The encouragement of emigration by British trade unions, 1850–1900

Abstract

Summary During the nineteenth century periodic fluctuations in industrial activity, strikes and lock-outs which accompanied the struggle of unions for recognition, and the ever increasing consciousness of the industrial worker that one serious trade setback could wipe out the savings of his lifetime, were important ‘pushes’ to emigration from the United Kingdom. The British trade unions responded to this ‘push’ from their own members and from thousands of unorganized workers for relief through emigration. Contrary to the statements of historians of the English trade-union movement, emigration was not a project of British trade unions in the 1850 decade only; in fact, most of the unions in England's basic industries, mining, iron, textiles and engineering, as well as in many other smaller industries such as glass, cutlery and the building trades, looked upon emigration as necessary to improve the standard of life of the English workers. This viewpoint was natural to the ‘New Unionists’ of the 1850's, who a...