The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history and occurred between 1914 to 1940. It was the mass migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West. It was a dramatic redistribution of African Americans across the US, specifically in cities such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. African Americans fled the South due to new jobs offered in Northern and Western states due to war and in hopes of escaping segregation. (National Archives) Some may argue that due to the migration of African Americans to the North, many managed to escape the extreme segregation and limited economic opportunity they endured in the South, but this is untrue. In the North, migrated African Americans …show more content…
(Marks 155) While it’s true that the North offered quite a few financial opportunities for African Americans compared to the South, many of these advertisements would end up being misleading. Whites made restrictions to make getting a job harder, and it must be noted that immigrants and native-born whites were often situated above blacks in the occupational queue. (Tolnay 221 & 222) The jobs these African American migrants were usually placed in were unskilled or semiskilled jobs that were unwanted by the whites and furthered segregation in the North. Even when African Americans managed to receive the same job as white people, they were paid less. This was the case for many skilled black artisans who would still get low pay simply because of their skin color. (Marks 155) As if this wasn’t enough of a struggle for these African American migrants, Northern whites intensified their efforts to restrict the residential and occupational opportunities available to African Americans after 1920 as more southern migrants arrived in the North. (Tolnay 221) Despite all these new opportunities offered in the North and West, migrated African Americans were still facing segregation and economic struggles and as the black population grew, …show more content…
For example, many African Americans who migrated to Harlem, New York had to pay the majority of their income for rent due to the discrimination of whites who were reluctant to or even refused to allow African Americans to rent homes. (DuBose-Simons 547) Prices and the poor conditions of the homes only began to increase as more migrants began to move into the cities, and finding a home became more difficult. As these living conditions continued to rapidly decrease, Harlem’s mortality rate for African Americans began to increase. The Impact of the Great Migration on Mortality of African Americans claims that their data suggests that migrating North increased age-specific mortality by about half for women and somewhat less than half for men. (Black 496) The high rents landlords charged coupled with the low wages blacks earned only furthered the migrated African Americans' economic hardship, similar to the
Post-Reconstruction US was a very difficult time for many groups of people within the US. These people, specifically blacks, struggled to get and maintain jobs due to Jim Crow laws and severe racism and segregation. Sharecropping also limited the amount former slaves could rise on the social ladder, as it was basically a legal form of segregation. Doc. 7 shows this by proving that very little blacks were actually born in Philadelphia, a city notorious for its black population.
During the mid 19th century and the early 20th century ethnic and racial groups such as Chinese and African Americans suffered through the indignities and laws opposed by white settlers/citizens of America. African Americans given the right of freedom and citizenship during 1865 and 1868, were still being looked down with hatred and anger by whites of the south, and being tolerated by the white people of the North. The immigration wave of the Chinese to the west during the Gold Rush and the building of the railroad only brought fear to the citizens that Chinese population would increase, ending in white citizens looking for ways to diminish Chinese immigration and progression. Even with the lack of physical and political protection towards
Black American’s financial situation was largely ignored, as were those of working class women. Blacks were the last hired and first fired adding to their plight; the government did little to remedy this situation. Women were driven out of the workforce and into deeper poverty because they were seen as taking jobs away from men. Additionally, the plight of the American farmer in the dust bowl went unresolved, as many migrated to California in search of some kind of relief.
Du Bois (2007) found that in the Seventh Ward in Philadelphia, only 2% of black men over 21 were in learned professions, such as teaching, while 45% were servants, and for women over 21, 37% were domestic servants and 27% were housewives and day labourers. In addition, black people were far more likely to lose their jobs through no fault of their own, and they would generally be paid lower wages (Du Bois, 2007). Black people also struggled with finding work as they often had few skills due to their history of enslavement, as well as the fact that there was more competition from an increasing number of immigrants (Du Bois, 2007). The problems that black Philadelphians faced with employment then caused serious poverty, with crime and pauperism of black people seeming to exceed that of white people, which was expected due to most black people being from a lower social class (Du Bois, 2007). This shows how the fact that most black Philadelphians could not find well paid, skilled work caused poverty which then led to further issues in their lives, including poor housing and poor health, illustrating how economic factors did have a significant impact on the lives of black
To work, the freed slaves were forced to sign contracts with their employer. The Mississippi and South Carolina Black Codes of 1865 required blacks to sign contracts of employment and if they left before it ended then they would be forced to pay earlier wages. Freed blacks’ status in the postwar South
This led to continued to tensions between not only the north and south but also the blacks and the whites in America. According to The Unfinished Nation, the per capita income of African Americans increase from about one-quarter to about one-half of the per capita income of White citizens (365). Sadly certain
More job opportunities began to open up therefore, there was an increased need for skilled workers. Companies thought it was a great idea to hire African Americans who would be more than willing to work, grant them a smaller pay and have their business continue to thrive in the prosperous decade. The white leaders of the industry often took advantage of policies to ensure that African Americans would be confined to the least desirable jobs with the lowest wages (Phillips 33). Within the jobs, workers would also be faced with discrimination. The African Americans would receive death threats in their place of work almost daily and were made to feel as if they were only there to benefit the economy (Phillips 39) For many years in American History, African Americans only received training to be skilled workers, as it didn 't seem necessary for them to receive any further education (Blanton 1).
“I 'm tired of being Jim Crowed, gonna leave this Jim Crow town, Doggone my black soul, I 'm sweet Chicago bound, Yes, Sir, I 'm leavin ' here, from this ole Jim Crow town. I 'm going up North, where they think money grows on trees, I don 't give a doggone, if ma black soul should freeze I 'm goin ' where I don 't need no B.V.D.s” (Jim Crow Blues, Davenport). The South offered little to no chance for advancement for rural blacks with the dwindling southern economy that once thrived on the backs of slaves after it came to an abrupt halt and pushed the oppressive, unfair restrictions on their lives in place, called the Jim Crow laws. With a sharp increase in the demand for labor in northern factories due to World War I, African Americans in the South and white factory owners from the North saw the chance for a mutually beneficial enterprise, that would later be referenced in history as The Great
But what made them want to leave so badly? African Americans were not treated the same; the white Americans believed that they were superior to everyone else and they made sure African Americans knew that. Harsh segregation laws began, known as the Jim Crow Laws. Some examples of these laws are, “It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to lay together..’ and, ‘Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African American descent...”
The Great Migration is one of the biggest African American movements of the time. Post-World War I, many African Americans migrated from the southern territories to more northern states. With this movement came less segregation and more opportunity for black individuals, although situations weren’t ideal and many social norms were still racist towards blacks. Compared to southern states, the north was a more ideal location to live in. But racism was still a problem; with this movement, many stereotypes against black people arose, and unfortunately, racist people demonized black people.
Essay #1 HIST 1302 Spring 2023 During the time period before and after the Civil War, there were many up and downs for multiple groups of people. Through the many challenges that they faced, they assisted in growing America into the place that it is today. Immigrants, Native Americans, Black Americans, and American Women faced many challenges, some of them had faced similar problems, and some had circumstances that were uniquely difficult. Immigrants were in search for one thing: a better life.
And because of this it resulted in the growth of a new urban culture. An example in New York City was Harlem, which was formerly an all-white neighborhood. By the 1920s New York City housed about 200,000 African Americans. Many new migrants found jobs where the working conditions were outrageous
The Great Migration and/in the Congregation The Great Migration was the migration occurred within the United States between 1910 and 1970 which saw the displacement of about seven million African Americans from the southern states to those in the North, Midwest and West. The reasons that led thousands of African Americans to leave the southern states and move to the northern industrial cities were both economic and social, related to racism, job opportunities in the industrial cities and the search of better lives, the attempts to escape racism and the Jim Crow Laws that took them away the right to vote. As every social phenomena, the Great Migration had both positive and negative effects; in my opinion the Great Migration can be considered a negative development in the short and medium term, but, if we analyze the benefits brought to the African-American communities in the long term, their fight for integration has shaped the history of the United States in its progress to democracy and civil rights.
Between that time, African American Families moved from the South to the North and to the West. Following the Civil War, many African Americans had packed up and migrated to urbanized areas like Chicago and New York. By 1920, almost 300,000 African Americans had moved away from the south, Harlem being a very popular destination for the traveling families. New arrivals found jobs in slaughterhouses, factories and foundries, but working conditions were strenuous to their bodies and sometimes dangerous. Many didn 't consider the amounts of people that would be migrating to New York and that made competition for living space harder.
All things considered, this argument was convincing. In reality, one-third of the South’s population was black, and held an economic weight in society especially because of the emancipation of slaves. If whites ostracized blacks from working in the South, even as meager farmers and industrialist, the southern economy would falter as a