Factors causing westward migration
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can recall that westward migration between the 16th and 17th century was caused by economic resources and religious persecution, as well as other factors.
Key learning points
- Economic interests were a strong motivation for the creation of English colonies.
- Enslaved people were forcibly transported to the Americas from West Africa in order to increase profits in the colonies.
- Religious persecution was an important reason for migration during the 16th and 17th centuries.
- Migration during this time had a profound impact on national identities in America, Ireland and Scotland.
Keywords
Enslaved people - people who have been forced to work without pay, lose their freedom and become the property of another person; sources often refer to them as slaves
Colony - a country or area under control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country
Migration - the movement of people into a new area or country
Common misconception
Westward migration always refers to migration to the Americas.
Westward migration also includes the migration of Protestant settlers from Great Britain to Ulster.
Teacher tip
Encourage students to create a revision page for each of the factors which they add to periodically with examples from the events that they have been studying. This will enable them to have a variety of examples of each factor from a variety of different time periods.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word describes a member of the Western Church who does not recognise the pope as its head?
Q2.Put the following events in chronological order.
Q3.What were the consequences of the Ulster Plantations?
Q4.What was one of the main causes of the Highland Clearances?
Q5.What types of jobs were Highlanders forced into during the first phase of the Highland Clearances?
Q6.Where did many Highlanders migrate to during the second stage of the Highland Clearances?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word describes the movement of people into a new area or country?
Q2.Which word describes a country or area under control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country?
Q3.How much did Britain generate from the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the secondary industries that benefitted from the trade?
Q4.Match the reason for migration to the migrant group.
enslaved Africans, Highlanders and Islanders of Scotland
Puritans and other non conformists groups, Huguenots
Gaelic people of Ireland and Scotland
Q5.Roughly how many Puritans migrated to the American colonies between 1630 and 1641?
Q6.Which of the following advances in science and technology made the colonisation of North America possible?
To help you plan your 10 history lesson on: Factors causing westward migration, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 history lesson on: Factors causing westward migration, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the Britain: Migration, empires and the people - c790 to the present day unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.