Period 5: Industrialization and Global Integration,
c. 1750 to c. 1900
Key Concept 5.1. Industrialization and Global
Capitalism
Industrialization fundamentally altered the production of goods around the
world. It not only changed how goods were produced and consumed, as well
as what was considered a “good,” but it also had far-reaching effects on the
global economy, social relations, and culture. Although it is common to speak
of an “Industrial Revolution,” the process of industrialization was a gradual one
that unfolded over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
eventually becoming global.
Key Concept 5.1.
I. Industrialization fundamentally changed how goods were
produced.
A. A variety of factors led to the rise of industrial production.
Required examples of factors leading to the rise of industrial production:
• Europe’s location on the Atlantic Ocean
• The geographical distribution of coal, iron and timber
• European demographic changes
• Urbanization
• Improved agricultural productivity
• Legal protection of private property
• An abundance of rivers and canals
• Access to foreign resources
• The accumulation of capital
B. The development of machines, including steam engines and the
internal combustion engine, made it possible to exploit vast new resources
of energy stored in fossil fuels, specifically coal and oil. The “fossil fuels”
revolution greatly increased the energy available to human societies.
C. The development of the factory system concentrated labor in a single
location and led to an increasing degree of specialization of labor.
Key Concept 5.1.
D. As the new methods of industrial production became more common in parts of
northwestern Europe, they spread to other parts of Europe and the United States,
Russia, and Japan.
E. The “second industrial revolution” led to new methods in the production of steel,
chemicals, electricity and precision machinery during the second half of the
nineteenth century.
II. New patterns of global trade and production developed and further integrated the
global economy as industrialists sought raw materials and new markets for the
increasing amount and array of goods produced in their factories.
A. The need for raw materials for the factories and increased food supplies for the
growing population in urban centers led to the growth of export economies around
the world that specialized in mass producing single natural resources. The profits from
these raw materials were used to purchase finished goods.
B. The rapid development of industrial production contributed to the decline of
economically productive, agriculturally based economies.
C. The rapid increases in productivity caused by industrial production encouraged
industrialized states to seek out new consumer markets for their finished goods.
D. The need for specialized and limited metals for industrial production, as well as the
global demand for gold, silver and diamonds as forms of wealth, led to the
development of extensive mining centers.
India’s Declining Textile Market
India was a major player in the world export market
for textiles in the early 18th century, but by the
middle of the 19th century it had lost all of its export
market and much of its domestic market, primarily to
Britain. The ensuing deindustrialization was greatest
1750 - 1860.
Diamond Mines, South Africa
The 'pass laws' and migrant labor of apartheid in South Africa today have their origins
in the policies designed to control the black workers in the diamond mines a century
ago. Racial discrimination in South Africa was based on the migrant labor system.
Native South Africans were treated as foreigners outside strictly defined areas of
residence, the so-called 'homelands', and their movement was controlled by the
notorious system of pass laws. Typically, men contracted to work in the major cities
while leaving their families and political rights behind them in the 'homelands'.
Migrant labor ensured a supply of cheap wage labor to the mining sector. Published in
History Today Volume: 36 Issue: 5 1986
Cullinan Diamond Mine,
South Africa
Key Concept 5.1.
III. To facilitate investments at all levels of industrial
production, financiers developed and expanded various
financial institutions.
A. The ideological inspiration for economic changes lies in the
development of capitalism and classical liberalism associated
with Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.
B. Financial instruments expanded.
C. The global nature of trade and production contributed to the
proliferation of large-scale transnational businesses.
IV. There were major developments in transportation and
communication.
• Railroads
• Steamships
• Telegraphs
• Canals
The Gold Standard in the US
Prior to 1971, the United States was on various forms of a gold standard
where the value of the dollar was backed by gold reserves and paper
money could be redeemed for gold upon demand. Since 1971, the
United States dollar has been a fiat currency backed by the "full faith
and credit” of the government and not backed by, valued in, or
convertible into gold. Proponents of the gold standard argue it provides
long-term economic stability and growth, prevents inflation, and would
reduce the size of government. They say a gold standard would restrict
the ability of government to print money at will, run up large deficits,
and increase the national debt. They say the economy has historically
performed best under a gold standard. Opponents argue a gold
standard would create economic instability, spur periodic economic
deflation and contraction, and hamper government's ability to stimulate
the economy and reduce unemployment during recessions and financial
crises. They say returning to a gold standard would be extremely
difficult given the scarcity of gold and could severely harm the already
fragile US economy. http://gold-standard.procon.org/
A Transnational business: HSBC
“The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was founded in Hong Kong in 1865
to finance trade between the China coast, Europe and the USA.” –hsbc.com
“Thomas Sutherland was a Scotsman born in Aberdeen in 1834. After graduating from
university he went to work for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
in China, where he was involved in the construction of the Hong Kong docks. He soon
realised that with trade booming - 70% of which was in opium - there was a need for a
trade bank and in March 1865 he opened the Hong Kong Bank. A month later he
opened a bank in Shanghai. Further branches were opened in London and San
Francisco and the business was soon financing much of the lucrative opium trade.”
http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/spon-022.html
Key Concept 5.1.
V. The development and spread of global capitalism led to a
variety of responses.
A. In industrialized states, many workers organized themselves
to improve working conditions, limit hours, and gain higher
wages, while others opposed capitalist exploitation of workers
by promoting alternative visions of society.
B. In Qing China and the Ottoman Empire, some members of
the government resisted economic change and attempted to
maintain preindustrial forms of economic production.
C. In a small number of states, governments promoted their
own state-sponsored visions of industrialization.
D. In response to criticisms of industrial global capitalism, some
governments mitigated the negative effects of industrial
capitalism by promoting various types of reforms.
Marxism
Karl Marx's class theory rests on the premise that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the
history of class struggles." According to this view, ever since human society emerged from its primitive
and relatively undifferentiated state it has remained fundamentally divided between classes who clash
in the pursuit of class interests. In the world of capitalism, for example, the nuclear cell of the
capitalist system, the factory, is the prime locus of antagonism between classes--between exploiters
[bourgeoisie] and exploited [proletariat]. Funded by Friedrich Engels in 1847, Karl Marx published his
Communist Manifesto. In his Communist newspaper, Marx proposed his main ideas for reform:
1) The abolition of the property/ownership of land.
2) Income tax to be graded to income – the more an individual earned, the more they paid.
3) Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4) The confiscation of all property of immigrants and rebels.
5) The centralization of all credit into the hands of the state by means of a national bank with state
capital and an exclusive economy.
6) Centralization of all means of communication and transport into the hands of the state.
7) The extension of factories and the instrument of production owned by the state. Bringing into
cultivation all land not being used that could be and an improvement in the fertility of the soil.
8) The equal obligation of all to work and the establishment of an industrial and agricultural armies.
9) The combination of agriculture and manufacturing industries with the gradual abolition of the
distinction between town and country by the more equable distribution of the population over the
country.
10) Free education for all children in public schools. The abolition of child labor in factories; an
educated child would be better for society in the long term, than a child not educated.
Some historians believe the reason communism was not fully successful in Russia was because Russia
had largely been an agricultural, and not an industrialized society.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/karl_marx.htm
Meiji Japan
In 1867 - 1868, the Tokugawa era found an end in the Meiji
Restoration. Political power was transferred from the Tokugawa into
the hands of a few nobles and former samurai. Like other subjugated
Asian nations, the Japanese were forced to sign unequal treaties with
Western powers. In order to regain independence from the Europeans
and Americans and establish herself as a respected nation, Meiji Japan
was determined to close the gap to the Western powers economically
and militarily. Drastic reforms were carried out in practically all areas.
The boundaries between the social classes of Tokugawa Japan were
gradually broken down. The samurai were the big losers of those
social reforms since they lost all their privileges. The reforms also
included increased religious freedom in 1873. The former feudal lords
(daimyo) had to return all their lands to the emperor. The education
system was reformed after the French and later after the German
system. Among those reforms was the introduction of compulsory
education. After about one to two decades of intensive
westernization, a revival of conservative and nationalistic feelings took
place: principles of Confucianism and Shinto including the worship of
the emperor were increasingly emphasized. Catching up on the
military sector was a high priority for Japan in an era of European and
American imperialism. Universal conscription was introduced, and a
new army modeled after the Prussian force, and a navy after the
British one were established. This led to increased Japanese
aggression; the Sino-Japanese War in 1894 – 1895, and the RussoJapanese War in 1904 – 1905.
Emperor Meiji
A Push for Women’s Suffrage
In 1848 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, called a women's rights convention
in Seneca Falls, N.Y.. The men and women at the convention adopted a Declaration of
Sentiments that called for women to have equal rights in education, property, voting,
and other matters. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women
are created equal. ...“
The National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Stanton and another suffragist
named Susan B. Anthony, was the more radical of the two organizations. Its chief goal
was an amendment to the Constitution giving women the vote. In 1872, Anthony and
a group of women voted in the presidential election in Rochester, N.Y. She was
arrested and fined for voting illegally. At her trial, which attracted nationwide
attention, she made a stirring speech that ended with the slogan "Resistance to
Tyranny Is Obedience to God."
In 1893, New Zealand became the first nation to grant women full voting rights.
-www.worldbook.com
Key Concept 5.1.
VI. The ways in which people organized themselves
into societies also underwent significant
transformations in industrialized states due to the
fundamental restructuring of the global economy.
A. New social classes, including the middle class and
the industrial working class, developed.
B. Family dynamics, gender roles, and demographics
changed in response to industrialization.
C. Rapid urbanization that accompanied global
capitalism often led to unsanitary conditions, as well
as to new forms of community
Key Concept 5.2. Imperialism and Nation-State
Formation
As states industrialized during this period, they also
expanded their existing overseas colonies and established
new types of colonies and transoceanic empires. Regional
warfare and diplomacy both resulted in and were affected
by this process of modern empire building. The process
was led mostly by Europe, although not all states were
affected equally, which led to an increase of European
influence around the world. The United States and Japan
also participated in this process. The growth of new
empires challenged the power of existing land-based
empires of Eurasia. New ideas about nationalism, race,
gender, class, and culture also developed that facilitated
the spread of transoceanic empires, as well as justified
anti-imperial resistance and the formation of new
national identities.
Key Concept 5.2
I. Industrializing powers established transoceanic
empires.
A. States with existing colonies strengthened their control
over those colonies.
B. European states, as well as the Americans and the
Japanese, established empires throughout Asia and the
Pacific, while Spanish and Portuguese influence declined.
C. Many European states used both warfare and
diplomacy to establish empires in Africa.
D. In some parts of their empires, Europeans established
settler colonies.
E. In other parts of the world, industrialized states
practiced economic imperialism.
The Dutch Empire
“The first Dutch expedition round the Cape [South Africa] was in 1595... In 1602 the
States General form a Dutch East India Company, with extensive privileges and
powers. It is to have a tax-free monopoly of the eastern trade for 21 years. It is
authorized to build forts, establish colonies, mint coins, and maintain a navy and army
as required. With these powers the company takes only a few decades to deprive
Portugal of the spice trade. A capital is established at Batavia, in Java, in 1619. The
Portuguese are driven out of Malacca by 1641 and from Sri Lanka by 1658. But the
main focus of Dutch attention is the Moluccas [the Spice Islands]... The Moluccas are
the source of the most valuable spice of all, the clove... In pursuit of Moluccan cloves,
and also nutmegs, the Portuguese make local treaties as early as 1512. In the early
decades of the 17th century the Dutch East India Company gradually excludes the
Portuguese from trade in the Moluccas. The Dutch also take on, and oust from the
islands, another European nation attempting to get a foothold in the region - the
English East India Company… The Portuguese never recover their trading strength in
the east. But in expelling the English from the Moluccas, the Dutch unwittingly do
them a favor. The English East India Company decides to concentrate its efforts on
India. Meanwhile... Dutch sea captains have discovered that it is feasible to sail
directly northeast across the Indian Ocean from the southern tip of Africa. This makes
the Cape a very important port of call... In 1651 the company decides to meet this
need by establishing a small Dutch settlement on the bay... [today known as
Capetown]”
http://www.historyworld.net
The French in Algeria
With the decline of the local Berber [Northern African nomads] dynasties in the 15th and
16th centuries, the valuable coastal strip of north Africa (known because of the Berbers as
the Barbary coast) attracted the attention of the two most powerful Mediterranean states
of the time - Spain in the west, the Ottoman Empire in the east. The Spanish-Turkish rivalry
lasts for much of the 16th century, but it was gradually won - by the Turks. Their successful
device was to allow Turkish pirates to establish themselves along the coast. The territories
seized by the pirates were then given a formal status as protectorates of the Ottoman
empire. In the 19th century France claimed they wanted to help Algeria from the Turkish
pirates. Algeria became occupied by the French by 1847. http://www.historyworld.net
A photograph of a young Algerian
woman
Key Concept 5.2
II. Imperialism influenced state formation and
contraction around the world.
A. The expansion of U.S. and European influence over
Tokugawa Japan led to the emergence of Meiji Japan.
B. The United States and Russia emulated European
transoceanic imperialism by expanding their land borders
and conquering neighboring territories.
C. Anti-imperial resistance led to the contraction of the
Ottoman Empire.
D. New states developed on the edges of existing
empires.
E. The development and spread of nationalism as an
ideology fostered new communal identities.
III. New racial ideologies, especially Social Darwinism,
facilitated and justified imperialism.
The Creation of the Nation of Hawaii
“Just prior to the first arrival of Europeans in 1778, the inhabitants of the Hawaiian
Islands lived in a highly organized, self-sufficient, social system, with a sophisticated
language, culture, religion and a land tenure that bore a remarkable resemblance to
the feudal system of ancient Europe. The monarchical government of the Hawaiian
Islands was established in 1810 by His Majesty King Kamehameha I. (Ruled 1810 1819). The Hawaiian Kingdom was governed until 1838, without legal enactments, and
was based upon a system of common law, which consisted partly of the ancient kapu
(taboo) system, that had been passed down by tradition since time immemorial. On
October 8, 1840, His Majesty King Kamehameha III (pictured left) voluntarily
relinquished his absolute powers and attributes, by promulgating a constitution that
recognized three grand divisions of a civilized monarchy; the King as the Chief
Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. Hawaii was recognized as an official state
in 1843. To counter the strong possibility of foreign encroachment on Hawaiian
territory, His Majesty King Kamehameha III dispatched a Hawaiian delegation to the
United States and Europe with the power to settle difficulties with other nations, and
negotiate treaties. On December 19, 1842, the Hawaiian delegation, while in the
United States of America, secured the assurance of United States President Tyler that
the United States would recognize Hawaiian independence. Lydia Kamaka'eha
Dominis, ascended to the office of Constitutional Monarch and was thereafter called
Queen Lili'uokalani; she was the last Hawaiian monarch.
Hawaii Continued…
“On Jan. 17, 1893 the Hawaiian monarchy ended in a
day of bloodless revolution. Armed insurrection by a
relatively small group of men, most of them American
by birth or heritage, succeeded in wresting control of
the Islands with the backing of American troops sent
ashore from a warship in Honolulu Harbor. Queen
Lili`uokalani yielded her throne, under protest, in
order to avoid bloodshed, trusting that the US would
right the wrong that had been done to her and the
Hawaiian people. Sugar and a coerced constitution
played roles in the drama; sugar was by far the
principal support of the Islands, and profits and
prosperity hinged on favorable treaties with the
United States, Hawaiian sugar's chief market, creating
powerful economic ties. As the Islands' sugar industry
grew, large numbers of contract laborers were
imported first from China, then from Japan and other
countries, to work on the plantations -- the beginning
of Hawai`i's present multicultural population.”
http://www.hawaii-nation.org/soa.html
Queen Lili'uokalani
See Mr. Lutece to hear
authentic Hawaiian pidgin
English!
Hawaii Plantation, 19th Century
Hawaiian Plate Lunch; the perfect example of
cultural diffusion from Asian and European
immigrant laborers who came to Hawaii. Notice the
chicken teriyaki (Japanese), rice
(Chinese/Japanese/Korean), macaroni salad
(German) and shredded pork (native Hawaiian).
Key Concept 5.3. Nationalism, Revolution, and
Reform
The eighteenth century marked the beginning of an intense period of revolution and
rebellion against existing governments, and the establishment of new nation-states
around the world. Enlightenment thought and the resistance of colonized peoples to
imperial centers shaped this revolutionary activity. These rebellions sometimes
resulted in the formation of new states and stimulated the development of new
ideologies. These new ideas in turn further stimulated the revolutionary and
antiimperial tendencies of this period.
I. The rise and diffusion of Enlightenment thought that questioned established
traditions in all areas of life often preceded the revolutions and rebellions against
existing governments.
A. Thinkers applied new ways of understanding the natural world to human relations
hips, encouraging observation and inference in all spheres of life.
B. Intellectuals critiqued the role that religion played in public life, insisting on the
importance of reason as opposed to revelation.
C. Enlightenment thinkers developed new political ideas about the individual, natural
rights, and the social contract.
Key Concept 5.3
D. The ideas of Enlightenment thinkers influenced resistance to
existing political authority, as reflected in revolutionary documents.
• The American Declaration of Independence
• The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
• Bolivar’s Jamaica Letter
E. These ideas influenced many people to challenge existing notions
of social relations, which led to the expansion of rights as seen in
expanded suffrage, the abolition of slavery and the end of serfdom,
as their ideas were implemented.
II. Beginning in the eighteenth century, peoples around the
world developed a new sense of commonality based on language,
religion, social customs and territory. These newly imagined
national communities linked this identity with the borders of the
state, while governments used this idea to unite diverse
populations.
III. Increasing discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and
revolutionary movements.
Key Concept 5.3
A. Subjects challenged the centralized imperial governments.
B. American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions, which
facilitated the emergence of independent states in the United States,
Haiti, and mainland Latin America. French subjects rebelled against
their monarchy.
• American Revolution
• French Revolution
• Haitian Revolution
• Latin American independence movements
C. Slave resistance challenged existing authorities in the Americas.
D. Increasing questions about political authority and growing
nationalism contributed to anticolonial movements.
E. Some of the rebellions were influenced by religious ideas and
millenarianism.
F. Responses to increasingly frequent rebellions led to reforms in
imperial policies.
Slave Resistance in Africa and Maroon Communities
“The most well-documented resistance in Africa was off the African coast on the
slaving ships… the threat of rebellion seriously affected the trade. It caused losses, and
raised costs because of increased security needs and because potential investors in the
transatlantic slave trade got nervous when they heard of the rebellions. This resistance
usually ended in the enslaved Africans failing to secure their immediate freedom.
However, it has been shown to have 'significantly reduced the shipment of slaves' to
the Americas by a million people. Very little information is available on individual
Africans involved in such heroic resistance. One we do know of is the Asante, Essjerrie
Ettin. He led a bold revolt of 358 enslaved Africans aboard the Dutch ship Guineese
Vriendschap in 1769 that nearly succeeded. Unfortunately, a nearby warship rescued
the slavers. They captured Ettin and he was brutally executed on the recaptured ship
in front of the other enslaved Africans…”
“In some more remote areas of the Americas, communities of runaways known as
Maroons established themselves and were a thorn in the side of plantation
economies. These maroon communities sprang up in areas as different as Suriname,
the interior of Brazil and the mountains of Jamaica. They acted as a magnet for
runaways. Palmares in Brazil emerged in the sixteenth century and lasted until 1695. In
Jamaica and Suriname colonial authorities fought brutal and intense Maroon wars in
the mid-eighteenth century in an attempt to destroy these communities, but were
unable to defeat them. They had to make deals with them which allowed them to
continue to exist.” – Dr. Alan Rice,
The Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance, a messianic Native American religious movement, originated in Nevada around
1870. In 1869 or 1870, Tävibo, a Northern, preached that white people would disappear from the
earth and dead Indians would return to enjoy a utopian life. He also claimed to communicate with the
dead and taught followers to perform a ceremonial circular dance that contributed to the movement.
The movement spread through Nevada and to parts of California and Oregon but subsided after the
prophecies failed to materialize. Another Paiute prophet, Wovoka, revived the movement in 1889.
Rumored to be Tävibo's son, Wovoka experienced a vision of the Supreme Being in 1889, after which
he preached peaceful coexistence and a strong work ethic and taught ceremonial songs and dances to
resurrect dead Indians. According to the vision, if Indians followed these practices, they would be
reunited with the dead and whites would disappear. Indians who had already subscribed to the first
Ghost Dance tended to reject Wovoka's version, but the second Ghost Dance found acceptance
among Plains tribes as far east as the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Ghost
Dance provided a hopeful message to all Indians, but it proved particularly enticing to Lakotas
suffering poor conditions on reservations and to Lakota leaders such as Sitting Bull, who had resisted
U.S. Indian policy. Lakota participants added vestments known as ghost shirts to the ceremonies and
songs brought by the emissaries. They believed these white muslin shirts, decorated with a variety of
symbols, protected them from danger, including bullets. Reservation officials viewed the movement as
a threat to U.S. Indian policy. The government dispatched the U.S. Army and called for the arrest of
key leaders such as Sitting Bull. Police killed Sitting Bull while arresting him. Two weeks later, on
December 29, 1890, members of the Seventh Cavalry killed Big Foot (another Lakota leader) and at
least 145 – 300 other Natives in the Wounded Knee Massacre. Many historians have pointed to
Wounded Knee as the closing episode in the West's Indian wars. The Ghost Dance died out among the
Lakotas after Wounded Knee, but it survived elsewhere in the Plains, and reemerged in the 1960s as
part of the American Indian Movement.
http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.rel.023
The Ghost Dance
The Tanzimat Movement and the Armenian Genocide
“Begun under Mahmud II, and culminating in the autocratic reign (1876-1909) of Abd
al-Hamid II, the Tanzimat modernized the Ottoman Empire by extending the scope of
government into all aspects of life, overshadowing the autonomous millets and guilds
that previously had monopolized most governmental functions. A modern
administration and army were created along Western lines, with highly centralized
bureaucracies. Secular systems of education and justice were created to provide
personnel for the new administration. Large-scale programs of public works
modernized the physical structure of the empire, with new cities, roads, railroads, and
telegraph lines. New agricultural methods also contributed to Ottoman revitalization.
Another response was the suppression of minorities. This policy resulted in the
deaths of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians between 1894 and 1923. (The
Turkish government disputes that the Ottoman policy toward the Armenians was
genocidal, arguing that most of the Armenian deaths resulted from armed conflict,
disease, and famine during the chaos of World War I.)”
http://www.countriesquest.com
The Armenian Genocide Continued…
The Armenian community resided in the Middle East for thousands of years and was
governed by various empires including the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines,
Arabs, and Mongols. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state
religion in 301 C.E. The Ottoman Empire invaded the Armenian homeland in the 11th
century and Muslim Turks controlled the Armenians for hundreds of years until the
Armenian region was eventually absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman
Empire began to crumble when Greece, Serbia, and Romania gained independence in
the 1800s, but the Armenians and Arabs of the Middle East remained under Ottoman
rule. A long-seated religious and ethnic divide deepened between the Muslim Turks
and the Christian Armenians and in the 1890s, European-educated Armenians,
increasingly becoming more affluent and eager for equal status, began to push for
social and political reforms. They called for a constitutional government, an end to
discriminatory voting practices, and an end to taxes levied only against Christians. The
Ottoman Sultan responded by instituting widespread pogroms, or violent riots, against
the Armenians and more than 100,000 Armenians were killed between 1894 and
1896. http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/armenian-genocide
The Armenian Genocide
Key Concept 5.3
IV. The global spread of European political and social
thought and the increasing number of rebellions
stimulated new transnational ideologies and
solidarities.
A. Discontent with monarchist and imperial rule
encouraged the development of political ideologies,
including liberalism, socialism, and communism.
B. Demands for women’s suffrage and an emergent
feminism challenged political and gender hierarchies.
Key Concept 5.4. Global Migration
Migration patterns changed dramatically throughout this period, and the numbers of
migrants increased significantly. These changes were closely connected to the
development of transoceanic empires and a global capitalist economy. In some cases,
people benefited economically from migration, while other people were seen simply
as commodities to be transported. In both cases, migration produced dramatically
different societies for both sending and receiving societies, and presented challenges
to governments in fostering national identities and regulating the flow of people.
I. Migration in many cases was influenced by changes in demography in both
industrialized and unindustrialized societies that presented challenges to existing
patterns of living.
A. Changes in food production and improved medical conditions
contributed to a significant global rise in population.
B. Because of the nature of the new modes of transportation, both
internal and external migrants increasingly relocated to cities. This pattern
contributed to the significant global urbanization of the nineteenth century.
II. Migrants relocated for a variety of reasons
A. Many individuals chose freely to relocate, often in search of work.
B. The new global capitalist economy continued to rely on coerced and
semicoerced labor migration.
Chinese Migrant Workers, 19th C.
“Chinese immigrants had come to San Francisco as early as 1838, but large numbers of
Chinese only began to come in 1850 for the same reason many Americans were
flocking to California - the 1849 Gold Rush. The Chinese immigrants were mainly
peasant farmers who left home because of economic and political troubles in China.
Most intended to work hard, make a lot of money, and then return to their families
and villages as wealthy men. In this goal, the Chinese did not differ from many
immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century… However, while many
Americans looked down on all immigrants, the Chinese were considered racially as
well as culturally inferior. Most Americans believed that the Chinese were too different
to ever assimilate successfully into American culture. This view was expressed and
reinforced by the stereotypic images of Chinese immigrants recorded in the media of
the time… Novelists wrote stories in which Chinese characters were outwardly quiet
and submissive but were inwardly sinister and cunning. Some of these Yellow Peril
novels predicted that Chinese immigrants were part of a secret plan to invade and take
over the government of the United States replacing American culture with that of the
Chinese... The U.S. government began in 1879 to consider legislation to restrict or
exclude Chinese immigration.” The Chinese Experience in 19th Century America, U. of
Illinois
Key Concept 5.4 Continued…
Examples of coerced and semicoerced labor migration:
• Slavery
• Chinese and Indian indentured servitude
• Convict labor
C. While many migrants permanently relocated, a significant number of
temporary and seasonal migrants returned to their home societies.
III. The large-scale nature of migration, especially in the nineteenth
century, produced a variety of consequences and reactions to the
increasingly diverse societies on the part of migrants and the existing
populations.
A. Due to the physical nature of the labor in demand, migrants tended to
be male, leaving women to take on new roles in the home society that had
been formerly occupied by men.
B. Migrants often created ethnic enclaves in different parts of the world
which helped transplant their culture into new environments and
facilitated the development of migrant support networks.
migrant ethnic enclaves in different
parts of the world
Indians in East and southern Africa, the
Caribbean, and Southeast Asia
The White Australia Policy
“The origins of the White Australia policy can be traced to the 1850s. White miners'
resentment towards Chinese diggers led to violence in Victoria, and in New South
Wales. The governments of these two colonies introduced restrictions on Chinese
immigration. Later, indentured laborers from the South Sea Islands of the Pacific in
northern Queensland were also resented. Factory workers in the south became
opposed to all forms of immigration, which might threaten their jobs - particularly by
'non-white' people who they thought would accept a lower standard of living and work
for lower wages. In 1901, the federal government passed the Immigration Restriction
Act which ended the employment of Pacific Islanders and placed tight controls on
certain immigrants. The Act prohibited those considered to be insane, anyone likely to
become a charge upon the public or upon any public or charitable institution, and any
person suffering from an infectious or contagious disease 'of a loathsome or
dangerous character' entry to Australia. It also prohibited prostitutes, criminals, and
anyone under a contract or agreement to perform manual labor within Australia (with
some limited exceptions). Other restrictions included a dictation test, used to exclude
certain applicants by requiring them to pass a written test in a language, with which
they were not necessarily familiar, nominated by an immigration officer. With these
severe measures the implementation of the 'White Australia' policy was warmly
applauded in most sections of the community. In 1919, Prime Minister Hughes, hailed
it as 'the greatest thing we have achieved'.” NSW Government, Education and
Communities 2013, http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teachingresources/factsheets/59.html
Racist Anti-Chinese Propaganda from
Australia
Key Concept 5.4 Continued…
C. Receiving societies did not always embrace immigrants, as seen in the
various degrees of ethnic and racial prejudice and the ways states
attempted to regulate the increased flow of people across their borders.
Periodization
Period 5: Industrialization and Global Integration,
1750 to 1900
Do you agree with the above label for “Period 5”? Why or why not? If
not, what would you call it instead?