Chapter 10- Section 1A- The Great Migration

1. Chapter 10- Section 1A- The Great Migration

2. Before World War I, most African Americans lived in the rural South. Most were farmers or sharecroppers; almost all were poor. Racial barriers kept them from moving into better paying jobs.

3. Employment opportunities in Northern cities spurred immigration. Labor shortages and limits on immigration after World War I prompted Northern factory owners to actively recruit African American workers.

4. By 1920, almost 500,000 African Americans had moved to industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia.

5. This massive population movement, which became known as the Great Migration, radically changed the racial makeup of the nation.

6. Many African American soldiers returning to the United States after World War I settled in the North, seeking better lives for themselves and their families. End