World Migration

During the late 1800s, inhabitants from all parts of the world made the decision to leave their jobs and homes to immigrate to the United States. They fled rising taxes, famine, crop failure, land and job shortages, to come to the United States. Perceived to be one of the greater countries for economic opportunity, many sought freedom from religious and political persecution. Around twelve million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1900. Before the Civil War, the majority of immigrants were from Germany, Ireland, and England. There would be a drastic change in the next three decades. After the Civil War, immigrants

While some of these jobs created by wars and by industrialization were taken by immigrants, this group could not have accounted and taken all the jobs that needed to be filled in the north. First, immigrants were not being accepted at an extremely high rate during the Great Migration. Right before the United States entered the first world war, the number of legal immigrants dropped by nearly one million, with the number in 1917 being 295,403. During the Great Migration, the highest amount of legal immigrants coming into the United States was 805,228 in 1921, and the lowest amount of legal immigrants coming in being 23,725 in 1943, during a

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 Homestead Act gave 160 acres of land to anyone who paid a small $10 fee, and would work off the land for five years. Since the population on the East coast was so massive, Americans from the eastern states flocked to states such as, Kansas and Nebraska, whose populations grew immensely in the 1870’s. Americans were not the only people to move out West. Many immigrants from all over Europe, such as Germany, Scotland, Russia, and France, dispersed to the West. America was very different from their old countries, but they managed to acclimate by bringing along their culture from their old homes. They created towns similar to theirs in Europe, with the same names and even street plans. Immigrants also cultivated the same wheat as they did in Europe, which happened to thrive in the Western climate, and became one of the most successful American crops. If not for the construction of the transcontinental railroad, immigrants would not have come to America, and the country would not be the melting pot that it is today. Immigrants shared their culture, which would shape the country. America would soon blend these cultures into the American society, and would enjoy the new languages, crops, and knowledge that the immigrants have to

Thomas Jefferson believed that expanding westward was the key to a healthy nation. Forty percent of the population lived in trans -Appalachian west. Most people had left their homes from the East for a economic opportunity.

the “Black Belt” or the “Black Ghetto,” but an African American writer suggested calling it “Bronzeville,” a name that many residents found less insulting” (Chicago and the Great Migration).

In the years 1910-1970 our country saw one of the largest population shifts in history. More than 6 million African Americans trying to escape segregation laws and poor economic opportunities fled the South in hopes of finding a better way of life in the North, Midwest, and West. This would later been called The Great Migration.

Between 1700 CE and 1900 CE, the world saw radical growth and change. New inventions, technologies and innovations led to major shifts in power and new societies emerged. A common theme between these two dates is the migration of peoples for a variety of reasons. Some left their homelands due to push factors, like famine, war and disease. Some left due to pull factors, like economic prosperity, religious tolerance and freedom. From 1700 CE to 1900 CE, global migration experienced a continuity in long distance migration to the Americas as a result of a need for labor. Although there is a continuity, there are major changes in the push and pull factors for migration such as like the Irish Potato Famine and the migration of immigrants into Australia due to the promise of economic prosperity.

Tory Grizzle Williams History 2a 21 May 2018 Great Migration The progression of people into and within the US has had an affect on the nation. Progressions such as the Great Migration is an example of a movement that has greatly impacted the US.

Anyways, during the war I saw the increase of many African-Americans moving to north. It was due to the plethora of jobs opening in the north. They called this move “The Great Migration.” After the war about twenty-five percent of African-Americans from the South moved to the North. I also noticed that more women were employed during and after the war. Many American women made a huge impact during the war. That was when finally, Americans believed that a woman around the country were fit to work. During the war I saw many of teachers and classmates leaving school. Some of my teachers left to go overseas to fight in the war. So, some of the schools were shut down due to lack of funding and teachers. Not only some of the teachers gone, but some of my classmates. There were forced to not attend school because they're needed there to support their family. Some left to watch their siblings, cook, and work on their family farms. Unfortunately, I was one of the thousands of students who had to leave school just to support my family.

Bryan Iguchi had this beautiful narration that set the tone for what was next to come. Along with this narration came some beautiful shots of nature with an amazing soundtrack behind all this.

A black women by the name of Isabel Wilkerson, once stated some very influential words of wisdom to express her feelings toward the Great Migration. She stated,

There are two types of migrants, especially families, that have been affected by IIRIRA, legal migrants and illegal migrants. It is the different treatment of these two migrants under the law for family reunification benefits that create a hierarchy of mixed status families, which prioritizes wealthier, fairer and better educated migrants over those who are low-income, non-white and less educated. The profiles legal migrant spouses, such visa-overstaying and legal permanent residents, are vastly different than the profiles of undocumented spouses entering the border illegally. Migrants seeking any type of temporary visa for the US is required to prove sufficient funds to cover all costs of the trip and intent to depart after the completion of one’s trip (Bureau of Consular Affairs).

The wave of immigrants from all over the world were coming to the United States. They wanted freedom that they did not have from their different countries. They also moved for freedom of religion. Some countries came to the west because of years of famine. So they moved west into the new land that was used by Native Americans.

In the early 19th century, Wisconsin was home to mainly Native Americans. After westward expansion in the United States many Native Americans were forced to leave where they originally inhabited. Thousands of Native Americans were moved to reservations in Wisconsin and in other states. This new opening of land was perfect for new Western European immigrants who wanted a brand-new life in America. In the mid-19th century, Wisconsin’s population increased from 11,000 to over 300,000 (Nesbit, 1973). Hundreds of thousands of these immigrants were from Europe. Each immigrant had their own reason of leaving their homeland but some of the main reasons for leaving were: economic and social problems, natural disasters (potato famine in Ireland), religious freedom, avoiding the draft, population booms, and industrialization. Once Germans decided to embark on a journey to Wisconsin, they had to worry about the travel, geography of where to live, and the language barrier between German and English and all problems in-between.