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Reasons for European Emigration to America

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Reasons for European Emigration to America

Emigration is act or the process of leaving or moving from your own home country or

land and go to settle in a different country permanently and seeking residency in the later country

without the thought of ever coming back to your home land or country. There are so many

reasons that push people to leave their home countries to get settlement in other countries which

may be political or personal. European emigration to America was due to so many reasons that

ranged from political, religion, economical to personal reasons that led to mass emigration. The

group of people from Europe who were pushed by certain factors which were beyond them

decided to move to America for a change and some relief in their lifestyle. The paper will discuss

some of the reasons that made people to migrate from Europe to America during the colonial

period.

Political and Religious discontent

Religious conflicts and discrimination against ethnic minority in Europe was common

and religious dissenters were persecuted which made people to migrate to America. In America

religion was more cherished which attracted more missionaries. At some point the Catholics

suffered a minority group since they were in a foreign land where they did not belong to and

even the neighboring land owners viewed them as outcasts. Therefore, it led to them being

mistreated and even some of them being killed. Besides, the political leaders did not offer

adequate protection to them, which encouraged them to immigrate to the United States.

Political instability in Europe also contributed to emigration to America. Civil

equalization and political freedom were not widely understood in the continent of Europe. Many

Europeans believed or rather found out that so many doctrines that were not well documented in

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Europe were well in place in the America. Therefore, the US was a conducive place that realized

and accepted their ideas. The parliament in Europe at some point decided to equalize all the

individuals who were living there. As a result, a bill was tabled in parliament to remove a clause

where people who were protected were to lose the privileges. The passing of the Reform Bill

removed the privileges and favors, which made people to move out of Europe as there was no

benefit. War between Prussia and Alsace-Lorraine also contributed to migration due to political

instability which was being experienced as at that time.

Personal Reasons/Class Rule

Some people migrated to the America for adventure purpose and for the love of change

of environment. European people decided to change their environment due to some personal

reasons such as economic difficulties, domestic infelicity, altered surroundings, or home

bereavement. The serene environment and developed infrastructure in the US during the colonial

period made it a destination country for most people. As a result, people moved from Europe to

America to improve their exposure to the world by seeing some of the features that lacked in

Europe.

Economic Issues

Immigrants decided to move away from their home countries in Europe in search of

better paying jobs with low taxes as was not the case in their country and also education

opportunity. There were adverse conditions at Europe characterized by poor crop yield,

inadequate agricultural land, inadequate job opportunities and poor paying jobs which attracted

higher taxes. Besides, some European countries had hash climate that brought about drought.

There was a lot of starvation due to lack of enough produce to support the population. The larger

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population was living in starvation as the crop production was poor due to famine and the

produce were not enough to cater for the population.

Conclusion

Conclusively, political and religion discontent, economic issues, and personal reasons are

the main factors that brought about European immigration to America during the colonial times.

All the factors contributed equally to immigration and the American government had a soft spot

for the immigrants by granting the permanent residency in their country and providing a

conducive living environment to them.