Basque women and urban migration in the 19th century

Abstract

A study of reconstituted families reveals that in the 19th century, Basque women from propertied families appear to have migration patterns different from their brothers and from sharecroppers' daughters. When these women could not inherit the family property or marry an heir in the village, they frequently chose the urban option rather than emigration to America, often remained single, mainly took unskilled jobs, and returned to the villages of their birth upon retirement. Those who married in the cities did so to maintain or improve their social status through endogamous or exogamous marriages. Examples of differing Basque inheritance practices among the moderately wealthy – the traditional firstborn versus one of the younger siblings of either sex – are offered. The case study of S–M family illustrates women's rural and urban migration trends over three generations.

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