African American Migration Research Paper

The progression of people into and within the United States has had an essential impact on the nation, both intentionally and unintentionally. Progressions such as The Great Migration and the Second Great Migration are examples of movements that impacted the United States greatly. During these movements, African Americans migrated to flee racism and prejudice in the South, as well as to inquire jobs in industrial cities. They were unable to escape racism, but they were able to infuse their culture into American society. During the twentieth century, economic and political problems led to movements such as The Great Migration and The Second Great Migration which impacted the United States significantly.

The Great Migration was a massive movement of African Americans from the South to the North from 1863 to 1960. The largest spike in this migration occurred from about 1910 to 1920.

The migration of European settlers and culture to North America is an often examined area. One aspect of this, however, is worthy of deeper analysis. The conquest of North America by Europeans and American settlers from the 16th to 19th centuries had a profound effect on the indigenous political landscape by defining a new relationship dynamic between natives and settlers, by upsetting existing native political, economic and military structures, and by establishing a paradigm where the indigenous peoples felt they had to resist the European and American incursions. The engaging and brilliant works of Andres Rensendez and Steve Inskeep, entitled respectively “A Land So Strange” and “Jacksonland”, provide excellent insights and aide to this analysis.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, African Americans were being severely persecuted and ostracized. The Jim Crow Laws allowed for legal segregation and continued control over blacks in the South. Those laws severely restricted the rights of the African American in the southern half of the United States and essentially continued to restrain them even though the United States Constitution forbid it. The North did not have such laws, but blacks still suffered. When African Americans migrated to the North, they were disillusioned by the fact that they were still not equal. The African Americans were instead delivered a subtler form of the discriminatory actions within the South. African Americans struggled for equality everywhere because of white

In the beginning of the 20th century, most of the South, geographically, was inhabited by African Americans. African-Americans have been stuck in poverty in the past, and they did not have any job opportunities, due to racial prejudice. They have suffered ever since they were slaves picking up cotton and when the Ku Klux Klan was around. African Americans grew in fear in the South. Because of this, the North needed workers after World War I African-Americans jumped at the chance of moving to the North because the demand of employees had gone down. Blacks thought the only way to leave their oppression was to travel to the North. Many African-Americans moved to places like Chicago, Detroit, and especially Harlem

many votes as well, which quickened the the pace of civil rights and changed the political landscape (Segregation in the United States 10). The blacks migrating to the North did not have all positive results though. Most of the blacks looking for jobs were under-qualified, leaving only such jobs as laborers or servants open, which was much

Some of the pull factors that attracted blacks to leave the south were the chance to earn a better education, increasing amount of jobs, the right to vote, black owned companies, and the opportunity for a better economic welfare. These push and pull served as the major factor in blacks migrating from the south to the north. Blacks felt that the north had a better opportunity for them to achieve greatness and was the cause for blacks to look search for the identity of the “New Negro.”

The Great Migration brought about a massive redistribution of the African American population throughout the United States. It transformed black ways of life, art, and institutions, as well as the demographics and cultures of many American cities.

Many African American’s stayed in the south or in a sense, got stuck. Lack of money, help and education would keep many in the same place as they were throughout the 1800’s. Many didn’t have the means to escape Jim Crow and the south. They simply didn’t have the means or assets to go anywhere. To some, considered the “first migration,” roughly a million African American’s are going to leave the south for economic opportunities in the north at the start of World War I.

The condition and the treatment of Blacks in the South remained the same after slavery. In the Constitution blacks were free people but they were still oppressed in the South. The treatment of Blacks caused many of them to search for homes and jobs outside of the South They often wrote to northern employers expressing their desire to migrate to the North because of the disadvantages and discrimination they encountered in the South. Why didn't the migration occur early in time if the conditions in the South increased over time? The answer is simple there was no opportunity for them in the North until after World War I when migration was restricted. According to Tolnay 2003, this new economic opportunity in the North gave blacks the courage to move to an unknown place for better living conditions. However, what these

New immigrants to the United States seized the chance to own land in their new country. Immigrants who wished to claim property had to first file intentions to become American citizens. Some states and territories even advertise in other countries, hoping to attract more people. Earlier immigrants encouraged their countrymen to homestead, describing life on the plains and officering advice, which resulted in people from all over Europe migrating to the west. So many Swedish and Norwegian immigrants arrived in Minnesota during the late 1860s that an editor of the St Paul Pioneer remarked: “It seems as if the Scandinavian Kingdoms were being emptied into the state” (Porterfield 31-3). Immigrants often settled in separate ethnic communities,

Anyways, the Okie Migration was the largest migration of people in the United States (www.history.com). Around 2.5 million people went on the Okie Migration, with roughly 440,000 of them being from Oklahoma (www.history.com). The Okie Migration is widely known around the United States due to the classic story of Okie migrants in San Joaquin Valley (www.okhistory.org). Furthermore, the migration also showed how many Americans survived and overcame one of the hardest times in United States history (livinghistoryfarm.org). And many people respected their family members who had to live through the tough times of the Dirty Thirties (livinghistoryfarm.org). Since the migrants were also white they caught the sympathy of many people across the nation as well (livinghistoryfarm.org). The Okie Migration had some positive effects, it cultivated country music over by the

African Americans moved from southern farms to the North. In the North, they lived in segregated neighborhoods, faced violence, and were given the worst jobs. Conditions in the South were even worse, because state laws deprived them of civil rights and segregated them from whites (Schultz, 2014).

During the mass immigration era of America, an abundant number of people traveled to the urban industrial society of the United States in aspiration to seek job opportunities and better lives than the ones they left behind. These groups included the Poles, Italians, Chinese, Mexicans, Japanese, East European Jews, and the African- Americans. However, one of these groups mentioned was distinctly different from the rest: the African-Americans. They were already American citizens, who migrated to the northern American cities to free themselves from segregation, oppression, and harsh conditions they experienced in the South and obtain equal rights and opportunities. Although the African-Americans'

On the second page some of the smugglers use the migrants to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so that the fees don’t steep to about $5,000 ,many of the migrants are working under harsh conditions . Many migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe,many of them have drowned or either went missing. Migrants who are traveling alone or who are small children are more likely to get more of the abuse or the exploitation. People from Saharan Africa are the most vulnerable because of their skin color. Young migrant and refugee children have access to safe and legal migration pathways . The people who come from a specific country or