The Great Migration

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.

During the Great Migration, African Americans began to build a new place for themselves in public life, actively confronting economic, political and social challenges and creating a new black urban culture that would exert enormous influence in the decades to come.

Many people from all over the world saw America as a place to create a better life for them and their family. America was a place full of many job opportunities, ones that were not available anywhere else in the world. It was in America that people from different nations saw the chance to escape the place they originally lived because of unfair government or as a chance to have money to send back to their family in their homeland. The period after the civil war was an era of tremendous migration from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China, because of all the opportunities that were available here that were not available anywhere else. Migration was also prominent within America when African Americans

“Berlin, Ira. The Making of African America The Four Great Migrations. By Ira Berlin. New York: Penguin Group, 2011. Pp 289”

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.

This paper will go on to describe the direct impact of the Great War on all African American migration, military service, and political protest. These three things would have combined to make the years of the Great War a major impact on African American history. When war first erupted in Europe in August of 1914, most Americans - African Americans included - did not see a reason for the United States to get involved, many viewing the bloodshed as petty in the activities of their everyday lives. This belief of neutrality amongst the people would only grow stronger as stalemates ensued, and death rates climbed higher. As the war raged on, the Black press would aim its papers to side with the French, because of their continued commitment for racial equality, as well as, their employment of African soldiers in their military. When the United States entered the war, it would have a great impact on many African Americans, particularly the many men, women, and children who embarked on the Great Migration - the largest movement of people in American history.

African Americans participated in the Great migration because they were terrorized and looked down upon in the South. They were lynched, housing situations were terrible, there were no jobs or education accessible to them. Economic inequality was a huge issue, African Americans worked unfair labor practices which made it easy when jobs became available in the North. Floods in Alabama and Mississippi pushed African Americans out of the area, as well as the impact that the boll weevil had on the crops, it took out cotton, the key cash crop (pg. 46-47). The segregation laws in the South were redundant and they led to a great deal of mob violence, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina (pg. 52).

The South was a complete mess after the Civil War. The early part of the 20th century brought many changes for African Americans. There was a difficult challenge of helping newly free African American slaves assimilate among their white counterparts. They suffered from crop failures, economic hardships, and the early failures of Reconstruction in the south. So as result many Southern African Americans migrated to northern cities in search of employment and a chance at a better life. However, Southern African Americans migrating to northern cities quickly discovered that they were not able to enjoy the same social and economic mobility experienced by their European immigrant counterparts arriving around the same time. There were many

The Great Migration seemed to begin again after a short period of time during the Great Depression. The price of crops fell dramatically during the Great Depression, causing African Americans to leave the South, mostly to the western United States this time, though some still traveled to northern cities. They moved to western cities, particularly in California, for more economic opportunity since the need for farmers had declined thanks to government plans to help stop the Great Depression. Jim Crow Laws were still enforced in the South and African Americans continued to leave to find better race relations. “Although lynching had greatly diminished by 1935 - there were eighteen lynchings that year - violence was still prevalent in the South. People were threatened, beaten, fired from their jobs, and publicly humiliated.” African Americans had to flee from the South and from the violence that was attributed to the region. Another reason for this second Great Migration was because of World War II. Many industries would switch to making wartime goods which called for extra labor. Men would go off to fight, and women and African Americans would be able to fill the job left behind. Family members and newspapers also added to the new movement. Letters would be sent back to families still in the South and explain how much better it was and the economic opportunity. Some newspapers would urge African Americans to move from the South for better relations in regards to race, and for

Factories enabled a large number of people to be supervised together and replaced hand tools with power-driven machinery. The availability of factory jobs in the north caused a great influx of workers to the region during this era. One group of people, immigrants, particularly met the demand for labor in the north. Between 1840 and 1860, over 4 million people entered the United States. About 90 percent of these immigrants headed for the northern states where job opportunities were abundant. The new advancements in railroads and steamboats, the increase in commercial farming, and the development of large factories triggered the relocation of multitudes to northern cities. Each one building upon another, the events that took place in the north during the 1800s instigated an extreme growth of cities and urban societies, proving population growth to be a key effect of the industrialization in the United States north.

The Great Migration was a huge relocation of African Americans from the Southern states of the United States to northern and Midwestern cities. This occurred between the years of 1910 and 1970. Over 6 million African Americans traveled to Northern cities during the migration. Some northern city destinations were Richmond, D.C, Baltimore, New York, and Newark. Western and Midwestern destinations were those such as Los Angelos, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit. During this time period and previous years, Jim Crow laws in the South were greatly in affect and causing African Americans a rough time due to the racism they faced. After Reconstruction had ended, white supremacy had taken it's toll in the South and Jim Crow had

The Great Migration was the mass movement of millions of African Americans to the Northeast, Midwest, and West around 1910 to1930. African Americans moved away from the South to escape segregation and violence in search of better opportunities. With the U.S. entering into World War I and troops being sent overseas, more job opportunities opened up for African Americans. Blacks enjoyed the unsegregated cities and the benefits that came along with it like better jobs, schools, and homes. African Americans also got more involved in politics and became an important constituency in the North because they were not prevented from voting and some even ran for political offices.

At the start of the twentieth century, America was still facing racial inequality post-Civil War and segregation of whites and blacks after the Reconstruction Era. With the blacks being fed up with their current conditions, they participated in the Great Migration, in which they moved from the South to the North for a better life filled with more opportunities; blacks were ready for real reform of American society. Realizing the seriousness of this

The Great Migration brought about changes that would bring prosperity to most, but little did they know, it would come with a price. That price was endured through various social, economic, and political challenges that occurred during this harsh time in black history. Many opportunities were available for families that would travel far to take advantage of opportunities that would start a new beginning. The Great Migration was a movement of hope that there is a land that is free of oppression and strife. However, black families in the north faced issues that were troubling and contradicting to their belief of the north. Their thoughts of living racism free and gaining economic power was far fetch when they experienced the challenges of the north. The challenges blacks faced during the Great Migration paved the way for numerous opportunities and breakthroughs we have experienced and have not experienced today.