Causes Of The Great Migration

The Great Migration was a push factor towards the American Dream for African Americans to move North to get away from racial segregation and discrimination, poor economic conditions, and job opportunities that opened up which led to the improvement of their lifestyle. During the time period of 1910 to 1970, the Great Migration had occurred. Over six million African Americans had left the South to escape the poor economic opportunities and social segregation and moved to the cities of the North, Midwest, and West. They were trying to escape racism and Jim Crow laws that were placed in the South. The causes leading to the migration were decreasing of cotton prices, the lack of immigrant workers in the North, increased manufacturing as a result

In, 1914 every Southern state had passed laws that created two separate societies: one black, the other white. The combination of constant humiliation and segregated education for their children made thousands of African Americans leave the South. They could not ride together in the same railroad cars, sit in the same restaurants, or sit in the same theaters as whites. African Americans were denied access to parks, beaches, picnic areas, and from many hospitals. There was segregation in hotels, stores, entertainment, and libraries. All this fueling an atmosphere of racism and a rise in lynching, rioting, and the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK continued to create violence during this period. They were murdering African Americans to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. They were also lynched for any violation of the southern code. They had burned them alive, shot them, or beat them to death. Although this didn’t stop African Americans to achieve their

Racial prejudice had kept companies from hiring African Americans, but the profit they stood to make during the wartime economy overrode any hiring prejudice. Though companies were desperate for workers, many industries central to the flourished war economy like steel mills and railroads actively recruited African Americans. “Industrial jobs that had not been previously available to African Americans now became available in greater quantity and variety.” The “Promise Land” was envisioned as a place for anyone willing to work hard, offering opportunities mainly to educated men and women. Despite the tensions between new and old settler, relation to differences in age, region of origin, and class, the Great Migration established the foundation for black political power, business enterprise, and union