I've done a fairly decent amount of research of my family tree and have a lot of numbers and data surrounding the when and where of their immigration, but I'd like to understand more about the world they lived in and what events (obviously WWI) would have pushed them to leave their homes for the United States, and in some cases, travel back to Lebanon.
I'll give the dates and places of immigration, and a bit of context below. I'm interested in events generally during the period but also as potential catalysts for migration.
Events are as accurate as the information I have. All persons deceased for between 40 and 70 years. And because my understanding is that religious affiliation may be contextually important, unless otherwise noted, they were all members of the Syrian Orthodox (modern Antiochian Orthodox) church. I don't know if where they settled in the US is of any consequence but they're included in case it's relevant.
In July 1903, a young married couple, left Koubba for the United States. They passed through New York City and settled in Cleveland. Between 1905 and 1910, they had three sons. In 1911, after the birth of the fourth son, the older three were sent back to Koubba "for schooling" as they tell it in my family. The three of them would not return to the United States until January of 1921 (passing through NYC) with emergency passports issued only by the sworn affidavit of a family friend(?) that attested they were American-born and citizens of the United States. I'd like to know more about what their lives in Koubba would have been like at the time and what the trip would have been like for a 15, 13 and 11-year old.
In 1920, a married father of two left his family in Kfarhata for the United States. He would settle in Akron, Ohio and would not reunite with his wife and children until the end of 1926 when they arrived in the US, passing through Rhode Island. His daughter, when asked about Lebanon in her later years would comment that there wasn't enough food.
In 1904, barely 18, a Maronite would leave Rayak for Norton, Virginia. His older brother would follow in 1908, settling in Rochester, New York and their youngest brother, would emigrate in either 1914 or 1919 (or both), passing through New York City, and living in Gladeville, Virginia before settling in Connecticut.
It might be worth cross posting this to somewhere like /r/Lebanon. The Lebanese, as I'm sure you know, have a habit of keeping track of the local histories and identities of every town, village and hamlet of the country. For that kind of local history you might want to consult the experts as it were :)
That being said, I can add some general comments:
unless otherwise noted, they were all members of the Syrian Orthodox (modern Antiochian Orthodox) church
In this regard they were typical. Virtually all Lebanese and Syrian migrants to the United States in this period were Christian, though Maronites predominated.
His daughter, when asked about Lebanon in her later years would comment that there wasn't enough food.
Certainly an understatement. The entire levant in 1915 suffered from plagues of locusts that devastated that years crops. Ottoman territories were also subject to blockade. This was further exacerbated by Ottoman policies. The Ottomans confiscated local property and goods as required but in an unsystematized way that resulted in both abuse and mass wastage, also banned shipments of food from the interior to the coast. The territory of Mount Lebanon, i.e. the entirety of this area but excluding Beirut, was actually exempt from military conscription, but that meant that men who were subject to conscription fled to the mountain. Ottoman attempts to regulate their way out of these problems failed.
The result was mass famine. Roughly half of the population of Mount Lebanon would die during the war from the famine.