Black Migration 1850-1930

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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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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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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"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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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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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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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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