Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
Background to Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Migration (Edexcel GCSE History) : Revision Note
What changed in migration during the 1700s and 1800s?- Summary
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Britain changed significantly. The Industrial Revolution created new jobs in factories and cities, which made places like Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool grow quickly. At the same time, the British Empire was expanding across the world, so more people came to Britain from places like India, the Caribbean, and Africa. Some migrants came to study, work, or join British families, such as Indian ayahs and lascars.
Migration was also different from earlier periods because it became more global. In the past, most migrants came from Europe, like the Huguenots or Walloon weavers, but now people came from across the British Empire too. Cities like London, Cardiff, and Glasgow became more diverse, and Britain became a hub for people from all over the world.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
In the Migrants in Britain, c800-present exam, you might be asked about a time period using centuries (e.g. the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) or specific years.
The century is always one number higher than the actual years.
The eighteenth century = 1700s
The nineteenth century = 1800s
Therefore, if the exam says “migration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,” you’re being asked about migration from c1700 to c1900.
Always check the date in the question carefully and match your examples to the correct period.
Changes in British society
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain around the mid-1700s
This brought huge changes to the way people lived and worked
Factories and cities
Factories replaced small workshops
New machines meant goods could be made faster and cheaper
This led to the rise of new industrial cities like:
Manchester, which became famous for cotton mills
Birmingham, known for metalwork and engineering
Sheffield, which grew rapidly due to steel production
Transport and docks
Better roads, canals, and later railways helped people and goods move around the country more easily
New docks and ports were built or expanded in cities like:
Liverpool, a key port for trade with America and the West Indies
Bristol, involved in both the transatlantic trade and goods like sugar and tobacco
Enclosure
In the countryside, the enclosure system turned open fields into large, privately owned farms
This made farming more efficient and profitable
However, small farmers lost access to land, forcing them to migrate to cities for work
This increased urbanisation
Towns and cities offered a range of factory jobs
This was a strong pull factor for migrants
Migrants often settled in poor, working-class areas, close to factories or ports
Transatlantic slave trade
Britain’s involvement in slavery grew rapidly from the Early Modern period
Around 80% of Africans forced into the slave trade crossed the Atlantic between 1700 and 1850
This created a system called triangular trade
British merchants purchased captured African people from tribal leaders in West Africa in exchange for manufactured goods like guns and cloth
The enslaved people were then transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean and America in appalling conditions
There, they were sold to the owners of enormous sugar, cotton and tobacco farms called plantations
They were treated with great brutality and the average age of an enslaved person was 27
Profits from triangular trade was invested back into Britain
The growth of the British Empire
The British Empire was formed in the late 1500s and early 1600s through exploration and trade
By the 18th century, the empire had expanded through:
wars
colonisation
control of overseas trade routes
As Britain took control of more land overseas, people from those countries began to travel to Britain
Some came by choice
Others were forced to Britain for work or service
Civil liberties & the French Revolution
Civil liberties in Britain
In the early 19th century, the franchise in Britain was very small
Britain was split up into different areas called counties and boroughs
Some boroughs were tiny but had multiple MPs. These were called rotten boroughs
New industrial towns, such as Birmingham, had populations of hundreds of thousands but no MPs representing them in Parliament
The Great Reform Act (1832) gave more towns and more citizens the right to vote
This allowed the passing of laws such as the Slavery Abolition Act (1833)
The impact of the French Revolution on Britain
The French Revolution (1789) introduced radical ideas about:
liberty
equality
human rights
Britain became a safer place for political and religious refugees
Change & continuity in Eighteenth & Nineteenth Century migration & patterns of settlements
Change
Colonial migration
Migration became more global due to the British Empire
People arrived from colonies in the British Empire
A range of colonial migrants arrived to Britain, including:
servants
students, mainly from India
royalty, such as Indian princes
sailors from India, China, Malaya, Somalia and Yemen, recruited by the East India Company
Irish migration
Irish migration increased rapidly, especially during the Great Famine (1845–1852)
Over 1 million Irish migrants came to Britain
Some stayed permanently in cities like Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow
Others used Britain as a “stopover” before heading to the USA or Canada
However, some who intended to do this could not afford the fare to North America and stayed in Britain
European migration
Migrants from Europe began to settle in specific communities:
Jewish migrants in the East End of London
They had faced pogroms in the Russian Empire
Italians working in food, music, and street selling
Italy was an under-developed country, facing war and typhoid outbreaks
Germans running bakeries, watchmaking, and butchery
Germany was not a single country until 1871
German states fought often
Many German states did not allow their citizens the political freedom that Britain did
Continuity
Migrants continue to come to Britain from Europe, for the same reasons as previous periods. Examples include:
poverty
religious persecution
As in the Early Modern period, migrants often worked in trades, crafts, or service jobs
Migrants settled in port cities and industrial towns where there were jobs
This is similar to how Huguenots had chosen Spitalfields
Worked Example
Explain one way in which patterns of migration in the years c1500–c1700 were different from patterns of migration in the years c1700–c1900.
(4 marks)
Answer:
One way in which patterns of migration were different is that migrants in c1700–c1900 came from a wider range of locations compared to c1500–c1700. In the earlier period, most migrants came from Europe, such as the Huguenots from France or the Walloon weavers from the Low Countries. However, in the later period, migrants also came from across the British Empire, including India and the Caribbean, often arriving as ayahs, lascars, and students. This shows that migration became more global by the 19th century.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
To achieve full marks for this question, you need to:
Use the “One way… because…” structure
Always state one clear difference and explain why it's a difference.
Make sure you compare the same aspect (e.g. reason for migration, type of migrant, or settlement pattern).
Add a named example for top marks
Mention specific groups or events (e.g. Irish Famine migrants, Huguenots, East India Company).
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