Voyagers to the West Chapter Summary & Analysis - Book 2, Chapter 5 Identities and Motivations: The Dual Emigration Summary

Book 2, Chapter 5 Identities and Motivations: The Dual Emigration Summary

The ages of the emigrants tended to concentrate around the ages of 20-24. Over a third of emigrants from England fell in this range and over a fifth of Scots did as well. Almost two-thirds of all British emigrants were between the ages of 14 and 30. As this concentration was markedly different from the overall percentage of British citizens and from the population of the American colonies, where over half of the free population was under the age of 21, Bailyn argues that this phenomenon must have shaped the ways that the emigrants entered American life.

Of the 8,613 emigrants whose sex was registered, about three-fourths were males, although the pattern differed between England and Scotland. There were almost two-thirds more women who emigrated from Scotland than from England. When age is figured into this account, it shows that emigration was more balanced in age and sex from Scotland...
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