Scottish emigration 1830-1939.

1. Why did the Scots leave
Scotland?
We will be investigating:
1. The reasons why the
Scots left - Push & Pull.

2. Introduction
• Scotland's population changed in
shape and size during this time.
Between 1830 and 1930 it has been
estimated that over two million
people left Scotland.
• Where people lived also changed.
• Many people in Scotland moved from
rural areas into the bustling cities.
Many Scots from the cities moved
out of Scotland, south to England
or to countries elsewhere in the
world.

3. • Historian Tom Devine has said that between 1830
and 1930, 'Scotland emerges as the emigration
capital of Europe for much of the period'.
• Scotland can be split into three distinct geographical
regions - the Highlands and Islands, the Central
Belt and the Lowlands. Each of these regions saw the
population leaving. Each had their own distinct push
factors that led them to go

4. The Highlands and Islands-
Poverty
• Life in the Highlands was harsh, with
many people living in poverty.
• The land was poor and difficult to
grow crops on.
• The population was increasing causing
competition for land, jobs and housing.
• There were a lack of jobs as an
alternative to working on the land.
• The failure of fishing, linen and kelp
industries led to high unemployment in
the Highlands.
• The potato blight of 1847 spread to
Scotland and left thousands of
Highlanders close to starvation.

5. Clearances
• The old clan chief system had
broken down and the people were
no longer seen as the
responsibility of the landowner.
These new types of owners wanted
to make their estates pay.
• The rearing of sheep and the
setting up of Highland gaming
estates became more profitable
than keeping people on the land, so
people were made to leave.
• The people were increasingly seen
as a burden on the land. The
landowners were looking for profit
and the people did not give enough
in rent of surplus crops.

6. The Central Belt-Poverty
• Trade slumps led to people being in irregular
employment.
• Wages were low for the unskilled.
• Living conditions were awful in the slums of
the cities.
• Working conditions were bad, with people,
like navvies and miners, working long hours
and often in dangerous conditions.
• Skilled people still had limited opportunities.

7. Pull factors -A better life
• Opportunities for families to grow up in a
healthy environment, e.g. many people in Scottish
cities were living in overcrowded tenements.
• Many skilled workers could earn more money
abroad.
• There was lots of land available, particularly in
the American west and in Canada.
• In Australia cattle and sheep farming were
prosperous industries.
• Gold was discovered, first in America and then in
Australia causing a Gold Rush.
• Jobs =In all of the countries new settlements
were being built, requiring new infrastructure,
road networks, new administration centres,
schools and churches.

8. Persuasion
• Relations, family and friends wrote
letters back telling of great success.
• Stories of great wealth being
accumulated – people like Andrew
Carnegie who became the richest man in
America
• Newspapers ran adverts describing the
better lives waiting for those who would
emigrate. Letters from successful
emigrants would also be published.
• Agents from the countries would work
in Scotland, holding big meetings; they
would try to recruit Scots with tales of
better lives. The excitement at these
meetings would inspire many to leave

9. Religious zeal
• Some emigrants hoped to persuade people in other
lands who were not Christians to join the Christian
religion.
• These people were called missionaries as it was
their 'Mission' to spread the word of the Lord.
• All the Christian religious organisations sent
missionaries to the New World.

10. Support for Emigration
• Emigration could be very costly. There
were a number of ways of getting help.
• Governments of the new countries
would offer land and help with the
cost of travel. They wanted people to
come and help develop their country.
• Emigration Societies were set up to
help people emigrate.
• Charities helped people to emigrate to
new lives. This included orphaned
children who would be sent to new
families in the New Worlds.
• The British Government's main efforts
to help people emigrate, came in the
1930s as a solution to unemployment.
• There was a shortage of young women
in the New World settlements. Colonial
agents tried to attract women.