Hello and welcome to this lesson on migration to Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

This lesson is part of a broader inquiry looking at the impact of migration in this time period.

In the course of this inquiry, we'll cover lots of different things, but for today, we're going to be looking in the overview of the reasons for migration in this period, the experiences and impacts of migrants in this period as well.

Now, in order to do that, you're going to need a piece of paper and a pen.

If you don't have one, absolutely not to worry.

Just pause the video, go and get everything you need, and then come back and press play when you're ready to go.

Great.

Now you've got everything you need to get started.

We can have a look at our lesson outcome, which is on this slide here.

I'm hoping that by the end of this lesson you'll be able to say that you can explain the reasons for and the experiences and impact of migration to Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Now, in order to do that, we're going to need some keywords, and for today we've got four.

Lascar, which is a sailor, usually from Britain's colonies across Africa and Asia.

Ayah, which is a nurse, maid or nanny who is usually of Indian descent.

Civil liberties, which is a person's right to be subject to laws that are only for the good of the community.

And finally, we also have refugee, and that's a person who's been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or a natural disaster.

Now, you've seen these words separately with their definitions.

Hopefully when you see them again in the context of the lesson, they'll make lots more sense.

But for now, we can get started on today's lesson by looking at the reasons for migration in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Now, the first reason we're going to look at is the Industrial Revolution.

And that's because one of the impacts of the Industrial Revolution in Britain was an increase in migration to growing cities.

Most of this migration came from rural areas, as fewer agricultural workers were needed, and so many sought work in the new industrial cities, and this was known as internal migration.

However, the industrial revolution also led to international migration, so migration from abroad.

An example of this is sailors from British colonies, often known as lascars, who settled in British port cities.

An example of a British port city that attracted many lascars was Liverpool.

However, Liverpool had become a popular destination predominantly for Irish migrants.

And that's because of the transformation that the city had undergone as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

But it wasn't just Irish migrants who settled in Liverpool.

The growth of trade in factories meant that many new workers were needed, and so many Irish migrants came to take up this work as well as African and Caribbean lascars who would also settle in Liverpool and take up jobs in the growing trades.

So we know that one of the main reasons for migration in this period was the Industrial Revolution.

That's because the jobs created by the huge economic transformation meant that fewer agricultural workers were needed.

And so there was lots of internal migration, but the jobs also attracted work from abroad as sailors ended up settling in port cities sometimes because they were not hired for the journey home, but occasionally also because there was work available for them to take up in these port cities.

Now, before we go on to look at other reasons for migration in this period, I'd like to very quickly tell me whether this statement is true or false.

The Industrial Revolution led to migration to growing cities.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said that this statement is true, but you need to tell me why.

Is it true because no agricultural workers were needed in rural areas and social work in cities? Or is it because fewer agricultural workers were needed in rural areas and so many sought work in cities? Pause the video now, make a decision and come back and press play when you have an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said B, because it's not that no agricultural workers were needed, but it was that fewer agricultural workers were needed for this work in cities.

Second question.

Which of the following statements explains why the Industrial Revolution led to migration from abroad? Is it A, agricultural workers with the colonies looked for work in the British countryside? B, agricultural workers were unwilling to take up jobs in the city, or C, lascars from British colonies would end up settling in growing port cities.

Think about what we just covered.

Pause the video and then come back when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant.

The answer is, in fact, C, that lascars from British colonies would end up settling in growing port cities.

Really well done.

So another reason for increasing migration in this period is the expansion of the British Empire.

By 1860, India had become a colony in the British empire, and Britain had also started to establish colonies across Africa.

An increasing number of Indian migrants settled in Britain as a result.

Most Indian migrants travelled to Britain as lascars and ayahs.

On arriving in Britain, most were only able to find low paying jobs and so lived in poor conditions.

There were a few ayahs who managed to find work with British families who were willing to pay for their education in the hopes they might find better paying jobs.

African migrants in Britain had also settled as unfree servants for wealthy British families during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but also as Britain began to establish colonies across Africa.

There were also several examples of African migrants who had achieved great success in Britain.

For example, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a migrant from modern day Sierra Leone who became a successful musician.

So we've looked at how the Industrial Revolution led to increasing migration this time period.

We've also seen how the British Empire's migration from much further abroad than in previous time periods.

From 1500 to 1700, typically known as the early modern period, you might have learned about migration from Europe predominantly.

But in this period, we're seeing migration from much further abroad from Britain's growing colonies.

Now, before we move on to look at our third and final reason for migration in this period, I've got a couple of questions.

First, why did India becoming a formal colony in 1858 increase migration from India? Was it A, many Indian migrants were invited to settle by the British government.

B, they were given the same rights as British citizens, so could easily travel to Britain.

Or C, there were greater opportunities for lascars and ayahs to travel to Britain.

Pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you have an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said C, that there were greater opportunities for lascars and ayahs to travel to Britain.

Now, I'd like you to tell me whether this statement is true or false.

All African migrants settled as unfree servants.

Pause the video now, make a decision and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said this statement is false, but we need to think about why.

Is this statement false because A, although most were unfree servants, some migrated and achieved great success.

Or is it false because B, after the trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, all African migrants came to Britain as free individuals.

Pause the video now.

And again, make a quick decision for me and come back and press play when you've got an answer.

Brilliant.

We know that the answer is A.

Although most were unfree servants, some migrated and achieved great success.

So we cannot say they all settled as unfree servants, but we do know that across this time period, many did settle as unfree servants.

So the final reason to consider when looking at the reason for migration in this period is the increasing civil liberties in Britain and how that led to an increasing number of migrants who came to Britain seeking greater freedoms. And one example of a migrant group who did this is Irish migrants, particularly Irish Catholics.

They migrated in larger numbers after the 1778 Papists Act.

This is because the Act granted Catholics the right to own land and join the army in England, although they could not worship freely just yet.

And this appealed to many Irish Catholics who faced persecution from their Protestant landlords in Ireland.

And there were also African migrants who were attracted to England by the verdict of the 1772 Somerset case, which ruled illegal for an African person to be forcefully transported out of England.

And many interpreted this as ruling slavery to be illegal.

So we've looked at the role of the Industrial Revolution in creating jobs largely in big industrial cities that attracted not just rural workers, but also migrants from abroad.

We've looked at how the British Empire also contributed to migrants coming from much further afield, coming from as far as Britain's colonies in Africa and Asia.

And finally, we considered the role of civil liberties where people came to Britain seeking the greater freedoms that were available as a result of changing laws and legislation in the nation.

So I would like you to to complete this table by reading each statement and deciding which of the three main examples we looked at it best fits.

So if each statement is an example of how the Industrial Revolution led to increasing migration.

If it is, you'll put IR in the box.

Or is it an example of how the British Empire led to increasing migration? If it is, you'll put BE or if it's an example of civil liberties leading to increased migration, in which case you'll write CL.

So pause the video now.

Give yourself no more than five minutes and come back when you're done.

Brilliant.

So let's have a look at what your completed table should have looked like.

So for the first statement, Indian migrants came for job opportunities or for education, we can put BE, British Empire, and we can also put BE for the second statement.

Lascars from Asia and Africa returned with Irish migrants.

For the third statement, agricultural workers looked to work in the cities.

We can put IR.

For the fourth, the opportunity for greater freedoms was attractive to migrants.

We can put CL, and finally, many workers were needed in Liverpool.

That's an example of the impact of the Industrial Revolution and how it led to greater migration.

Therefore, we can put IR.

Really, really well done for the first part of the lesson.

And now in the second part of the lesson, we are going to be moving on to looking at the experiences of migrants in this period.

Now, migrants had a wide variety of experiences in this period, and the experiences were often dependent on the economic contributions they were able to make once they settled in Britain.

So for example, King George I, he was a German, brought German bankers, merchants, artists, and doctors to Britain with him when he became king.

And these migrants were able to settle and settle up successful businesses, and therefore, they often had positive experiences.

So we can see they were brought largely because of the contributions that they could make and on making these contributions through successful businesses, they had positive experiences.

And the same can be said for Italian refugees who brought with them many skills from Italy, developing a reputation for working ceramics and tiles and making religious artefacts.

They also brought with them Italian cafe culture and they became known for making and selling ice cream.

In Scotland, Italians opened fish and chip shops, some of which are still run by Italians today.

So again, we can see that positive economic contributions led to positive experiences in the case of both German and Italian migrants in this period.

So before we go on to consider whether this generalisation applies to all migrants, I have a couple of quick questions for you.

Firstly, true or false, German migrants are welcomed by the authorities.

Just a quick one.

You might not even need to pause the video, but I need you to decide whether this is true or false.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said that this statement is true, but we need to think about why.

Is it true because George I was a German migrant and so invited many German workers to settle in England.

Or is it true because George I was a Protestant Englishman and so invited many European Protestants.

So pause the video, make a decision very quickly and come back and press play when you have an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you went with A.

It's because George I was a German migrant, and so invited many German workers to settle in England.

And then secondly, Jun has been sitting in on our lesson and has made a very helpful contribution.

He says that Italian migrants have positive experiences, which is true.

He's clearly been listening well.

But we need to help Jun out here and give two details to support this statement.

So pause the video, jot down two ideas really quickly, and then come back and press play when you have an answer for me.

Hopefully you managed to mention two of the following.

The Italian refugees brought many skills with them, that they developed a reputation for working ceramics and tiles and making religious artefacts that they brought Italian cafe culture to Britain and became known for making and selling ice cream.

But also then in Scotland, Italians opened fish and chip shops in towns and cities, some of which are still run by Italians today.

Really, really well done if you were able to get two of those details down.

And even better if you've got more than two.

Now, as you might have already guessed, with all generalisations that we make in history, we have to be careful.

We do need to be able to make some generalisations in order to look at patterns of experiences and reasons for migration and so on.

But there are almost always exceptions.

So where we've said that migrants who made positive contributions had more positive experiences, there is an exception.

And one example of this exception are French refugees who fled from France following the French Revolution.

And these French refugees did come from wealthier backgrounds because they were mostly part of the nobility.

And while the government looked at these refugees sympathetically, newspapers reported that people in Britain were growing suspicious of French men and demanded action against the migrants.

They believed that the people fleeing France were actually secret supporters of the revolution and had come to England to spread its ideas.

Eventually, the British government introduced the first Aliens Act in 1793.

It was the first law designed to control the entry of foreigners into Britain.

So we can see here an example that challenges that early generalisation.

It doesn't mean that it's not true, but we just need to be careful and say something like most migrants who made significant contributions had positive experiences.

As an example of a group that didn't, is the French refugees, as we can see here.

There was a whole law introduced, the first law introduced to control the entry of foreigners into Britain.

Now, going back to that initial generalisation that most migrants who were able to make significant economic contributions had largely positive experiences, the reverse of that is that migrants who were not bringing new skills, but were in competition for work with already established populations, often had negative experiences.

An example of this is Jewish migrants in the 1880s who were often poorer and less educated than those who migrated before them, as many of them came from poor communities who were fleeing the pogroms in Eastern Europe.

Therefore, many worked in sweatshops in the east end of London as cloth makers, shoe makers, and furniture makers, often in awful conditions for very long hours and for very little pay.

These migrants face hostility from local English workers who complained that the growing Jewish community was driving down wages.

Now, given what we've just looked at, I've got a very quick statement for you.

All wealthy migrants had positive experiences.

Just tell me whether the statement is true or false.

Pause the video now, make a decision, and come back when you're done.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said that this statement is in fact false, but we need to think about why? Is it false because French migrants face great hostility from British people, or is it false because French migrants face great hostility from the British government? Again, pause the video, make a decision, and come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Great, hopefully you said A.

Is that the French migrants face great hostility from British people, and it was this hostility that would lead to the 1793 Aliens Act.

But remember, initially they did not face hostility from the British government.

It was only following the pressure that was placed on the government following the growing hostility amongst local people suspicious that they were secret supporters of the French Revolution.

Second question, I'd like you to have a quick discussion.

If you're doing this lesson by yourself, just have a go at articulating a response out loud or jotting down some quick ideas.

Or if you're doing this lesson with someone else or in a classroom, I'd like you to have the discussion in pairs.

So the topic of our discussion here is what was the experience of Jewish migrants to Britain in the 19th century? So what I would like you to do now is to pause the video and give yourself enough time to jot down some key ideas or explain out loud if you're doing this lesson by yourself.

And if you're doing it in pairs, make sure both of you have time to contribute.

So pause the video and come back when you're done.

Excellent.

So hopefully in your discussion, you mentioned that Jewish migrants were often refugees from pogroms in Eastern Europe.

You also mentioned that many settled in the East End of London where they worked long hours for low pay, making clothes, shoes, and furniture.

And also that they faced hostility from local English workers who complained that the growing Jewish community was driving down wages because they worked so hard for lower pay.

Really, really well done.

So what I'd like you to do now as we move on to our second task for today is have a look at Izzy's explanation of the experiences from migrants in this period.

She said that migrants had a wide variety of experiences in the 18th and 19th centuries.

However, migrants from wealthier backgrounds had more positive experiences because of what they could contribute.

So now I'd like you to explain how far you agree with this explanation.

Pause the video now.

Give yourself five to 10 minutes to write up a response for me, and then come back when you're done.

Brilliant.

So hopefully your answer looks a little something like this.

I agree with Izzy to a significant extent.

German migrants who came on invitation from King George I in 1714, for example, had largely positive experiences.

This was not just because of good relationships with the authorities, but because many came from wealthy backgrounds and were able to settle in Britain as bankers, merchants, artists, and doctors.

In contrast, Jewish migrants who arrived in the 1880s were less educated and poorer than Jewish migrants, in earlier periods.

The work they could find was low paid and done in poor conditions, and they faced hostility from local workers.

However, Izzy is not entirely correct as she's not considered the experiences of wealthier migrants who still had largely negative experiences.

French refugees after 1789 were mostly wealthy enemies of the French Revolution.

The nobility who made up the French government viewed them sympathetically.

However, they faced great hostility from British people who feared they were secret supporters of the revolution with plans to overturn British society.

This hostility continued to grow and eventually resulted in the 1793 Aliens Act, the first law introduced to control migration to Britain.

So really well done if you were able to explain why Izzy is largely correct, but she failed to consider the exceptions to this generalisation.

So remember, it's always important to say that it may be many or most migrants had largely positive experiences because of their economic contributions, but it is hardly ever all migrants.

So just make sure that you're really careful with your wording when you are making these generalisations.

So in the third and final part of our lesson, we're going to be looking at the impact of migrants on Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Now, migrants impacted various parts of society in this time period, and the most significant area of impact were the economy, politics, and the built environment.

We're gonna start off by looking at their impact on the economy, and one example is the contributions of Irish navvies in the building of railways and canals, essential infrastructure of the Industrial Revolution.

And as a result of their work, raw materials were able to travel between factories, mines, and major port cities much more quickly.

Migrants also boosted local economies.

For example, the Irish community in Liverpool opened successful businesses like bakers, butchers, tailors, and greengrocers.

Sugar refiners from Germany, followed King George I of Britain, so that by 1750 there were over 80 German owned sugar refineries in the country.

When they arrived, there was no English word for sugar refiners.

So the German word zukerbakers was used and became sugar baker in English.

So we know clearly there are several examples of significant economic contributions of migrants in this period.

Before we go on to look at another area, just a couple of questions for you.

First, which two of the following statements explains how Irish migrants impacted the economy? A, navvies worked on railways and canals.

B, zukerbakers set up sugar refineries.

C, local businesses in Liverpool were successful.

Or D, workshops in the East End produced garments.

Pause the video now, make a decision and come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said A and C.

That there were navvies who worked on the railways and canals, but also local businesses in Liverpool were successful.

Secondly, it was only Irish migrants who made significant contributions to the economy.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video now, make a decision, and press play when you have an answer for me.

Brilliant.

We know that this statement is false, but you need to justify your answer.

So is this statement false because German sugar refiners brought their skills with them building 80 sugar refineries in Britain, or because Irish navvies made significant contributions to the building of canals and railways? So again, pause the video, make a decision, and come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said A.

We know that it wasn't only Irish migrants who made significant contributions, because another example is German sugar refiners who brought their skills with them.

B, wouldn't be correct because it's just an example of how Irish migrants contributed to the economy.

In addition to economic contributions, migrants also impacted politics.

The Indian migrant Dadabhai Naoroji became a member of Parliament and MP in the 1890s.

He was known for criticising British rule in India, but also made sure to represent the interest of Indian people who had migrated to and settled in England.

The growing presence of Irish migrants also led to some political changes.

For example, petitioning by the Irish community led to the 1829 Emancipation Act, that gave Irish people in England the right to vote.

So we've covered the economic impact.

We've also looked at how several migrant groups had an impact on politics.

Before we go on to consider the built environment, just a couple of quick questions.

I'm sure you are listening, so I'm sure this will be super quick.

First, I'd like you to have a discussion.

Again, you can do this out loud by yourself or jot down some quick ideas.

But if you're doing this lesson with someone else or in a classroom, I'd love for you to have this discussion in pairs, making sure that you both have time to contribute.

The focus of our discussion is how do Indian migrants impact politics? So pause the video now.

Make sure everyone has time to make a contribution and come back and press play when you're done.

So hopefully your answer includes that Dadabhai Naoroji became an MP in the 1890s.

He was known for criticising British rule in India, but also that he made sure to represent the interest of Indian people who had migrated to and settled in England.

If you weren't quite sure or you weren't able to get at least those two points down, not to worry at all.

You can just pause the video now and add them to your notes.

Next, I'd like you to tell me which of the following statements explains how Irish migrants impacted politics.

Is it A, Irish Catholics protested for the right to vote leading to the 1801 Act of Union.

B, Irish wish migrants were elected to government and protested against British War in India.

or C, Irish migrants protested for greater rights leading to the 1829 Emancipation Act.

Pause the video now.

Make a decision for me and come back and press play when you've caught an answer.

Great work.

The answer is, in fact, C.

The Irish migrants protested for greater rights leading to the 1829 Emancipation Act, which gave Irish Catholics the right to vote in England.

And the final area of impact that we're going to look at today is the impact on the built environment.

So you may already know that Jewish migrants in their attempts to both assimilate and maintain some autonomy, created the Jewish Free School in 1732, which then moved to the East End of London in 1822.

And as the school looked to take on many of the poorer Eastern European Jewish migrants, it quickly grew to become one of the largest schools in Europe with around 4,000 children.

And the school was intended to prepare these children for life in England, encouraging assimilation wherever possible.

So they were prompted to speak English rather than Yiddish, Russian, or Polish.

Another example of how Jewish migration in this period impacts the built environment is the building of Russian vapour baths.

Five had been built in the East End by 1900, and these bars were used by Jewish men to prepare for Shabbat.

So we can see that there were economic impacts, political impacts, and impacts on the built environment that were all significant in different ways.

But it's important that we form our own arguments.

So as we've been learning about the impact of migrants, you might have felt that actually the impact on politics was greater than any other area or maybe the impact on the built environment, because that can still be seen today.

Or you might argue that the impact on the economy was greater because that impacted people on a national level.

But before we go into our final practise task, we're going to pause very quickly with a final quick check of our understanding.

So I'd like you to tell me whether this statement is true or false.

Jewish migrants only impacted the built environment through their attempts to assimilate.

Hmm, quickly tell me whether that statement is true or false.

Great, hopefully you told me that that statement is in fact false.

But again, it's about trying to decide why? Is it false because the Russian vapour baths help Jewish men prepare for Shabbat, maintaining religious autonomy? Or is it false because Jewish Free Schools were introduced to teach young Jewish people English language skills? Think about the statement again and think about which of the justifications at the bottom best supports the fact that this statement is false.

Pause the video, make the decision, and come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant.

Hopefully you said A.

The Russian vapour baths were built to help Jewish men prepare for Shabbat, maintaining religious autonomy, because the second Jewish Free Schools being introduced to teach young Jewish people English language skills is an example of how Jewish attempts to assimilate impacts the built environment, not evidence to suggest that this statement is false.

So what we're gonna do for our final task today is have a look at this statement.

The most significant impact of migration to 18th and 19th century Britain was on politics.

Now I need you to tell me how far you agree with this statement.

In your answer, you need to make sure that you state how far you agree or disagree to back up your judgement with evidence, to also consider the evidence for a counter argument, but ultimately explain the reason for your judgement.

So pause the video now and give yourself about 10 minutes to complete this task and then come back when you're done.

Brilliant.

Let's have a look at what your final answer might have looked like.

I disagree with this statement.

As while migrants did have an impact on politics, their impact on the economy was far greater.

This is evident through the contributions of several migrant groups, but especially Irish and German migrants.

Irish migrants impacted the national economy through the work of Irish navvies on railways and canals, which supported the transportation of valuable goods across the country.

Additionally, Liverpool's local economy was supported by the success of Irish migrant businesses.

German migrants played an important role too, especially sugar refiners who brought their trade to Britain.

However, it is true that some migrant groups did have a significant impact on politics.

One example is the contributions of Dadabhai Naoroji, an Indian migrant who became an elected member of parliament in the 1890s.

The increasing Irish Catholic population in mainland Britain also led to political change as their petitions for rights and freedoms resulted in the 1829 Emancipation Act, which gave Irish Catholics the right to vote.

Overall though, without the infrastructure provided by Irish navvies, Britain's Industrial Revolution might never have happened, nor the impact that the revolution then had on every aspect of life in the UK.

So really well done if you were able to make a judgement , either agreeing or disagreeing with the statement, considering the counter argument, but also coming back to explain why ultimately you chose your judgement.

And finally, let's just have a look at some of what we've learned, 'cause we've covered so much, and I'm sure you've done some really brilliant work in the process.

So first, we learned that migration to Britain increased in the 18th and 19th centuries, with reasons for this linked to Industrial Revolution, the expansion of empire and increasing civil liberties in Britain.

We learned that the experiences of migrants to Britain were very varied, from success as MPs, to the much more common experience of hard work for low pay, and all too often a hostile reception from longer established residents.

And then finally, what is striking is the enormous contribution of migrants to the successes of 18th and 19th century Britain, economically, through the Industrial Revolution, politically, through the work of famous MPs, but also the petitioning of parliament, but also socially, as the increase in civil liberties attracted migrants looking for greater freedoms. So you've done some brilliant work here.

I'm so impressed.

You should be too.