Theme 3 c 2 - The impact of WW2 and New Commonwealth Immigration

Question 1

Why was Britain known as the benign ‘mother country’?

Answer 1

Known by the Empire’s subjects.

As in need of colonies aid.

Question 2

How many men from the Caribbean were employed by factories in Lancashire and Merseyside?

Answer 2

1,200

Question 3

1,200 men from the Caribbean were employed in which two factories?

Answer 3

Lancashire and Merseyside

Question 4

How many Caribbean men joined the RAF?

Answer 4

Between 6,000 and 10,000

Question 5

How many Black African men served in the British forces?

Answer 5

500,000 men

Question 6

By 1945 how large was the Indian Army?

Answer 6

2 million men.

It was the largest multi-ethnic volunteer army the world had ever seen.

Question 7

Give examples of when Black People faces discrimination in WW2

Answer 7

• Some Caribbean workers refused work in factories due to ‘cultural differences’ with white workers
• Promotions for Black and Asian soldiers were rare
• Considerable social pressure against black men marrying white women

Question 8

Year - American military arrival

Answer 8

1942

Question 9

Explain how the American army was segregated during WW2

Answer 9

Racially segregated, black and white soldiers lived in separate segregation and fought different battalions.

The American even tried to for Britain to do it so the segregated and unsegregated never fought together.

Question 10

Give an example of when British Businesses used the US Army’s segregation to enforce a colour bar.

Answer 10

Renowned cricketer Learie Constantine was refused accommodation in London’s Imperial Hotel in 1944 on the grounds that write American guests did not want to stay in a hotel that served black people.

Question 11

Which cricketer was refused accommodation in London’s Imperial Hotel due to his race?

Answer 11

Learie Constantine 1944

on the grounds that write American guests did not want to stay in a hotel that served black people.

Question 12

State three reasons WW2 had a series of important consequences for British government policies.

Answer 12

• The war effort
• Ongoing racism
• New opportunities

Question 13

What service was offered to all ex-servicemen after WW2?

Answer 13

Education.

This accepted all recent migrants; black and Asian alike.

Question 14

what happened after Learie Constantine’s lawsuit?

Answer 14

He refused accommodation in London’s Imperial Hotel in 1944 on the grounds that write American guests did not want to stay in a hotel that served black people.

Government officials welcomed his legal victory against Imperial Hotel and this victory established black Britons as having equal rights to white Britons

Question 15

What did British Labour shortages mean for migrants?

Answer 15

Provided an opportunity for migrants from across the Empire to earn money.

Question 16

Year - British Nationality Act

Answer 16

1948

Question 17

What did the British Nationality Act do?

Answer 17

Created new legal rights for people in British colonies to enter the UK.

Question 18

What where two features that led to waves of migration after WW2?

Answer 18

• British Nationality Act

- Labour shortages

Question 19

Date - SS Empire Windrush arrival

Answer 19

June 1948

Question 20

What was the boat that brought Jamaican people to Britain?

Answer 20

SS Empire Windrush

Question 21

What was the SS Empire Windrush

Answer 21

Brought 492 Jamaican people to Britain.

This is often celebrated as the beginning of mass migration.

Question 22

How many Jamaican people were brought to Britain in the SS Empire Windrush?

Answer 22

492

Question 23

How did the estimated migrant population of Caribbean people change in the ‘new commonwealth’?

Answer 23

1939 - 8,600

1949 - 133,000

1959 - 173,000

Question 24

What is the commonwealth?

Answer 24

An international organisation created in 1949.

Made up of countries that were once part of the British Empire. They are regarded to be ‘free and equal’.

Question 25

Year - Commonwealth was founded

Answer 25

1949

Question 26

What are the two types of commonwealth country?

Answer 26

• Old commonwealth

- New commonwealth

Question 27

What is the old commonwealth?

Answer 27

Countries formerly part of the British Empire with predominantly white populations eg. Australian and Canada

Question 28

What is the ‘new commonwealth’?

Answer 28

Countries formerly part of the British Empire with a predominantly black or Asian population. Eg. Jamaica, Guana or India.

Question 29

Which Guyanese entrepreneur opened night clubs in London?

Answer 29

Mr Mooksang

Question 30

Who was a very famous Jamaican DJ during the 1950s?

Answer 30

DJ Wilbert Augustus Campell

Question 31

Who was Wilbert Augustus Campell?

Answer 31

Famous Jamaican DJ during the 1950s.

Playing Jamaican ska and reggae under the stage name Count Suckle in nightclubs such as Paddington’s Q Club and the Roaring Twenties in Londons West End,

Question 32

State three famous non-white entertainers after the Windrush landing

Answer 32

Mr Mooksang

DJ Wilbert Augustus Campell

Frank Crichlow

Question 33

Who was Frank Crichlow?

Answer 33

Established the restaurant ‘El Rio’ in the late 1950s.

One of the first Caribean restaurants in London.

Question 34

How many Caribbean people were recruited by the NHS between 1948-54?

Answer 34

3,000 nurses

Question 35

What did the British Government do to try and prevent immigration?

Answer 35

Put pressure on governments in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia to restrict the availability of passports.

Question 36

Why were racist ideas of repatriation and limits of ‘coloured’ immigration rejected?

Answer 36

Fear of damaging Britain’s International Reputation

Question 37

List 5 key things that white British people objected to for Black and Asian people

Answer 37

• Buying houses
• Claiming welfare benefits
• Getting jobs
• Committing a crime
• behaving in ways that reflected ‘cultural differences’

Question 38

When White Racism was discussed in the cabinet what did Lord Salsbury think of the matter?

Answer 38

At Leader of the House of Lords, he argued that action against discrimination would make Britain more attractive to ‘coloured’ immigrants and therefore the government should not intervene to combat racism.

Question 39

Why was there uneven discrimination faced by the Commonwealth migrants?

Answer 39

Assumed that only white people were British and therefore only white people gad the rights to national benefits and housing.

This was therefore unbalanced as it focused on the New commonwealth not the old from places like Australia.

Question 40

What did Satnam Virdee argue about the cause of the colour bar?

Answer 40

The period following WW2, Unions, employers and the government worked together in an unprecedented way to enforce the ‘colour bar’.

Question 41

What proportion of jobs had to go to the white people in the 1950s?

Answer 41

95% enforced by a quota system

Question 42

Why did white Transport workers go on strike during 1955?

Answer 42

There was a breach in the 5% rule in Wolverhampton.

This meant that more than 5% of the jobs were taken by black people.

Question 43

State 4 causes for white violence against new immigrants

Answer 43

• Black and Asian men dating or marrying white women often subject to the beatings by white men.
• Anger at the loss of British Colonies was expressed by violent actions against black and Asian people, who were perceived as representatives of the people who had rejected British Rule.
• Black and Asian people were blamed for social and economic problems.
• Police officers were more likely to prosecute crime against black and Asian people.

Question 44

Year - Notting Hill riots

Answer 44

1958

Question 45

Explain the story of the Notting Hill riots

Answer 45

In late August and early September 1958.

Over several nights between 300-700 white men armed with iron bars, knives and heavy leather belts beat the black residents of Notting Hill, attacked their homes and businesses.

The crowd shouted slogans like ‘we will kill the blacks’ ‘Keep Britain White!’.

Police did little to stop and therefore the black community organised its own defence.

Question 46

How many white men attacked in the Notting Hill riots?

Answer 46

300-700