What Are the Causes of the Migration of African Americans?
- African Americans relied on agricultural jobs for survival in the south.plantation image by Christian De Brito from Fotolia.com
Within the 20th century, the African American population underwent a gradual migration from the southern parts of the United States to the northern. Also known as the "Great Migration", harsh living conditions in the South coupled with low-paying jobs and racial prejudice caused African Americans to migrate to the north in an attempt to find a better way of life. - It is often termed "the Great Black Migration" and began in the 1910s and lasted through most of the 1930s, according to the University of Northern Iowa. During the early part of the century, agricultural production was the primary means for earning a living so many African Americans held sharecropper and farming jobs. Living conditions consisted of under-developed rural areas.
Between 1914 and 1917, harsh environmental conditions in the form of flooding and insect infestations took a toll on agricultural production and caused the destruction of homes and property. These conditions coupled with rampant racial bigotry caused African Americans to seek out new areas to live as well as alternative lines of work. By the end of this migration period an estimated 500,000 African Americans left the southern states in search of better living conditions. - As agricultural production activities declined in the South, the northern regions saw an increased demand for labor within industrial sectors such as railway and factory work according to the historical resource site In Motion. America's entry into World War I also took a toll on northern labor forces, which increased the demand for industrial laborers.
Political tensions resulting from the war saw fewer European immigrants migrating to America. As the majority of industrial jobs were filled by European immigrants, this further increased the demand for industrial work. As a result, southern African Americans were recruited by northern industrialists to relocate and work within the manufacturing industries.
According to the University of Northern Iowa, the lack of work in the south coupled with the prospect of earning higher wages caused African Americans to migrate into the northern and western regions of the United States. Also at issue was the prospect of living in what was perceived as the less racially biased northern environment. - As the 1910s occured shortly after the abolition of slavery practices, political rights for African Americans living in the South were all but non-existent. Racism prevailed throughout the region. According to the University of Northern Iowa, acts of racism took the form of segregation, refusals to rent or sell land to African Americans, minimal legal protections and mob lynchings.
As African Americans migrated to the north, these indiscretions were brought to light through black-owned newspapers inciting southern-based African Americans to move north. Compared to the southern regions, northern-based African Americans' political rights gave them more freedoms in terms of opportunity and land ownership, though the overall attitude of racism still prevailed.
Living Conditions
Higher Wages
Political Rights
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