One aspect of the British empire
which is sometimes ignored is the vast amount of movement
of people which took place. The most obvious is the huge forced
migration of millions of Africans as slaves from West Africa
to America. It is important not to forget the appalling suffering
of these Africans in the slave ships and on the plantations
in the West Indies and mainland North America.
There were other migrations as
well. The sending of convicts to Australia in the 1700s and
1800s was another form of forced emigration. The British shipped
millions of Chinese to various parts of their empire. Chinese
labourers played a key role in the building of North America's
railways. They also worked in the mines of South Africa. The
British moved huge numbers of Indians to North America, Africa
and Pacific islands like Fiji. India's vast human resources
were exploited by the British to turn unpromising lands into
rich opportunities for farming, mining and other commercial
enterprises. Around 1.6 million Indians migrated as a result
of British rule, often travelling, living and working in conditions
that were not much better than that of the African slaves.
Many British people gained as a
result of the empire, but huge numbers of British citizens
also lived in great poverty, even when the British empire
was at its height of power and wealth. As a result, huge numbers
of British people emigrated, especially in the later 1800s
and early 1900s. It is impossible to lump all of these emigrants
into one category.
- Many were poor and desperate people. One of the solutions to poverty was assisted emigration from Britain's crowded and squalid cities. Local Councils and Poor Law Boards were given money by the government to help them to organise schemes that allowed the poorest to emigrate, usually to Canada. There were also many schemes that took young criminals away from their homes and families and set them up in new lives in Canada or Australia. Other schemes took unmarried women who were pregnant abroad, or took their children and gave them up for adoption. As you can imagine, these schemes were controversial. Some felt that the authorities were helping those being sent abroad. Others felt it was terrible to separate them from their families and homes.
- Some emigrants were from better-off backgrounds. They generally emigrated to take up jobs and gain new opportunities. Many women became maids or governesses in the empire. Many men found work in building, engineering and farming.
The Welsh, Scots and Irish travelled
all over the world as a result of the British empire. Scots
were especially closely associated with the empire as military
officers, doctors and engineers. However, the Highlands of
Scotland suffered from over-population and economic decline
in the 19th century and thousands of Scottish families emigrated
to Canada to start new lives on new land.
Most people know about the vast
scale of emigration from Ireland during and after the disastrous
Great Famine of 1845-51. However, there had been a steady
stream of emigrants before then. In the 1700s most Irish emigrants
were Presbyterian Protestants. They were relatively well-off
emigrants. They wanted new land and new opportunities in America.
They also wanted to get away from restrictions put on them
by Anglican Protestants. From the 1840s the majority of emigrants
were poorer Catholic peasants, although there were still large
numbers of Protestant Irish emigrants as well. The majority
of the emigrants went to the cities of England and Scotland,
and millions found work there and made their homes. Millions
of others went to Canada and the USA, but huge numbers also
went to Australia.
We should not forget that many
of the emigrants, whatever their country of origin, suffered
death and disease on the journeys they made, and discrimination
and poverty when they arrived in their new countries. We can
admire the determination and the achievements of the emigrants
who survived and prospered and who helped to shape the world
as it is today. The multi-cultural make-up of Australia, South
Africa, Canada, the USA and many other countries is one of
the legacies of the British empire.