Push and Pull Factors for Immigration to the Us
Push and Pull Factors for Immigration to the Us
Often, when discussing Immigration, you will find there are many reasons for Immigration to happend. There are always “Push” factors that encourage and motivate people to leave the place they live, where their family may have lived for centuries. Also there are “Pull” factors that draw people to leave everything they have ever known in search of something better. That was certainly the case with the Immigration of people from the British Isles moving to North America in the early 17th century.
We’ll start by discussing some of the “Push” factors that might have drove some people out of England in the early 17th century. Imagine living in a place like England in the 1500 to 1600’s. I’m talking about a place where there is a major Price Revolution going on. A place where food prices rise 695%, where Rents on property that families have worked for hundreds of years rise 900%. Interest rates rise from 15% to 57%, making it hard for anyone to borrow money. All of these contributing factors then lead to very high unemployment rates. Many people being evicted from their land for failure to pay their rent are homeless, which in turn leads to overpopulation of bigger cities with people who are moving there to look for work. Next there is an increase in the use of consciousness changing substances, mainly alcohol. So now you have broke, homeless, unemployed people roaming the streets drunk everywhere. So the crime rate increases at a rapid rate, starting with poaching then getting worse with more violent crimes like theft and robbery.
Imagine on top of all of this, your King has a county in chaos, and this Puritan group of religious fanatics led by some guy named Cromwell starts a Civil war. So in January of 1649 the King is executed and the Monarchy that has ruled for centuries is abolished , a new government is established that outlaws almost everything and radical religious practices are instituted all over England . Now by radical I mean everyone must attend