The Great Migration

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The Great Migration of the 1910s
Sabrina Kilbourne Mitchell Rowland
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The South after the Civil War

• Slavery had ended, but African Americans enjoyed
  few freedoms.
• Sharecropping replaced slavery.
• African Americans would have few rights in the
  South.

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Migration to the North

• While most African Americans remained in the
  South, some of those who could leave began to
  migrate to the North.
• They established a foundation for future
  migrants.

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MAP SHOWS THAT THERE WERE NUMEROUS
AFRICAN AMERICANS LIVING IN THE NORTH FOLLOWING
THE WAR.
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Through the 1910s

• Migration from the South was slow, but steady
  until the 1910s.
• The primary destination was the North.

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Location

• Most of the migrants were headed to the big
  cities such as Chicago, New York, and Baltimore.

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Map Showing African American Migration During the
1910s.

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Location - Continued

• The next slide shows the growth of Philadelphia
  during the late 1800s.

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Example of GrowthPhiladelphia 1870-1900
Black Population White Population
Totals
Numbers increase Number Increase
Numbers
22,147 651,854 674,022
31,699 43.13 815,362 25.08 847,170
39,371 24.20 1,006,590 23.42 1,046,694
62,613 59.00 1,229,673 22.02 1,293,697
1870
1880
1890
1900
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REASONS FOR NORTHERN MIGRATION

1. To Avoid Jim Crow Laws - African Americans in
   the South could not vote and experienced
   tremendous racism.

Allen Brooks 1910 lynching
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REASONS FOR NORTHERN MIGRATION - CONTINUED

• 2. Increase educational opportunities -
  Segregation in the South limited opportunities
  for African Americans to gain a quality education
  and forced most into farming.

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REASONS FOR NORTHERN MIGRATION - CONTINUED

• 3. World War I - Many Northern companies simply
  could not find enough white men to fill open
  positions because of the war.

Skilled African American laborers.
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A New Reality

• While African Americans were excited about the
  changes, they were not always met with open hands
  from Northern whites.

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Problems in the North

• Prejudicial attitudes often spilled over into
  violence, including riots, such as the Chicago
  Riot of 1919, which occurred shortly after the
  First World War ended.

A black Chicagoan being questioned about the
riot.
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Bibliograpy http//dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam
/page.cfm?ID2453 www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory
.org/pages/1032.html http//www.inmotionaame.org/
migrations/landing.cfm?migration8 http//wps.abl
ongman.com/wps/media/objects/1483/1518969/DIV1517.
jpg www.vintagepostcards.com