To place these links in a global context at the time go to the casahistoria Imperialism site.

Genealogy has led to an explosion in sites as immigrant descendants - especially ex European - seek to discover their roots. The purpose of this site is not to be a guide to genealogical research, but to link to sites that help explain the process and significance of European immigration in the industrial period in its broad historical context.

• Immigration and emigration Concise, global overview from Lloyds Register, London  §
• Primer on Emigration, Immigration and Associated Subjects general overview of the process and an introduction to the language of immigration. By the Polish Genealogical Society of America
• Stalkers guide to international migration  Clear overview of the theory, history and implications of migration
• The Promise of America Norwegian site, it focuses simply and clearly on the key issues facing the European immigrant to the Americas. A good introduction.
• Origins and the Journey Many good links to the entire emigration/settlement process. US and Canada focus, but good resources for topic including census data, links to many emigrant handbooks and witness accounts. Produced by by Carolyn Bierworth in Ontario as an education resource. This is the Wayback link as the original site has been (unfortunately) removed  §.
• Immigration Clear, detailed site looks at immigration to Brazil (bottom of page has links to essays on seperate European countries of origins)
• TheShipsList Set up for research into family history, but contains many valuable documents on the period for general research: Diaries & Journals | Immigration Reports | Illustrated London News Items  The Trivia section is also interesting (including one passage across Panama In 1849)
• U.S.Immigration Collection From Ancestry.com Ship passenger lists, naturalization records, ship photos and more - but you do have to pay! (Although you can get a free trial period if you know exactly what you want....)
• History of International migration 1800-1914 Very good place to start your studies. Clearly set out lecture notes by Marlou Schrover, Univ of Leiden. Use the tabs for links to notes on the other periods are: Before 1500; 1500-1800; 1914-1945 and Since 1945 (Decolonization;  Labour migration; Refugees and Asylum seekers). Sections on:
  • Industrial revolution
  • Political revolutions in Europe
        The French revolution
        Constitution and nation-building
  • The demographic revolution
        Migration to North America
        Migration to the Latin World
        Migration to other parts of the world

 

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2. Reasons for emigration 

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• The Age of mass migration: what we can and can't explain T J Hatton, Univ of Essex. This paper originated as a presentation given at the conference on “Migration and Mobility: The European Context” at Kingston University in 1999.
• What Drove European Mass Emigration?  Lengthy and well detailed chapter from world mass migration by J Williams, Harvard. Pdf requires Adobe reader. See also The Transition to Mass Migration: How It All Began and Resurrection: World Migration Since World War II
• Evolving World Migrations Since Columbus Essay focussing on the changing pattern of immigration in the industrial period and the reasons for the change.
• Why people left Britain Concise and clear account from the Southampton site of Portcities. Looks at the interplay of the various reasons for emigration.
• The American Immigration Homepage -  information, mostly note form, on immigration (e.g. reasons for immigration, ports of arrival, reception by other Americans, etc.)  §
• Reasons for Immigration - Visit this site to find out the reasons why immigrants from around the world went to the United States
§
• The German-Americans: An Ethnic Experience - discussion of reasons for immigration from the Purdue University Indianapolis
• Spreading Victorian virtues overseas - promotion of the emigration movement Contemporary Review,  May, 1995  by Eric Ford essay on the role of William Henry Giles Kingston and the British Emigration Movement.

Economics

• Migration Brief, but clear notes on the economic theory behind emigration
• Emigration From Ireland - Vice Or Virtue? looks at the economic significance of emigration (an economics essay...) by Patricia Broderick by Junior Sophister
• Why emigrate? Uses emigrants from eastern Europe as the example to highlight some of the key reasons why in a brief way. Source: Auswanderungen aus Baden und dem Breisgau. By Werner Hacker.
• The Economics of Mass Migrations - a useful research primer by Jeffrey G. Williamson, NBER Research Associate in the Program on Development of the American Economy and is the Laird Bell Professor of Economics at Harvard. His "Profile" appears later in this issue. The mass migrations that ended early in this century raise four fundamental questions: What explains them? How did they affect labour markets? Did their impact create a policy backlash? Does the experience offer lessons for today?
• Mass Migrations in the Poor Periphery looks at the economic consequences of 19th century migration. You may need an economics qualification to follow some of the equations... by J Williams, Harvard.

Persecution

• German Jewish refugees, 1933-1939 from the Holocuast encyclopaedia. Well linked to other articles such as The Evian Conference, and the voyage of the "St. Louis"
Emigration From Germany Small but interesting site to Jewish emigration out of nazi Germany. Good visuals including images of the passes issued by the nazi authorities for would be emigrants
• Jewish Emigration From Germany 1933-1939 - Map
• One Thousand Children (OTC) - nonprofit corporation dedicated to documenting the experiences of people who came to the U.S. as children between 1934 and 1945 in order to escape persecution and genocide.

Synthesis: Push/Pull factors

• Factors affecting immigration to the USA Clearly set out table looking at push - pull factors for emigration. Norway used in relation to US, but factors are common to most European patterns. Good structure. Pdf requires Adobe reader
• Major Influences on Migration Push pull factors clearly presented from the university of Calgary
• Spanish Emigration to Cuba Push pull factors in Spanish & Cuban context ...the emigration is going to depend more of the conditions of the destiny area (Cuba) that for the origin (Spain)
• Immigration policy & settlement: The example of Britain & late 19th century Argentina  Extracted from The Forgotten Colony, by Andrew Graham Yooll, published by Hutchison, 1981. Good case study looking at the factors hindering and supporting emigration.
• The colonial and post-colonial dimensions of Algerian migration to France Looks at the history/interchange of French-Algerian emigration/immigration. By Jim House, University of Leeds from excellent History in Focus series for researchers.

casahistoria home                            visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news




3. Process: departure & crossing    

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Preparation

• The Emigrants handbook What  you would have needed to know if you were considering emigrating one hundred years ago. Read ‘The Emigrants Handbook published in 1864, for prospective emigrants to Canada.
• Family Colonization Loan Society Emigration Scheme - 1851. The interesting and novel site exhibits an example of an emigration scheme, was taken from the Belfast Gazette,1851. It is an example of one of the many schemes that were made available to encourage emigration - in this case to the fledgling colony of Port Phillip, Australia

• Emigration Port Hamburg Based on an exhibition in the German port of Hamburg. Visually useful. Also in Deutsch and  Español
• Bremerhaven  A very useful site from the German Emigrant Centre. Useful statistics, illusrtations, concise account of the uses and difficulties of using the remaining evidence.
• London: migration and post-war immigration part of the Portcities site. Also extensive details on history of ports in Bristol | Liverpool | Southampton
• Liverpool, New Landing Stage The following is from the Illustrated London News of June 12, 1847. 
• Leaving from Liverpool Educational site which follows a 19th century family on a journey of discovery as they emigrate to Australia. Based on the Emigrants to the New World gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum
• The Tide of Emigration to The United States And to The British Colonies Extracts from an article printed in the Illustrated London News on Saturday July 6th 1850. It is a contemporary account of the procedure of Emigration from the port of Liverpool to the New World and the Colonies.
• Ports of Departure a list of links to European emigrant ports, shipping lists. From the researcher site Cyndi's List.  Very comprehensive with links to other aspects of the (US) immigrant story.
• Modern Sources for Immigration Podcast. In depth look by Roger Kershaw at key immigration sources at the UK National Archives from inwards passenger lists and certificates of arrival to alien registration cards, records of internment, and citizenship papers. This is part 1. Part 2 can be downloaded here.

• Voyages: Stories of America and the Sea - Coming to America: Immigrant passages. Do you know how your ancestors came to America? Unless they were Native Americans, the answer is most likely 'on a ship' (Click on the 'Immigration' link on the main page). §
• Dunbrody - the JFK Trust is constructing a sea-going replica of Dunbrody, which carried many emigrants from Ireland to the New World from 1845 to 1870. Small but well presented site.
• Steamship T.S.S Nea Hellas - a history of this Greek ocean liner that brought tens of thousands of Greek immigrants to the U.S. 
• The Union Castle Line and Emigration from Eastern Europe to South Africa Academic article, well supported with detail by Aubrey Newman
- but such tiny print!!!
• Welsh immigrants in Patagonia: Mimosa, the old ship that sailed into history Article by Susan Wilkinson describing the voyage of the early Welsh immigrant ship to Argentina

• Emigrant Origins and Immigrant Outcomes Lengthy and well detailed chapter from world mass migration by J Williams, Harvard. Pdf requires Adobe reader.
• Political Debate and Policy Backlash & The Demise of Mass Migration and Its Impact Williams looks at the closing of doors after the first world war.

 

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4. The Emigrants: Great Britain 

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See also the detailed sections on British emigration on these casahistoria pages:

British emigrants to the USA

White emigration to Australia

Emigration to Argentina from Britain & the British Empire

• A comparative study of emigration to the United States from Ireland and Poland An odd comparison at first glance, but their are economic & political parallels in this article. Supported by data
• Interpreting The Irish Famine, 1846-1850 A useful collection of links from The University of Virginia to primary source materials online, including newspaper articles and pictures. §
• Views of the famine Good reference site about the Irish Famine with lots of original sources and pictures. Also includes an extensive links section to help boost knowledge and understanding of the topic.
 §
• Emigration to the US and to the British colonies (1850 article) From Illustrated London news. Includes data for 1825-1850
• 1847 - The Famine Emigrants: A very comprehensive look at the Famine Year of 1847. This project is still under-way, but contains Newspaper Accounts, Ship Arrivals, Orphans & Grosse Isle information, Miscellaneous Records, Ships & Docks, Passenger Lists and Related Sites (off-site).
• Patterns of Irish emigration to America, 1783-1800 Eire-Ireland: Journal of Irish Studies,  Spring-Summer, 2001  by Maurice J. Bric
• Ulster American Folk Park Website of the museum which tells the story of emigration from Ulster to America in the 18th & 19th centuries. Useful site.
• The Irish in America I First of a pair of articles by Charles Fanning from New Hibernia Review, 1998
• Irish in South America Useful bibliographic essay from the Irish Diaspora Studies (University of Bradford) Web site. By Brian McGinn
• The Irish in Britain A Bibliographic essay by Donald MacRaild from the Irish Diaspora Studies (University of Bradford) Web site
• Oceans of Consolation: Personal Accounts of Irish Migration to Australia by David Fitzpatrick. Detailed review by Frances Devlin Glass. Journal of Australian Studies, 1995
• Resources for Irish and Irish Immigration Studies To research your own family links....

 

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5. The Emigrants II: Continental Europe

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Eastern Europe

• "Great" Polish political Emigration (1831 - 1870) Essay by James Chastain
• Czech (southern Bohemia) emigration and Polish emigration. An EC (Emile) funded project which focuses on emigrant letters written to people left behind in the old countries. In fact letters are limited but has some use for the other resources shown. Illustrated.

Germany

• Deutsche Auswanderer-Datenbank  records on a long-term basis the emigrants of the period between 1820 to 1939. This is the english language link.
• German Immigration and Emigration Comprehensive set of links to many aspects of German emigration
• Why did Germans emigrate? Basic, but useful analysis extracted from A History of Germans in Australia 1839-1945 by Charles Meyer
• Emigration from Germany to the USA general article with data  §
• 19th-Century-Immigrants from Hessen-Darmstadt in Wisconsin Transplanted but not Uprooted: Case study of 19th-Century Immigrants from Hessen-Darmstadt in Wisconsin. Helmut Schmahl, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany. Well referenced.

Italy

• Italian Migration Research article looking at historic and current Italian emigration and emigration policies by D Del Boca & A Venturini, Univ of Turin
• Looking at the "other" Italians Brief article from Tandem magazine looks at the diaspora of nearly 60-million paisans stretches acrosss every continent
• Italian emigration An EC funded project (Emile) which focuses on emigrant letters written to people left behind in the old countries. Unlike some of the other countries this is better supported by letters & stories of emigrants.
• Italians in Tanzania Short page on this offbeat area of emigration. Many statistics
• How Italians taught Britons to laugh  Prof. Lucio Sponza examines the wave of immigration to the United Kingdom

Jewish Diaspora

• European Jewish Emigration via the Port of Hamburg excellent (photo based) article. Very well illustrated
• American Jewish Immigration Concise account from the Sherwin Milller Museum of Jewish Art

• From green borders to paper walls: Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe in Germany before and after the Great War by Tobias Brinkmann. Good, annotated article from excellent History in Focus series for researchers.

Scandinavia

• A Review of Swedish Emigration to America. Includes links to may other Swedish immigration sites.
• Swedish emigration An EC funded project (Emile) which focuses on emigrant letters written to people left behind in the old countries. Unlike some of the other countries this is well supported by letters & biographies of emigrants.
• A Swedish Emigrant 100 years later
• Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild This links to the manifests of immigrant ships from the Baltic ports. The site has over 400 passenger manifests posted
• The Finns in America Useful information about immigration from Finland to the United States, and about the activities of Finnish-American immigrants in the United States from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
• Icelandic Emigration to the US. Why, how/ where?   Well produced site

Spain & Portugal

Catholic Missions in America For the earlier Spanish settlement of the Americas go to this casahistoria site.

• Portuguese emigration from Madeira to British Guiana In 1835, the first Portuguese landed in what was then British Guiana. Noel Menezes looks at the early Portuguese, and the skills they brought with them from Madeira. Intriguing small scale case study.

See also the detailed case studies indicated in the next section for sites on emigration to specific countries 

 

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6. Destination case studies 

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Click here for the casahistoria sites with links to emigration & its impact on:

The USA & Canada

Argentina

Australia

 

casahistoria home                            visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news




7. Documents  

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General

• TheShipsList Set up for research into family history, but contains many valuable documents on the period: Diaries & Journals | Immigration Reports | Illustrated London News Items  The  section is also interesting (including one passage across Panama in 1849)
• Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild This site has over 400 passenger manifests posted
• Immigration in America (Library of Congress) Excellent documentary resources covering many aspects of US immigration and internal expansion. Each link is to a huge bank of material. Takes a little time to navigate, but well worth it
• Internet Modern History Sourcebook: US Immigration - This site is an excellent resource for those trying to learn more about the history of immigration to the United States.
• Emigration Information of the Nineteenth Century  very full information on ships, emigrants numbers, witness accounts and entry ports into Canada. University of Waterloo, Ontario.

Ships and Journeys

• Details on the deaths of cholera victims on the emigrant ship 'Brutus' This appeared in the Liverpool Mercury (1832) and gives the names of the people who died. The 'Brutus' had set off from Liverpool to America but had to turn back after people started to die from cholera
• Section of the emigrant ship 'Bourneuf' Section of the emigrant ship 'Bourneuf' showing the arrangement of passengers to Australia.

Witness accounts

• Immigration to the United States UK Spartacus site. Numerous, well set out witness accounts of European immigration to the north from the UK spartacus site. accounts well placed in context.
• Letters from an Immigrant - Bertha Starke Geerdts came to Milwaukee from Germany 100 years ago. Although she was happy in her new land, she never forgot her ties to her family, and she wrote letters faithfully. This collection of her correspondence in both German and English covers a span of time from 1890 through 1911 and offers striking glimpses into the ties that bind. The site also provides links to her family.
• The New Americans: Immigration, America's Story - New Immigrants' personal stories rom the PBS site
• Tracing Mormon Pioneers-Emigration Resources by Region/Country The Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints puts much time into researching family background. Their resources for the period of European immigration are invaluable.
• Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley: Facsimile of the 1855 published book, illustrated with steel engravings and wood cuts from sketches made by Frederick Piercy. Route from Liverpool ranks as the most beautiful book published by Latter Day Saints. Many of its steel engravings still have high artistic merit. Although it is now a rare book, its illustrations still find their way into many books written on Mormon history. Opens as pdf

Visual

• New York, NY, Ellis Island -- Immigration: 1900-1920 - This web site presents stereoscopic (3D) photographs of Ellis Island from the early 1900s. §

 

 

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8. Research your family 

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• Family Search - Use this site to locate records that may contain information about your ancestors. It can also help you find a family history center near you.
• Ancestry.com--Genealogy and Family History Records - The site claims to be the largest collection of family history records on the Web. Explore your family tree!  Now has a vast amount of (subscription only - but you can usually get a 14 day free trial) emigration related sections.
• Ancestors in America - This site can help visitors extend and enrich their perception of the experiences of Asian immigrants to the United States. Areas of particular interest include Ancestors , which contains video clips from the series; Documents, which contains digital versions of important documents throughout our history that impacted directly on immigrants trying to establish themselves in this country; Tell Us Your Stories, a section that encourages visitors to tell their stories; and Discover Your Ancestors, resources for conducting genealogy work.
Family Histories - Family History in India Cathy Day's excellent Resource. Essentially information regarding British, European and Anglo-Indian family history in India, Burma, Pakistan and Bangladesh. However very good for research into specifics such as occupations, army regiments, life in general.
• Discover Your Ancestors: Asian American genealogy resources - A very informative page that provides resources for conducting genealogy work.