Introduction to

Migration
presented by

Modified by Pamela Hammond & Standiford

 Migration is History
 From the beginning of Humanity we have
evolved from moving from one habitat to
another and the adaption to that new
environment. Spread of Indo-European
Language
 More Migration today
or less?
 In 2005, 191 million
people were counted as
living outside the
country of their birth
 If they lived in the same
place, international
migrants would form Transport and
the 5th most populous communication is faster in
country in the world the contemporary world, but
the continuing rise of nation-
states made it harder for us
to migrate?
Economic Causes of
Migration
 Migration in search of better economic conditions,
employment, etc.
 Migration due to famine, drought
 Irish immigration to America, and elsewhere, due to the
potato famine
 Migration to escape overpopulation and its effects
 Migration to expand and gain resources
 Greeks, Rusification
 Migration may be internal as well as international
 Rural to urban
 Region to region

Understanding Migration
Political Causes of
Migration
 To escape war, invasion, military takeover, etc.
 refugees
 Puritans escaping religious persecution
 Defection from East Germany
 To escape persecution on ethnic, political,
religious, or other grounds
 Diasporas/Exodus: Jews at various times in history
 Russian Jews escaping pogroms
 To escape prosecution for crimes committed
 As punishment for crimes committed
 Australia served as a penal colony for Britain
 Sentenced to “transportation”
 Forced migration
 As a result of enslavement/human trafficking

Understanding Migration
Social Causes of
Migration
 To spread a religion
 Buddhism, Christianity, Islam
 Missionaries (Jesuits during Age of Exploration)
 To reunite with family, friends, etc. who
have previously migrated
 Chain Migration is the number one pull factor
 To spread a political philosophy, such as
Marxism, democracy, etc.
 To find personal freedom, to live a certain
lifestyle, or to hold certain beliefs, not
necessarily as the result of persecution

Understanding Migration
 Environmental Issues
 Migrants are often attracted to new lands that seemed
environmentally similar to their homelands
 They could pursue adaptive strategies known to them
 Germanic Indo-Europeans chose familiar temperate zones in America,
New Zealand, and Australia
 Semitic peoples rarely spread outside arid and semiarid climates
 Ancestors of modern Hungarians left grasslands of inner Eurasia for
new homes in the grassy Alföld, one of the few prairie areas of Europe
 Migration to escape poor climate conditions such as drought, el
Niño, etc.
 Collapse of Mayans? Movement from Indus River Valley?
 Migrations due to spread of disease
 Urban to rural as a result of the Black Death
 or turn it around: the Black Death spread as a result of the migratory patterns of
traders/merchants
 Migration to escape natural disasters
 Think about the movements after Katrina
 Haitian’s moving out of Port au Prince following the earthquake
 Have/will these people return?
How each society reacts to the
culture and systems of the other
 Acculturation –
 Some culture exchanged but the groups remain distinct
 Assimilation (Romanization, Americanization, Russification)
 The lesser or weaker or smaller numbered society is absorbed into
the stronger and is required to become like the stronger culture
either by society or by force.
 Syncretism (Roman-Greco society following conquest of
Romans over Greeks, Creole)
 A whole new society is developed from the two
 Red and White become Pink.
 Accommodation
 One culture is allowed to exist within another as it is expected than
they will eventually be absorbed or assimilated. This is usually the
case with a minority society and culture entering and even
conquering another that has higher numbers. It is a practice in
tolerance and patience. In the case of the Mongolians in South
Asia, they came and conquered but left little in the way of culture
that was adopted by the peoples they conquered in this region.
Some of their technology was adapted but in most cases was not
absorbed.
What are the effects of
migration?
1. Effects on the immigrants
2. Effects on the host country
3. Effects on the home country

Understanding Migration
Effects on the Immigrants
 Issues of identity
 Issues of adaptation and assimilation
 Differing cultural values between
generations

Understanding Migration
Effects on the Host
Country
 Economic impacts
 positive and negative
 real and perceived
 Welfare issues
 Social attitudes

Understanding Migration
Effects on the Home
Country
 Remittances
 Money sent home by workers
 Loss of revenue
 Money made outside of the country is not subject to
taxes
 Families left behind
 Families left without both parents
 Traditional societies threatened
 “Brain drain”
 Young people educated elsewhere but do not return
home, stay in host country where the money is better
 Doctors that train in one country and then practice in
another
 Population decrease

Understanding Migration
Multi-National Issues
 “Open border” policies
 European Union has a free-border policy
 Immigration policies
 USA restricts number of immigrants allowed in
each year
 Every so often, a U.S. administration official
suggests amnesty for illegal immigrants in the
U.S…
 Security issues
 Especially important since 9/11

Understanding Migration
Now let’s think about
migration
 As you view the following maps think about
 Why did the migration take place? (What were the
push/pull factors involved?)
 What effect did the migration have on the home
region? On the host region?
 Can you connect the migration to major events in
history?
 Why might you need to know this?
 Possible essay topic for the APWH exam!!!!!!!!!!
Out of Africa: Earliest
Human Migration
Migrations to the
Americas
Polynesian Migrations
Spread of Agriculture
Bantu Migrations (c.500 BCE-1000
CE)

What knowledge
spread with the
Bantus?
Language “Migration”
Jewish Diaspora
Hun Empire threatens
Europe and Asia (4th -6th
centuries)

•Huns help weaken the Roman Empire under Attila

•White Huns invade India during the Gupta Empire
•Huns (Xiongnu) invade Han Dynasty (Mulan)
The Spread of Islam (630-
1700)
Turkic Migrations (7th -15th
centuries)

• Think about: Seljuks, Ottomons, Uyghers

• Could they be offshoots of the Huns?
Viking Migrations (9th -11th
centuries)
The Mongol Invasions (13th -
15th centuries)
Forced Migration
Forced Migration

The Trail of Tears, 1838

World Migration Routes Since
1700

European
African (slaves)
Indian
Chinese
Japanese

Majority of population descended from immigrants

Migration due to religious
persecution
Current Migrations
Internal Migration
 Developing countries seeing shift
between rural and urban
 Infrastructure cannot support
 Housing unavailable
 Jobs difficult to find without education
Global Migration
 Millions leave developing world and
emigrate to developed nations
 Creates racial and ethnic problems
 Developed nations worried about their
cultural identity

France—great influx of non-Christians
 US—melting pot replace with a salad bowl
 Immigrants hold on to traditional values of
early marriage and large families
 Places burden on some societies
 Immigrant groups growing larger than
native groups in some countries
 US: fastest growing ethnic group --Hispanics
French cultural identity
challenged
Global Migration
US Migration CCOT
 Could you do this?
 http://www.pbs.org/destinationameric