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Island’s Migration : Azores and Madeira Islands ‘s Case, 1850-1900
| Since the middle of the 20th century, the History of the island’s importance started to be more relevant and more studied for historians whose research’s topics concerned the Atlantic World. Following this tendency, my PhD project focuses on the Portuguese Atlantic islands (especially the Madeira archipelago) and stresses the investigation of international migratory movements and population control measures, what gains special relevance in a country known by the centenary diaspora of its people.
In this sense, the development of my PhD dissertation is emphasizing the different impact of migratory movements (and growth control) on the insular society on the second half of the 19th century through the systematic analysis of documents from parish and civil registers, from migration control and passports registers, from Portuguese national census etc.
Given, in the nineteenth century, the demographic pressure, the demands of industrialization, and the revolution occurring in the domains of transportation and the economic developments of the new continents, Europe saw not only a development, but also an acceleration of migratory movements, which influenced the evolution of populations. Portuguese emigration fits directly into such movements, which constituted, in the economic and social context from 1870 to 1930, a valve that lessened the social tensions and the risks of reinforcing the union movement in worker and peasant milieu. Despite their relatively small size and population, the islands of Madeira and Azores nonetheless represented the bulk of the Portuguese diaspora.
Based on the results of my research achieved until now, I would like to propose a paper that will explore the Portuguese insular migration in such European context of the late 19th century.
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