The Great Migration The Causes From 1900 onward

The Great Migration

The Causes • From 1900 onward, many African Americans moved out of the rural South and into Northern cities. • Between 1916 and 1970, six million black Southerners moved to cities in the North and West.

The Push Factors • Life in the South was a nightmare: • Sharecropping • Jim Crow laws • the KKK • lynch mobs

The Pull Factors • The No. 1 reason: J. O. B. S. During World War One, war-time jobs opened up. • More opportunity: Higher wages, better housing, better schools, and the right to vote. • Northern cities offered libraries, museums, theaters, night school for adults. • These opportunities were off-limits or unavailable in the South.

World War I • The first wave of the Great Migration began in 1916, just before the U. S. entered World War I. • Northern industries hired black workers for the first time. Why? • When World War I began, government orders began and immigration came to a halt. • With no immigrants available to work, factory owners turned to African Americans in the South.

The Drawbacks • Northern cities had race riots, racial discrimination, and residential segregation. • But life in the North was definitely better than in the South.

The National Urban League • Who helped the black immigrants? • Black newspapers - they encouraged people to move out of the South and into the North. • Black churches helped migrants find jobs and housing. • The National Urban League was founded in 1910 to help black migrants find jobs and housing.

The Results • Half in the North • Before World War I, 90% of all African Americans lived in the South. • By 1970, the majority of African Americans lived in the North. • Black Communities • The Great Migration created the first large, urban black communities in the North. • The cities with large black communities were New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and many others.