The Highland Clearances: Explained (Short Animated Documentary)

The Scottish Highlands used to have a sizeable population. But now they're barely populated at all, so what happened? Well, the Highland Clearances happened, that's what. Find out what that was and who was effected in this simple, short animated history documentary.

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Sources:
Sir William Johnson, Highland Scots, and American Indians by Colin G. Calloway

From Family Roots to the Routes of Empire: National Tales and the Domestication of the Scottish Highlands by Juliet Shields

Highland Migration to Lowland Scotland, 1760-1860 by T. M. Devine

[Robinshaug]

I have probably heard the name James Bissonette more than any historical character by now. Must be a great man.

[jamiealcock]

Why did I expect the sheep to fall and make a thud sound instead of dissappearing?

Its the 1750s and shaun the sheep is dead.

[nonyadamnbusiness]

Interesting side note: Some of these highlanders ended up as traders on the American frontier and married into the tribes of the southeast. Which is why, during the Creek wars, the Chickasaw were lead by Chief Colbert, the Creek by Chief McGillivray and during the Seminole Wars one of the war chiefs was a McIntosh.

[JG-idvi]

My great great grandfather and grandmother where kicked from the Isle of Skye because of this. They settled in Nova Scotia and built a fishing schooner. The men in the family would go fish for Cod up near greenland and the north pole. My great grandmother was a teenager and became the ship's cook.

[anttibjorklund]

"At this point he was only a marquess like some sort of a peasant".

[Joshua-shvr]

There is a pub in the west end of Glasgow, the lismore. In the gents toilets there is an inscription in the urinals that details 3 families who made their wealth through the clearances and invites you to 'pay them the respects they deserve'

[wonk]

this is the true way of learning history

[wildsurfer]

You should also do a video on the Act of Enclosure, which also forced a lot of English people to migrate to industrial cities after being forced off their land during the 18th and 19th centuries too.

[grimmfandango]

Circa 1450 about half of the Scottish population lived in what is now called the highlands. So even the 30% figure mentioned was a transitory figure. Actions such as the Statute of Iona had been affecting the area 2 centuries prior to the Clearances. The Clearances were just the final nail in the coffin.

[rickysteven]

There streets in Glasgow named after some of the clan names. Whole villages moved into a few tenement housing blocks

[fovlsbane]

This makes me quite sad, such a tragic event.

[michaelewing]

Very well informed and balanced video. I live I the highlands of Scotland(Caithness) and we live with the legacy of the clearances every day but it is very rarely spoken about so thank you for bringing up this topic.

[potis]

I just want to say this, you are my favourite history youtuber. Keep up the great content.

[brendanburgess]

"Legally The land was held in common"
OH NO
*Changes law
ANYWAYS

[dissapointingopinions]

Our teacher showed us this video in class today, It felt cool having already watched each of these videos about 5 times each. feels good man.

[themk]

It’s strange living in the highlands. The settlements aren’t old. There are old places and old structures, but when you ask most people where their parents or grandparents came from, they’ll mention somewhere in the lowlands. It’s pretty sad.

We have Ceilidhs though, which can be pretty dope.

[michaelball]

I like how you make these videos as fun, informative and unbiased as possible. Very well done.

[TomorrowWeLive]

I'm a Kiwi of Scottish blood, and even though we always took pride in our Highland ancestry growing up, it wasn't till I was an adult that I leant about the clearances, and found out that many of our ancestors didn't emigrate voluntarily. And the worst thing was that it wasn't the Sassenachs: it was our kin. They did it to their own people.

[TheAuck]

Thank you for making this video, as far as I know my ancestors came to Nova Scotia during the clearance and seeing a video on this is nice.

[kevinmahernz]

Terrific - I knew the Scots emigrated to NZ but didn't really know why beyond "to start a better life"