Trade Union Sponsorship of UK Labour Migration to the United States 1850s to 1880s

“This (book) corrects and supersedes the classic works of Clements and Erickson in a number of important respects, and thus presents the most thorough and accurate account of the issue to date… this is an important revision to the over-emphasis in the historical literature on strikes and other forms of industrial conflict, and thus contributes to a more balanced picture of British trade unions as voluntary associations run genuinely in the interests of their members… significant new light is thrown on the range of motives for emigration.”
-Dr. Alastair J. Reid
Girton College, Cambridge

“In his new book Stephen Murray makes a fresh and penetrating contribution to this history of British trade unions and migration to America. Murray distinguishes his work by taking in both sides of the Atlantic for close inspection through extensive primary sources… Murray sheds new light on the perennial and complex questions surrounding British assimilation and acculturation into American life.”
-Dr. William E. Van Vugt,
Calvin College

“This is a well-written, well-researched, monograph on organized union migrations from Britain to America… The subject is important; no such study exists; and the work is original and scholarly… a very significant amount of archive material has been deployed and a great deal fo work has gone into marshalling the evidence, often into tables. The writing is clear and the structure intelligent.”
-Dr. Donald M. MacRaild,
Professor of British and Irish History,
University of Ulster, Ireland

“Murray herein advances scholarship in a very specific and incisive way in terms of building upon archival, printed and oral material on UK craft union emigration schemes to the USA during the period addressed. What injects life into the subject is the portrayal of those complexities surrounding the deeply personal experiences of such emigrants… and is thus the definitive contemporary analysis of the subject matter.”
-Dr. Glen Reynolds,
University of Sunderland, UK

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations
List of Tables, Charts and Diagrams Abstract
Foreword by Alastair J Reid
Preface
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
The Schemes
The Migration Activity
New Life vs. Old
CHAPTER 1
THE EMIGRATION SCHEMES: TRADE UNION RATIONALE AND CO-OPERATION
Introduction
Trade Union Commitment and Rationale
The Societies and their Interaction
Conclusion
CHAPTER 2
THE EMIGRATION SCHEMES
Introduction
The Friendly Society of Iron Founders
The Amalgamated Society of Engineers
The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters, Cabinetmakers and Joiners
The Steam Engine Makers’ Society
Conclusion
CHAPTER 3
THE END OF THE SCHEMES
Introduction
North American Legislation
Anti-immigration Legislation, Co-operation and the Growth of Racism
Contract Labour, the Growth of Nativism and US Labor Union Opposition
The End of the Schemes and the Onset of International Solidarity
Conclusion
CHAPTER 4
THE TRAMP
Introduction
Migration - The Rationale
The Iron Founders
The Engineers
The Migrants
Bury
After the Official End
Conclusion
CHAPTER 5
ASSIMILATION AND ACCULTURATION- Part 1
Introduction
The Fall River Project- Terms of Reference and Methodological Limitations
Focus Group-Selection and Structure
The Findings
Language and Accent
Religious Affiliation
Food and Cuisine
Irish Immigration
French-Canadian Immigration
Inter-Marriage
The Immigrant Community or ‘Ghetto’
Conclusion
CHAPTER 6
ASSIMILATION AND ACCULTURATION- Part 2
Introduction
Communications and Assimilation
Immigrant Societies, Kinship Networks, Chain Migration and the British Club
Occupational and Social Mobility
John Snaith’s Group
Ancestral Pride, Inheritance and Nationality
Transilients, Desertion and Tourists
Conclusion
CHAPTER 7
THE FALL RIVER BRANCH
Introduction
The Influx
The Turmoil of the Seventies
The Mill Strikes- 1875 and 1879
Social and Living Conditions

The ASE Branch, 1873-1879 Conclusion
CHAPTER 8
RETURN MIGRATION
Introduction
Problems of Definition
The Database
The Analysis

Poor Administration First-Time Emigrants
Transilients
The Return Migrants
Conclusion
CONCLUSIONS
LIST OF APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

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