Lesson 3-4: Great Migration Flashcards
How many migrated from the south to the north between 1910-1970?
6 million
PUSH Factors behind the Great Migration?
- Sharecroppers
- Boll Weevil caused disease infested cotton crops
- Jim Crow laws
- Escape from debt peonage
PULL factors behind the Great Migration
- Jobs in industries following WW1
- factory worker = $3.25 daily vs farmer in south= 75cents
- northern emoloyees actively recruited black workers as they were desperate for labour
-Blacks could vote in North and gained representation and greater local influence - Ghettos established outside the south eg Harlem in New York
How many blacks moved to Northern cities between 1915-1925 to work in munition factories?
Which cities?
1.25 million
Cities = New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit
Who was Oscar De Priest?
The first black American to be elected to the US Congress (1920)
What were some of the problems caused by the Migration? (4)
1) black seen as competition for jobs and housing
2) Poor Living conditions in ghettos
3) blacks paid unfair rents compared to whites
4) KKK membership grew
What were the conditions in ghettos?
- Dirty
- high rates of tuberculosis
- High crime rates by the young
How much did the KKK membership increase from?
100,000 in 1921 to 5 million in 1925
Evidence of racism in the North and West?
- De facto segregation: The cotton club jazz club in Harlem refused to accept black customers
- 1917-1919: homemade bombs were thrown at the homes of black residents who lived in white areas
- 1919 murder of Eugene Williams
- Sringfield Illinois 1908 race riot
What happened to Eugene Williams in 1919?
27th July 1919
White youths in Chicago stoned 15yearold Eugene Williams to death for crossing into a segregated white area of a beach when swimming.
Police refused to arrest any whites
Sparked 13 days of race rioting
The homes of over 1000 black families were set on fire and destroyed. 1000 blacks became homeless.
What was the Springfield riot in Illinois 1908?
It was reported that a white woman was assaulted in her home by a black man.
The police arrested 2 men
A mob of white men gathered to lynch the men in police custody.
The police moved the 2 men to an undisclosed location
The mob therefore turned on the black community.
6 blacks were shot
2 blacks were lynched
2,000 blacks were driven out of Springfield
150 mob suspects were arrested but received no punishment
What was the incident of William Donegan?
He was an 84 year old man who was marked to be lynched for being married and to a white woman for 30 years
Positives of the Great Migration?
1) Urbanistaion helped increase black consciousness
2) NAACP was established
3) Harlem Renaissance
4) black music and dance was shared
What is the ‘Harlem Renaissance’ ?
During 1920s black americans such as the poet Langston Hughes and jazz musicians like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong were active and admired within the black community.
