History Coursework

During the period of 1880 to the present day, there were many different groups of people from all over the world that decided to migrate to Britain.

There were a few main groups of people that migrated, these are: Jews, West Indians (Caribbean’s) and South Asians. Their reasons for migration were a mixture of push and pull factors. Firstly, Jews have been migrating to Britain as early as 1730 but in the past 150 years that figure has dramatically increased.

After 1880 thousands of Jewish people moved to Britain. They fled their homes in Russia and other Eastern European countries to escape persecution and to find a better life abroad. After the assassination of the Russian Tsar Alexander II many Jews fled to Britain after being blamed for it and the laws already against Jews were put into force more than ever. This made life for the Jews extremely difficult. They moved to Britain because there was already a Jewish community in Britain, but also many made there way to America but found themselves settling in Britain instead. John Dyche, a tailor from Russia wrote why he left for Britain, “Religious persecution was the direct cause of the emigration of large numbers of Jews.” Jews were constantly used as scapegoats for things that went wrong in the country; the violence towards them increased dramatically which acted as a push factor for them to migrate.

Some of the pull factors which attracted people to Britain were the job opportunities that were available for them which they did not receive in Russia due to the restrictions put on them. Also the already thriving Jewish community was a big attraction; Jews thought they would find it easy to settle down in Britain. Thirdly, the means of transport to travel to Britain were good. They had the option of boats or the train but it would take several days or even weeks to reach Britain. Finally, the general better state of living was a benefit to people moving to Britain as conditions in other less developed eastern countries were appalling.

These appealed to other groups of migrants