Push/pull factors

Humans have been migrating for thousands of years. You might remember that the earliest modern humans date back 200,000 years to Ethiopia. In the first migration, humans entered the Eurasian landmass and then moved along the coast to India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Scientists aren’t sure exactly why our early ancestors left Africa about 60,000 years ago. Most likely, sudden climate changes were the main factor.

How long have humans been migrating?

• 2,000 years

• about 200,000 years

• about 60,000 years

• 1,000 years

A push factor is an aspect of a country that might “push” people away. Push factors can be based on the environment, culture, economy and/or politics.

Environmental push factors include severe weather and natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes. War and unstable governments are examples of political push factors while unemployment, or lack of jobs, is an economic push factor.

In Syria, a terrible drought from 2006 to 2009 led thousands of farmers to move in search of work.

What kind of push factor was the drought?

• environmental and economic

• environmental and political

• political and economic

• political only

While push factors push people from their homes, pull factors pull people to new locations. Better education or medical care, family ties, or a fondness for a particular place are all reasons that might attract a person to a new home.

Like push factors, pull factors are based on the environment, culture, economy, or politics. A family might move to eastern France to take advantage of the climate and landscape near the Alps, along mountain range in Europe. This family would be pulled by an environmental factor.

Which of these describes immigration due to a political pull factor?

• People leaving Eastern Europe in the 1940s when communist governments took hold of their countries

• People coming to the US in the 1940s because they were drawn to the democratic government.

• People moving to Northern California because they are drawn to the mild weather.

• People leaving Chicago because of the cold and snowy winters.

Don’t get confused! The terms immigrant and emigrant can refer to the same person. An easy way to remember it is to look at the first letters of the words. An emigrant exits and an immigrant moves into. If a German woman left her home in Berlin, she emigrated from Germany. If she settled in London, she immigrated to England. A migrant is a person who moves but might not be planning a permanent relocation.

Chani left Israel and moved to France when she was 18. Chani is an

• an emigrant from Israel and an immigrant to France.

• immigrant to Israel and an emigrant from France.

• immigrant to Israel and France

• emigrant from Israel and France.

When Europeans came to what would become the US, there were people already living there. In fact, Native American tribes had been living on the land for thousands of years. Nonetheless, settlers often tried to expand their territory and clashed with the Native Americans who called that land home.

In 1830, the US government passed the Indian Removal Act. This law allowed President Jackson to negotiate land treaties with the Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Though it was supposed to be a voluntary migration, when nations resisted, Jackson forced them to leave. The Seminole who stayed on their land were met by US military. Thousands died in years of violence known as the Seminole Wars. In 1838, the US government forced the Cherokee nation to give up their land. The Cherokees' forced migration west is known today as the Trail of Tears. Many Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease before they arrived.

Which of these best describes the outcome of the Indian Removal Act?

• the voluntary migration of Native American tribes

• the forced migration of Native American tribes

• a seasonal migration of settlers to the West

• a war between the Seminole and the Cherokee

Today, there are an estimated 16 million refugees in the world. Major refugee populations include Palestinians, Afghans, Iraqis, Somalis, Congolese, Sudanese and Myanmarese. From 2012-2015, roughly 120,000 Rohingya refugees fled their country by boat. The Rohingya are Muslims living mainly in Myanmar (formerly Burma). They face continued discrimination and violence due to their ethnicity. Myanmar denies the Rohingya Muslims citizenship, freedom to travel, and education. Many neighboring countries, including Thailand and Malaysia, have turned these refugees away fearing overcrowding and social issues. In May 2015, thousands of Rohingya refugees were stranded at sea as a result.

How many refugees are in the world today?

• about 120,000

• about 1,000

• about 16 million

• about 10 million

It’s estimated that 40% of all current US citizens have an ancestor who passed through Ellis Island in New York Harbor. This federal immigration station was open between 1892 and 1954. Third-class passengers—those who could not afford more expensive tickets to the US—had to pass medical and legal inspections at Ellis Island before being allowed into the country

Many immigrants at this time came from Russia and eastern Europe, escaping war, drought, famine and religious persecution. Shira and her family left Russia due to violent attacks against the Jews known as pogroms.

The Statue of Liberty, located on Ellis Island, would have been the first sign of arrival for Shira and many immigrants like her. In 1903, Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus” was engraved on a bronze plaque at the base of Lady Liberty. The poem ends with these famous lines:

...Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

The poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty is best described as expressing

• a welcome to immigrants.

• a threat to foreign governments.

• something meaningless but beautiful.

• greed and selfishness.

Pull factors are....

• good things that draw a person to another country.

• reasons that drive a person out of their country

• reasons people leave an area

Brian is a part of the Tutsi people group in Rwanda that is treated very badly, often killed for being who they are.

• Push factor

• Pull factor

All across Europe, there were huge crop failures in 1846 and 1847. Many farmers in Europe could not pay for their land.

• Push factor

• Pull factor