Black Migration 1850-1930

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  • Created by: Redheadxx
  • Created on: 10-10-19 12:29

The Great Migration

  • 6 million black Americans from rural South to North
  • From 1916-1970
  • Driven from homes due to: unsatisfactory economic opportunities & segregation laws.
  • Took advantage of opportunities that war offered, eg: soldiers
  • Built a new place for themselves eg; Harlem and Queens.
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Context & causes of Great Migration

  • White supremacy largely restored in the South. 
  • Jim Crow laws became law of the land.
  • Ku Klux Klan had been officially dissolved in 1869, continued underground.
  • Violence and lynching of black southerners became common. 
  • North and Midwest faced a shortage of labourer's.
  • As war came nearer African American's came North to the dismay of white Southerners.
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Great Migration: Life for Migrants in the City

  • By end of 1919 some 1 million blacks left the South travelling by train,boat or bus. 
  • Between 1910-1920 the percentage of Black Americans in cities was: New York (66%), Chicago (148%), Piladelphia (500%) and Detroit (611%).
  • Domestic (Female) Labour Positions were hard to find.
  • USA Supreme Court declared racially based housing ordinances unconstitutional in 1917. 
  • Some residential neighbourhoods enacted covenants requiring white property owners not to sell to blacks. 
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Growing Racial Tensions

  • "Red Summer" of 1919 marked the culmination of steadily growing tensions surronding the Great Migration of black Americans from South to North. 
  • Many white servicemen returned home to find out that their jobs in factories had been filled by black Americans or immigrants.
  • 64 Lynchings in1918 & 83 in 1919, eg: Tennesse, Omaha, & Chicago. 
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A Drowning in Lake Michigan

  • July 27th 1919- black American boy crossed unofficial barriers at 29th street.
  • There were "black" & "white" beaches.
  • Boy was stoned by white men.
  • Angry crowds came story was spread and exagerrated.
  • Police couldn't quell riots and left 15 whites & 23 blacks dead. 1,000 black famill=ies homeless.
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Lasting Impact

  • Some believed that after the rioting there should be segregated housing/prevention of black Americans from white Americans. This was rejected by liberal white Americans and black Americans.
  • the Chicago Commission on Race Relations (CCRR) tried to look at root causes for the rioting, eg: competiotion for jobs, inadequate housing for blacks, inconsistent law enforcement, and racial discrimination.
  • Summer of 1919 showed that black Americans were willing to fight for their rights.
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Impact of Great Migration

  • Many blacks were creating their own culture/cities within cities.eg: Harlem.
  • The experience of the Great Migration became an important theme in the New ***** Movement and later in the Harlem Renaissance. (see booklet for more info)
  • Migration slowed considerably in 1930s due to Great Depression. Picked up again in WWII.
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