The Great Migration

The Great Migration

1910-1940

Moving North

Push factors• Harsh Jim Crow laws• Agricultural disasters• Poor economic

opportunities

Pull factors• Newspaper articles• No Jim Crow Laws• Better jobs

White southern reaction

• Northern job recruiters had to obtain licenses• Job recruiters were banned from some

counties

Migration destinations

• Some moved to Florida• Virginia, NC and SC moved to Washington DC,

Philadelphia and NY• Georgia, Alabama, MS. Moved to Pittsburg,

Cleveland and Detroit• Louisiana and Arkansas moved to Chicago

“Ghettoes”

• Originates from WWII Jewish containment settlements

• Overcrowded living conditions, high crime rates, low income neighborhoods

Migration from West Indies

• Language barriers• Religious differences• Cultural differences

Northern Laws

• Forbade segregated public facilities• Forbade segregated schools• Discrimination still existed-”defacto

segregation”

Chicago difficulties

• Competition for jobs (kept wages low)• Competition for housing (kept rent high)• Led to violence between races over housing

and jobs

Harlem

• Began as a white community• Became predominantly black because whites

were willing to sell or rent to blacks• Apartments and houses were subdivided• Negro capital because of black owned

business and newspapers

Family Problems caused by Migration

• Split up families• Led to over crowded living conditions• Black women were confined to domestic jobs:Maids, janitorial work, nannies