CHAPTER 7The Great Migration

IMMIGRANT VS EMIGRANT

Immigrant- a person intending to establish a home and citizenship in a country that is not their native country Imm sounds like in, therefore you know they are coming into

the country

Emigrant- a person who leaves their native country to establish a home and citizenship in another country (emigrant and immigrant describe the same person at different points in the process of moving between countries E- as an exit

Student leaves their desk- they are an emigrantStudent goes to a different desk- they are an immigrant

THE GREAT MIGRATION

Between 1815 and 1850, British North America underwent animportant demographic change as waves of people began toleave Britain seeking better lives.

Demographic change- change in the characteristicsof a population

Why were people leaving Britain? People left Britain for economic reasons. Many had lost theirlivelihoods during the Industrial Revolution (machines replaced their jobs)* It’s like why a lot of people leave other provinces, and come to Alberta (many people from other provinces)

THE GREAT MIGRATIONS

Why were people leaving? When the Napoleonic Wars ended there was

an economic slowdown and more unemployment (no work)

In 1840, a famine hit Ireland, forcing many people to leave Famine- a shortage of food leading to starvation

for many people If Alberta ran out of food, do you think people

would want to stay here?

THE GREAT MIGRATION

Opportunity in the Colonies: Britain’s colonies provided places for people to move and

start over

This cartoon is on page 202. What do the labels “At Home”

and “Abroad” refer to? How is the situation “Abroad” different from “At Home”?

RECAP

Someone tell me, what is starting the Great Migration?

What is immigrant? What is emigrant?

IMPACTS OF THE GREAT MIGRATION

More Farms: The new wave of colonists created new

pressures in British North America.

IMPACTS OF THE GREAT MIGRATION

More British People: This image shows emigrants from Britain at a

dock in Cork, Ireland, waiting to board ships to North America

IMPACTS OF THE GREAT MIGRATION

Look on the chart on page 203

With a partner, answer the RESPOND questions on page 203

Read the History Happens, and copy the red definitions

NOT A PLEASURE CRUISE Diseases on the ships from Europe meant

many did not survive voyage

Too many people were put onto the ships or were housed in cargo areas- called COFFIN SHIPS

People brought food (potatoes, oatmeal and salt pork and beef) and were expected to cook their own meals

NOT A PLEASURE CRUISE

Trips that were to take 5-6 weeks may be delayed, taking 10-11 weeks - bad weather

Cholera was thought to be deliberately sent by Britain to kill off and demoralize the Canadiens

NOT A PLEASURE CRUISE

The government set up a quarantine at Grosse Ile about 50 km from Quebec. All immigrants had to report there upon arrival and sick ones were forced to stay until well.

Many Irish orphans at Grosse Ile were adopted by Canadien families

A FINAL RESTING PLACE

The bodies of the dead were placed in canvas sacks that were then sewn closed and thrown overboard. The captain led a short ceremony on the upper deck, weather permitting.

Those who died of cholera had their belongings burned. If a person died when the ship was less than 30 km from a quarantine station or port city, the body was kept on board so that it could be buried on land.

GROSSE ILE- DON’T HAVE TO COPY Grosse-Ile is connected to the Great Migration as a place of

hope and tragedy. Why?

Place of hope: it was a place that the ill could recover from disease

Place of tragedy: Many ill died here. Leaving many orphans.

Where is Grosse Ile? What is Grosse Ile? Why is this important in Canadian history?

GROSSE ILE A rising tide of English, Scots and particularly Irish

immigrants left the British Isles, fleeing economic hardship. Many of them sought a better life in Canada

Grosse Île held a strategic position, located in the St. Lawrence River 48 km downstream of Québec in the Île-aux-Grues archipelago.

The island was an obvious choice: it was situated near the Port of Québec in the centre of the shipping lanes and it offered natural sites for anchoring.

It became the mandatory stopping point for all ships so that persons suffering from contagious diseases could be treated.

GROSSE ILE

Approximately 2/3 of newcomers were from Ireland.

Immigration on the St. Lawrence River took place at a time when major cholera and smallpox epidemics were sweeping through Europe.

GROSSE ILE In order to help control the spread

of the diseases, the quarantine station at Grosse Île, was established in 1832 and operated until its closure in 1937.

location of the City of Québec made it a major commercial, military and political centre. People and goods from Europe flowed through its port every navigation season.

Consequently, many of the nearly four million passengers passing through the Québec port had to stay at Grosse Île.

The Grosse Île Quarantine Station

THE GROSSE ÎLE QUARANTINE STATION

The harbour from the Governor's Garden, Québec, ca. 1858-1860

THE GROSSE ÎLE QUARANTINE STATION

Cannons on the western sector of Grosse Île, before 1910

THE GROSSE ÎLE QUARANTINE STATION

Under the Quarantine Act, all ships carrying persons, property or goods from infected ports had to report to Grosse Île for a mandatory medical inspection. Anyone who was ill or had been in contact with an ill person was detained, and the ships and their contents were disinfected.

THE ARRIVAL OF SHIPS AT GROSSE ÎLE

As a ship entered, a medical inspector boarded the ship when it arrived off Grosse Île.

The doctor checked the passenger manifest and the ship's log

Any ship that did not stop could be fired on by the quarantine station's guns.

Passengers suffering from Asiatic cholera, smallpox, typhus, the plague and yellow fever had to be quarantined.

THE ARRIVAL OF SHIPS AT GROSSE ÎLE

The doctor assembled the passengers and crew on the upper deck to look for any early symptoms that might indicate disease, such as a fever or rash.

He then examined any sick persons confined to the steerage area or in the ship's infirmary.

Lastly, he determined the state of health on board the ship.

the doctor decided whether to issue the ship the necessary certificate to enter the Port of Québec and let it continue, or place it under quarantine.

THE QUARANTINE STATION

the sick passengers in steerage were taken to the station hospitals.

Passengers who had been in contact with the sick disembarked and were placed under observation for 40 days.

On the island, patients and passengers under observation were separated from each other, and all contact between them was prohibited.

THE QUARANTINE STATION

The Quarantine Act stated that ships which had experienced a disease outbreak had to be disinfected at Grosse Île before being allowed to continue to Québec.

The disinfection process involved the ship and all its contents. Initially, disinfection meant airing the ship and using powerful substances such as sulphur

Passengers were asked to wash themselves and their belongings in the river.

THE DECLINE OF THE GROSSE ÎLE QUARANTINE STATION

Following the First World War, immigration dropped sharply, the costs of operating Grosse Île were high, and there were fewer patients.

Minor contagious diseases were treated at the Hospital in Québec from 1924 onwards.

In 1927, smallpox patients were the last to be treated at the quarantine station.

Its closure was announced in the summer of 1937.

1st class hotel Memorial erected in 1909 in commemoration of the death of Irish immigrants in 1849

THE CROSS

There is a plaque on each of the four sides of the cross. The English plaque reads as follows:

Sacred to the memory of thousands of Irishemigrants who, to preserve the faith,suffered hunger and exile, in 1847-48,and stricken with fever ended here theirsorrowful pilgrimage.Erected by the ancient order of theHibernians in America and dedicatedFeast of the Assumption.(1909)

THE CROSS

The English translation of the Irish Gaelic plaque reads as follows:

Thousands of thechildren of the Gaelwere lost on this islandwhile fleeing fromforeign tyrannical lawsand an artificial faminein the years 1847-1848.God bless them.This stone was erected.to their memory andin honor of them by theGaels of America.God save Ireland.

LIFE AND DEATH IN QUARANTINE

Millions of European immigrants left their families and homelands to start a new life in Canada, where they hoped to realize their dreams and aspirations.

Passengers experienced many conflicting feelings: doubts and fear of the unknown, melancholy and sadness. They became seasick, and worried about dying from illness or being shipwrecked.

Their journeys were made longer by the presence of contagious diseases on board.