Emigration Learning Resource 2
Advertisements encouraging emigration to the United States
Suggested age groups: KS2, KS3 and Lifelong Learners
Subject areas: History, Literacy, Art, Geography
CONTEXT
People living in rural poverty in the early 19th century were attracted by the possibility of a higher standard of living in the United States. Posters like those on the following page encouraged people to emigrate to improve their lives and possibly even make their fortunes. Fleeing crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many went to the USA because it was perceived as the land of economic opportunity.
The USA was a vast country with lots of job opportunities. Thousands were needed to construct over 3,000 miles of railway lines linking the east and west coasts and other parts of America. Developing industries also required workers. In the 1830s wages in the USA could be double or triple that available in the UK.
There were millions of acres of farmland waiting to be developed. So, farm workers no longer needed here in the UK due to increased mechanisation and the loss of smallholdings in the enclosure movement, were needed in the USA. The possibility of acquiring free or buying cheap land was another attraction for British workers unable to afford to buy their own land in the UK.
Many emigrants sailed from Liverpool, London, Portsmouth and other ports on sailing ships bound for a new life in the United States, Liverpool was the most popular port of departure for emigrants because it already had well established transatlantic links based on the import of cotton and timber. The voyage to the United States took about thirty-five to forty days depending on wind and weather. Most emigrants travelled in the cheapest class of accommodation, known as the steerage. This was similar to a dormitory with bunks down the sides and tables in the centre. It was frequently overcrowded with poor ventilation. Emigrating in a sailing ship could be unpleasant, particularly during a storm. Seasickness was a particular problem on the stormy North Atlantic westbound voyage, and diseases such as cholera and typhus frequently reached epidemic proportion as infection spread throughout the confined decks. Scores of emigrants died from these diseases.