MIGRATION

5 The three kingdoms: England, Ireland and Scotland 5.3 Emigration 1688–c1730: an overview
Volunteer indentured servants
Not all who emigrated were captives: many chose to travel as indentured
labourers, who agreed to work unpaid as someone’s property for seven or eight
years, after which they would be freed. In effect, they were temporary slaves. It
was a dangerous choice: conditions were harsh and about a quarter of those who
made this choice did not survive the period of indenture. The fact that so many
thought it was worth the risk tells us how hard their life in Britain must have
been. Some of these servants were reasonably well off, hoping to build a new life
after their period of indenture. Others were craftsmen, offering a skill they hoped
would be valued. The majority, though, were poor people who sold themselves to
ships’ captains and were auctioned on arrival.
The main reason that people went was poverty and a lack of opportunity in
their native countries. In Ireland and Scotland in the 1690s they were driven by
harvest failures and famine. In England and Scotland they were victims of land
ENCLOSURES, which meant there was no longer enough work in the countryside
for all those in need of it. Many Irish families had been forced off their land by the
Ulster plantations (see page XX).
Many died before gaining their freedom, as a result of climate, disease or
maltreatment. Of those who survived, many joined militias to protect settler
communities, either from the Native Americans whose land had been stolen or
from feared uprisings by enslaved Africans. Some Scots found advancement in
Jamaica: John Campbell, a Darien survivor, became a planter and member of the
Jamaica Assembly. Others were politically active: on the island of St Kitts in 1689 a
Jacobite governor-general encouraged Irish workers to destroy English plantations
before allowing the French to take the island!
The Ulster Scots
During this period the great majority of Scots who emigrated did not go to
the Americas, but to Ireland, taking advantage of its better weather and soil for
cultivation, as well as the easy journey from Western Scotland. After the Treaty of
Limerick in 1691 Scottish Protestants were given attractive offers by the English
government to settle in Ulster on land that the Irish had been forced to leave.
Adventurers
There were other reasons why people emigrated. Scottish merchant adventurers
roamed Asia and the Caribbean looking for opportunities to trade. Large numbers
of Scots served as MERCENARY SOLDIERS in European wars, particularly in Russia
and Scandinavia, as Irishmen did in the French army. After the Act of Union,
increasing numbers of Scots served as administrators for the East India Company.
One of them, John Drummond, became a director. Between 1720 and 1757, all
the principal medical officers in Madras were Scottish, and the Scottish naval
surgeon William Hamilton treated the emperor of India for a sexually transmitted
disease in 1711. He was showered with gifts!
Source 1 Writer Daniel Defoe, commenting on emigration from Glasgow in the
1720s.
The poor people offering themselves fast enough, and thinking it their advantage to go; as
indeed it is, to those who go with sober resolutions, namely to serve out their times, and
then become diligent [hardworking] planters for themselves ... if it goes on for many years
more Virginia may be rather called a Scots than an English plantation.
The planters employing them were mainly English settlers. Many also employed enslaved
Africans, sometimes working alongside the indentured servants.
Uncorrected proof
Figure 3 A graph showing British
net emigration 1631–1731 (‘net’
emigration is the number of
emigrants minus the number of
immigrants, so it is the overall
decrease in population as a result
of migration).
Source 2 An extract from Daniel Defoe’s novel Moll Flanders, describing arrivals in
Virginia from England, 1722.
They were of two sorts. Either (1) such as were brought over by masters of ships to be sold
as servants, such as we call them, my dear, but they are more properly called slaves. Or (2)
such as are transported from Newgate and other prisons, after having been found guilty of
crimes punishable with death. When they come here we make no difference: the planters
buy them, and they work together in the field till their time is out.
1631– 41
1641– 51
1651– 61
1661– 71
1671– 81
1681– 91
1691– 1701
1701– 11
1711– 21
1721– 31
0
20000
39000
41000
50000
40000
55000
54000
60000
70000
60000
80000
105000
10000
100000
125000
120000
Source 4 An extract from a contemporary account of the English sugar
plantations, 1700s.
The colonies were plentifully supplied with Christian servants ... being excellent planters
and soldiers ... that they neither feared the insurrection [uprising] of their Negroes, nor any
invasion of a foreign enemy.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1 ‘The main reason for emigration from the British Isles was the authorities’
attack on the poor.’ Is this an accurate summary of Irish, Scottish and English
emigration during this period?
TOPIC SUMMARY
Emigration 1688–c1730
1 Large numbers of people emigrated from England, Scotland and Ireland to the
Americas.
2 Many were forced to leave, by banishment or as convicts.
3 Many others went as indentured labourers, forced to work unpaid as their
owners’ property for several years, after which they were freed.
4 Most emigrated because of poverty or being forced off their land.
5 Many Scots emigrated to Ireland. Others joined the army or worked as
administrators for overseas trading and enslaving companies.
6 Emigrants had a range of experiences, ranging from violence and disease to
eventual success.
140000
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