The Pull-Push Migration Theory

 

Migration is the relocation of individuals from one place to another and it involves a situation where there is the spread of ideas, innovations, and behaviors. The reasons why individuals migrate are based on the push and pull factors, which essentially oblige individuals to move from their current place of residence to others. This is especially considering that these factors involve political, economic, environmental, or cultural ones, which inspire individuals to seek out better opportunities elsewhere. Push factors are situations that are essentially related to instances where individuals are forced to leave their homes, and these are often in relation to the countries from which these individuals migrate. Pull factors, on the other hand, involve the direct opposite of push factors because they are the conditions that attract individuals to certain locations. This paper will be making an analysis how the push-pull migration theory explains the movement from Europe to America in the 1600s.

Political

One of the most significant factors that involved the migration of Europeans to America in the 17^th century was political. This is important because it shows that some of these individuals were forced to migrate because of some push factors that made their lives in Europe unbearable. Among the most important of these was that those who migrated did so in order to avoid the religious persecution that they faced in their home countries. They sought to ensure that they lived in a manner that they believed was right for them rather than being forced to conform to the rules or religion that were imposed on them at home. In addition, migrants sought to make sure that they escaped the increasingly autocratic or absolutist forms of monarchies that had emerged in Europe following the Middle Ages. These had denied people a considerable number of their rights and had ended up making some of them to essentially become a people without basic rights and freedoms in their own lands (Campbell, 2015). Therefore, the move to America was a pull factor because it provided these individuals with an opportunity to start over in an environment that was far from the political and religious persecutions that they had encountered in their home countries. In this situation, the push and pull factors of migration worked hand in hand to mitigate increasingly unbearable political and religious situation in the migrants’ home countries which made their lives difficult. They instead provided these individuals with an opportunity to restart their lives away from their fears.

Economic

Changes that were occurring in the economy of Europe at the time also inspired some individuals to choose to migrate to America. The European economy was in transition from a feudal one to one that was based on capitalism, and these changes had led to a situation where a considerable number of people ended up not having employment opportunities. Despite many of them leaving the rural areas to cities in order to find jobs, their lives did not get any better and in fact, many of them experienced a considerable reduction in their quality of life. The bad life conditions ended up becoming the push factors that made them want to migrate to America, because this was considered a new and untamed land that could provide them with the opportunities that they missed in Europe. America functioned as a pull factor because the land itself was rich in natural resources, and it also inspired some individuals to believe that it was a place that had a lot of gold and other valuable metals that could make one instantly rich. Such dreams of swift wealth inspired individuals to want to leave Europe and this ensured that a lot of Europeans went to America in order to attain their ambitions (Kulikoff, 2014, p.9). The desire to have the same quality of life as the members of the nobility in Europe inspired a considerable number of individuals to migrate to America where they believed they would be able to make their dreams come true.

Environmental

Environmental factors also contributed to the migration of people from Europe to America in the 17^th century. During this period, most of the natural environment on the continent had essentially been destroyed because of the considerable population pressure. The remaining parts of the natural environment, especially forests and wildlife had been put into the private hands of the nobility and this was to such an extent that if anyone outside of this class was caught hunting in these private preserves, they would be severely punished. The severe depletion of natural resources because of the massive population that had developed, as well as the numerous conflicts that took place on the continent ensured that individuals had a push factor to migrate. The push factor, on the other hand, was the vast and untouched forests and wildlife that could be found in America. These were able to attract individuals because in the colonies that had been established in the Americas, they were free to make sure that they hunted as much as they wanted while at the same time having access to such resources as timber that they could make use of without having to obtain the permission of the local lord (McCusker & Menard, 2014, p.314). American promised to have a capacity to support those individuals who were willing to migrate from Europe; meaning that they were inspired to move away from their home nations because the desire to take advantage of the massive space promised by America.

Conclusion

The push-pull migration theory is extremely pertinent in explaining the reasons behind why individuals sought to migrate from Europe to America in the 1600s. This theory is important because it shows the various factors, including environmental, cultural, political, and economic factors that influenced these individuals to want to move from their homelands to a new place that was completely unknown. Therefore, the diversity of factors that are involved in the push-pull migration theory have shown the manner through which Europeans ended up seeking to enhance the quality of their lives through moving to America; a place that had attributes that they could no longer find in Europe.