Effects of Migration

Migration in the 19th century—whether undertaken freely to escape poverty

or seek opportunity or coerced as part of an imperialist labor system—led to demographic changes with long-lasting results. Laborers tended to be male and from particular ethnic groups, such as the Indian indentured servants brought to work on sugar plantations in the Caribbean or the Chinese laborers recruited to complete the transcontinental railroad in the United States. These migrants often formed ethnic enclaves and created cultural groups that maintained elements of their native culture and religion while absorbing the influences of their new locations. For example, many Indians in Trinidad and Tobago practiced Hinduism and contributed to Caribbean musical traditions. These migrants also left behind women who sometimes took on the roles formerly filled by men and thus brought about change in migrants’ home societies.

Migrant groups often experienced racial and ethnic prejudice. The Chinese Exclusion Act, noted above, was the first major U.S. federal legislation that specifically suspended immigration of a specific ethnic group.