad to try and spread
Christianity to non-Christian parts of the Empire
 Some included Alexander Duff, David Livingstone and Mary
Slessor (the lady on our £10 note)
The Journey
 Damp, overcrowded, lack of food, poor quality food, diseases
spreading from poor emigrants
 Often people died on the voyage and bodies were thrown overboard
 People who had their ticket paid by charities were looked down
upon
 Ships were often wrecked, bad weather could mean that
passengers were kept downstairs for weeks with no fresh air
 Stories like that of The Hercules (1853) were common – it
reached Australia with less than half its passengers alive
Where did emigrants go and why?
 England – close to Scotland, higher wages and lots of work available
 Canada – part of British Empire, lots of free farmland available
 USA – not part of British Empire but high wages and lots of
opportunities in business and farming
 South Africa – many went to try and make a fortune after gold and
diamonds were discovered
 Australia – far away but discovery of gold increased emigration
 New Zealand – far away but farming opportunities there
Successful Scots
 John Logie Baird – went to England – invented TV
 James Ramsay McDonald – went to England – first Scottish Prime
Minister
 Allan Pinkerton – went to USA – detective and uncovered plot to kill
president Lincoln
Were Scots always welcome?
YES answers
 They brought vital skills such as sheep farming to New Zealand and
mining to South Africa
 They were ambitious and changed the landscape of countries,
building towns, roads, buildings etc
 Most spoke English and fitted in easily
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NO answers
 Many people in other countries were alarmed at the poverty of
Highland Scots
 Some spoke Gaelic and found it harder to integrate
 Often Scots (and Brits) pushed out native people like the Native
Americans (USA), Aborigines (Australia) and Maoris (New Zealand)
 They were able to do this because they had better military
strength than these people who often led a quiet and tribal life
Enterprising Scots
 Many did not just enjoy happiness but huge success
 Andrew Carnegie – made a fortune in the USA through his steel
business and coal fields and used his money to build over 2000
libraries in the USA an Britain (several in Glasgow)
Australia
 Used to house convicts from Britain
 Many had relative freedom and ran farms etc
 Eventually free people who moved there complained and the
government stopped using Australia for this purpose
Still Scottish?
 Most Scots were determined to preserve their Scottish identity
 Gatherings for Scots were setup in many countries like Australia
where Scots would do Scottish Dancing and piping
 Highland dancing, Highland games, Burns Suppers etc were common
in America and Australia
 Many set up Golf Clubs abroad
 Most taught their children and grandchildren about their homeland
and heritage
 Still events like ‘Homecoming’ in Scotland and ‘Tartan Week’ in USA
 Those who went to England mainly lost their Scots identity – most
married English and began to see themselves as English
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