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The Great Migration: Seeking Prosperity in the North

Explore the reasons behind the Great Migration of Black Americans from the Southern states to the North in the early 20th century. Understand the push factors driving this movement, including discriminatory laws, limited opportunities, and racial tensions. Discover the challenges faced by Black Americans in the North, such as low-paying jobs, poor housing conditions, and social discrimination. Uncover the impact of the Great Migration on shaping the social and economic landscape of America.

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The Great Migration: Seeking Prosperity in the North

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  1. The Great Migration Lesson starter: Why might Black Americans want to leave the Southern states in the early 20th century? Where could they go?

  2. Today we will… • Understand why even more Black Americans moved North during the 20th century

  3. Background… • After the abolition of slavery in 1865,many Black Americans moved North to escape the racist attitudes and discrimination of the South

  4. The Great Migration • This refers to the years between 1920 and 1925 where around half a million Black people moved north • This happened again in the 1940s • By 1960, six million Southern Blacks were in the North (1/3 of Black Americans) • Can you think why?

  5. Why did they move North? • Lots of factory work available during both world wars • More work available in general (blacks were restricted to housekeping etc in the South) • No Jim Crow Laws in North • No segregation in North (i.e. schools) • Higher wages in the North • Little or no KKK presence/ lynchings in North

  6. Problems of the Great Migration Chicago, 1919 • skin colour identified them as “different” and marked them out for discrimination • • Whites felt they were superior to black migrants • • seen as uneducated and unskilled and so were able to get only poorly paid jobs • • White unskilled workers saw them as a threat to their jobs • there were riots between Blacks and Whites in north

  7. • there was competition for jobs with immigrants to USA • • • they were separated into ghetto communities in northern cities • • housing conditions were very poor

  8. 2009 q1What problems faced black Americans who moved north in the 1920s and 1930s? Black Americans still had many problems in the North such as only being offered low paid jobs. This forced them into cheap, poor quality housing which was unsanitary and overcrowded. Eventually ghettos developed which were full of crime and social problems such as drugs and violence. WASPs still looked down upon Blacks in the North and treated them like second class citizens even though there was no segregation. Race riots even broke out in some cities like Chicago due to the tensions between Blacks and Whites.

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