1. The Great Migration

2. The Causes
From 1900 onward, many African Americans moved out of the rural South and into Northern cities.
Between 1916 and 1970, six million black Southerners moved to cities in the North and West.

3. The Push Factors Life in the South was a nightmare: Sharecropping
Jim Crow laws
the KKK
lynch mobs

4. The Pull Factors
The No. 1 reason: J.O.B.S. During World War One, war-time jobs opened up.
More opportunity: Higher wages, better housing, better schools, and the right to vote.
Northern cities offered libraries, museums, theaters, night school for adults.
These opportunities were off-limits or unavailable in the South.

5. World War I
The first wave of the Great Migration began in 1916, just before the U.S. entered World War I.
Northern industries hired black workers for the first time. Why?
When World War I began, government orders began and immigration came to a halt.
With no immigrants available to work, factory owners turned to African Americans in the South.

6. The Drawbacks
Northern cities had race riots, racial discrimination, and residential segregation.
But life in the North was definitely better than in the South.

7. The National Urban League
Who helped the black immigrants?
Black newspapers - they encouraged people to move out of the South and into the North.
Black churches helped migrants find jobs and housing.
The National Urban League was founded in 1910 to help black migrants find jobs and housing.

8. The Results Half in the North Black Communities
Before World War I, 90% of all African Americans lived in the South.
By 1970, the majority of African Americans lived in the North.
Black Communities
The Great Migration created the first large, urban black communities in the North.
The cities with large black communities were New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and many others.