Transatlantic migration refers to the movement of people across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

in order to settle on the continents of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

America. It usually refers to migrations after

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

' voyage to the Americas in 1492. For earlier

Transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

s, see:

Norse colonization of North America The exploration of North America by Norsemen began in the late 10th century. Voyages from Iceland reached Greenland and founded colonies along its western coast. Norse settlements on Greenland lasted almost 500 years, and the population peaked a ...

and

Theory of Phoenician discovery of the Americas The theory of Phoenician discovery of the Americas suggests that the earliest Old World Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, contact with the Americas was not with Christopher Columbus, Columbus or Norse colonization of North America, Norse settle ...

16th to 18th century

*The

European colonization of the Americas During the Age of Discovery, a large scale colonization of the Americas, involving a number of European countries, took place primarily between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. The Norse explored and colonized areas of Europe a ...

—from 1836 to 1914, over 30 million Europeans migrated to the United States. *The Puritan migration to New England *The

forced migration Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displaceme ...

of Africans: See Slave trade and

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

*The

Spanish colonization of the Americas The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoa, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella ...

19th century onward

Among the various transatlantic migrations, the period of time between the mid-19th century to the early 20th century marks the “Age of Mass Migration” where 40% of U.S. population growth was due to the inflow of immigrants. Economic theory sought to explain, however, if immigrants were positively or negatively selected from the sending pool into the United States.

Ingrid Semmingsen Ingrid Elisabeth Semmingsen (29 March 1910 in Hamar, Hedmark – 31 May 1995) was a Norway, Norwegian historian. Appointed as a professor at the University of Oslo in 1963, she was the first female professor of history in Norway. Personal life S ...

in her book, ''Norway to America: a History of the Migration'', wrote “Many have asked if it was the more capable, the more enterprising and energetic persons who left, or if it was those who fell behind in the struggle for bread, the losers, the maladjusted, and the deviant” in reference to the composition of those who migrated into the United States. The

Roy Model The Roy model is one of the earliest works in economics on self-selection due to A. D. Roy. The basic model considers two types of workers that choose occupation in one of two sectors. Original model Roy's original paper deals with workers select ...

of comparative advantage suggests that where there are higher wages for skilled workers in one location, the most able will migrate to that country and earn that income. Moreover, if there are higher wages for unskilled workers in one location, the least able will leave their own country and migrate to earn that income. As a result of the improvements in transportation after the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, long-distance migrations increased in the 19th century. For example, the duration of the Atlantic passage fell from 5 weeks (1725) to one week (1900). In addition, the length of indentured servitude necessary to pay for the fare decreased from 4 years to approximately 4 weeks, substantially decreasing one of the main deterrents for making the trek. Between 1846 and 1940, some 55 million migrants moved from Europe to America. 65% went to the United States. Other major receiving countries were Argentina, Canada, Brazil and Uruguay. Also, 2.5 million Asians migrated to the Americas, mostly to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

(where they worked as

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as paymen ...

s in plantations) and some, notably the Japanese, to Brazil and the USA.

References

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16th to 18th century

19th century onward

See also

References

Further reading