For the last one hundred years, the Armenian people have existed as a diaspora spread around the world. This is due to the fact that in 1915 the Ottoman Empire began a campaign with the intention of ethnically cleansing the nation of all Other. The Armenians have long held a position of “Otherness” in the world. Being a Christian people in a Muslim empire, sharing a religion but not a cultural history with a northern neighbor, and appearing white but having traits of the “Oriental” has made the Armenian people exist are cultural and racial borderlands.
In this paper, I am going to look at the migration of Armenians from the Ottoman Empire to Western Europe, with a focus on the United States, between the years of 1890 and 1915. In a time …show more content…
The Ottoman Empire had a long history of migrant workers within its borders. Every year Kurds and Armenians would travel to more coastal regions to do seasonal labor. The Ottoman economy depended on this highly mobile workforce. (Gutman 177) The problem arose when migrant workers started looking beyond the empire 's borders of work at higher paying jobs in the western world. In an attempt to stop the loss of their workers to foreign employers the Ottomans expanded upon their internal passport …show more content…
As a result, massacres of Christian Armenians began in the Ottoman interior in 1894. By the end of 1895, it is estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 Armenians had died in the massacres so far. (Wilson 30) Meanwhile, in the United States, word of the tragedies was reaching newspapers through telegraphs from missionaries in the area. (Wilson 32) The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) had been sending missionaries to the Ottoman Empire since 1819. (Wilson 30) All of this resulted in missionaries being the main source of information on the ground for the public as well as
In this paper, I am going to look at the migration of Armenians from the Ottoman Empire to Western Europe, with a focus on the United States, between the years of 1890 and 1915. In a time …show more content…
The Ottoman Empire had a long history of migrant workers within its borders. Every year Kurds and Armenians would travel to more coastal regions to do seasonal labor. The Ottoman economy depended on this highly mobile workforce. (Gutman 177) The problem arose when migrant workers started looking beyond the empire 's borders of work at higher paying jobs in the western world. In an attempt to stop the loss of their workers to foreign employers the Ottomans expanded upon their internal passport …show more content…
As a result, massacres of Christian Armenians began in the Ottoman interior in 1894. By the end of 1895, it is estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 Armenians had died in the massacres so far. (Wilson 30) Meanwhile, in the United States, word of the tragedies was reaching newspapers through telegraphs from missionaries in the area. (Wilson 32) The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) had been sending missionaries to the Ottoman Empire since 1819. (Wilson 30) All of this resulted in missionaries being the main source of information on the ground for the public as well as