Great Migration 1

• What was the first push factor?

  Southern Economy
• Why was Southern Economy a push factor?

  It depended on cotton which was overproduced
• What did overproduction of Cotton lead to?

  Slumps in cotton prices between 1913-15 and 1920 which meant low wages for black cotton pickers
• Why was Boll Weevil a push factor?

  They ruined harvests and so caused migration further harming the Southern economy
• How many black Americans left areas of the South due to Boll Weevil?

  50,000 black cotton workers left South Carolina for the North in 1922-23
• What was the third push factor?

  Escaping debt peonage
• Why was escaping debt peonage a push factor?

  White employers kept black farmers in virtual slavery by keeping them in debt
• What did the debt black Americans had mean?

  They were forced to pay inflated prices for material such as seeds
• What was the fourth push factor?

  Safety/Lack of safety
• Why was lack of safety a push factor?

  Lynchings and attacks on black Americans were still common e.g Birth of a Nation led to 4 million KKK members by 1921
• What is an example of extreme violence in the South?

  In May 1918 a Georgia mob lynched 11 black men after a white farmer was murdered
• What was the 1st pull factor?

  Economic growth
• Why is economic growth a pull factor?

  Rapid industrialisation in the late 1800s and early 1900s led to great urban growth and more opportunities
• What was the second pull factor?

  Family and growth of black areas
• Why was family and the growth of black areas a pull factor?

  Family often wrote to encourage movement of others
• What did the population of New York increase to?

  From 1.2 million in 1880 to 5.6 million in 1920
• What was the third pull factor?

  Better Wages
• Why was better wages a pull factor?

  Especially during WW2, factory workers in the North could earn greater wages
• What is the wage comparison to the South?

  $3.25 a day for working in a factory vs 75 cents for farming in the South
• What was the fourth pull factor?

  Rights
• Why was rights a pull factor?

  Black people could vote and began to gain representation and greater local influence
• Who is an example of greater black local influence?

  Oscar De Priest (1871-1951)
• What did Oscar De Priest do?

  He gained election as Chicago's first black alderman in 1915
• What else did Oscar De Priest do?

  He was the first black American to be elected to US Congress in the 20th Century in 1920
• What was the fifth pull factor?

  House prices
• What happened to House prices in Harlem?

  They crashed due to new buildings in 1905
• What happened to many major black areas?

  These rundown areas had low prices to fill apartments
• What is an example of a black landowner filling apartments?

  Phillip Paynton
• What did Paynton do?

  He brought up slums in Harlem with no running water, no air con and no working elevators
• What was set up by Paynton?

  The Afro-American Housing Company
• What happened to many homes?

  They were previously destroyed due to the making of railroads
• What happened to many black people in the North?

  They were stuck in the slums unable to move to white-only neighbourhoods
• How many people migrated from rural south?

  Over 6-7 million
• What was the 2nd push factor?

  Harvest being poor due to Boll Weevil
• What percentage of black Americans lived in the South in 1910?

  90%
• What percentage of black Americans lived in the South in 1970?

  53%