Immigration in the Colonial Era

1. Immigration in the Colonial Era HIS 206

2. Colonial Population Diversity • Population increased tenfold: • 1700: 250,000 • 1775: 2.5 million • 75% due to natural increase • Population grew more diverse • 25% due to immigration • Many came as redemptioners

3. Colonial Immigration Statistics

4. Pre-Revolutionary Immigration • 1761-1775: 221,500 arrivals (10% of 1775 population) • 55,000+ Protestant Irish • 40,000+ Scots • 30,000+ English • 12,000+ Germans & Swiss • 84,500 African slaves • 9,662 British emigrants recorded between Dec. 1773 – March 1776 • Almost half under 25; almost a quarter 21-24 • 3 out of 4 were male • Almost half were indentured servants • 1/3 came from SE England; ¼ from London • 2/5 came from Scotland (mostly Highlands)

5. Patterns of British Immigration • Metropolitan Pattern: young men in early 20’s, acting individually • Not desperately poor • Usually artisan who finished apprenticeship but was unable to find work as journeyman • Went as redemptioner to preserve savings • Went overwhelmingly to Penn., Maryland & Virginia • Provincial Pattern: farm families with small children • Rarely indentured servants • Often raised passage money by selling off all possessions • Usually sought out new settlements in back country • Went to Nova Scotia, New York & North Carolina

6. Transatlantic Migration & Domestic Migration • Pre-industrial English population mobility consisted of 3 interwoven patterns: • Short-distance movements in countryside • Result of pop. growth, decline in real wages, extension of commercial farming, & uprooting effect of cottage industry • 2 out of every 3 children left home parishes (3 out of 4 boys) • Longer-distance movements from countryside to provincial towns & cities • Betterment migration of young sons from stable families for apprenticeships • Subsistence migration of poor people seeking casual labor • Superimposed flow of people into catch basin of London • Pop. grew from 200,000 in 1600 to 575,000 by 1700 • 1/3 of London’s pop. were recent arrivals • 1 out of every 6 English people had lived in London at some point

7. Colonial Settlement Patterns • Boston was a nursery - pop. remained constant after 1740 because exporting to surrounding towns • Philadelphia was a warehouse • Pop. increased 6.5 times, despite high mortality rate • Most newcomers stayed short time, then moved on to back country • New York was a staging area – dispersed immigrants to northern frontier

8. Labor Demand Stimulated Immigration • 378,000 emigrants from England to western hemisphere in 1600s – 155,000 to mainland colonies • 50,ooo convicts shipped to colonies in 1700s • 18th century emigrants more skilled because slaves took over unskilled work • Indentured servants barred from marriage & mobility during term of service Indentured Servants, 1654-1680

9. Land Speculation • Politically connected individuals received large land grants, then tried to attract settlers • Often allowed initial settlers to improve land for several years for very low or no rents, then rented it profitably or sold it