The Great Migration: Research Paper
Byrd 1
Venecia Byrd
Mrs. DeJong
Honors English 10
May 5, 2014
Research: The Great Migration
The Great Migration was the mass migration of more than six million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North and West from 1916 to 1970. This had a huge impact on urban life in the United States. African Americans were pushed out of the rural areas because of whites.
Millions of African Americans went to cities like Chicago during the Great Migration like Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright 's novel Native Son. African Americans often faced harsh living conditions and racism. African Americans such as Bigger Thomas had the ideal “American Dream”, but could not endure it because of the racial barriers. This mass movement helped in the revival and strengthening of cultural beliefs and values it also helped to keep their community strong and alive. The Great Migration was not the first huge relocation of African-Americans in the nation. After being held as servers and slaves large numbers of men and women left the plantations to live in new areas after the Civil War. Bigger Thomas and other African Americans during the Great Migration went through economic, physical, and mental challenges.
Economic Challenges The Great Migration spurred a massive increase in competition for jobs. Economic opportunities were limited due to racism and environmental factors. During the Great Migration people usually found work in factories, slaughterhouses, and foundries. “The cessation of immigration resulted in an acute labor shortage at a time when workers were needed to gear up the arms and war-supplies industries. The war created an economic boom, and an alternative supply of labor was needed to meet the increased demand” (The Great Migration). Meaning, that since multiple African-Americans had to
Byrd 2 move the competition for jobs became a huge problem. Industries needed many able bodied men to work for them and every man that moved North needed a
Venecia Byrd
Mrs. DeJong
Honors English 10
May 5, 2014
Research: The Great Migration
The Great Migration was the mass migration of more than six million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North and West from 1916 to 1970. This had a huge impact on urban life in the United States. African Americans were pushed out of the rural areas because of whites.
Millions of African Americans went to cities like Chicago during the Great Migration like Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright 's novel Native Son. African Americans often faced harsh living conditions and racism. African Americans such as Bigger Thomas had the ideal “American Dream”, but could not endure it because of the racial barriers. This mass movement helped in the revival and strengthening of cultural beliefs and values it also helped to keep their community strong and alive. The Great Migration was not the first huge relocation of African-Americans in the nation. After being held as servers and slaves large numbers of men and women left the plantations to live in new areas after the Civil War. Bigger Thomas and other African Americans during the Great Migration went through economic, physical, and mental challenges.
Economic Challenges The Great Migration spurred a massive increase in competition for jobs. Economic opportunities were limited due to racism and environmental factors. During the Great Migration people usually found work in factories, slaughterhouses, and foundries. “The cessation of immigration resulted in an acute labor shortage at a time when workers were needed to gear up the arms and war-supplies industries. The war created an economic boom, and an alternative supply of labor was needed to meet the increased demand” (The Great Migration). Meaning, that since multiple African-Americans had to
Byrd 2 move the competition for jobs became a huge problem. Industries needed many able bodied men to work for them and every man that moved North needed a
Cited: Chicago and the Great Migration. Web. "GradeSaver." GradeSaver. 1999. Web. Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York: Harper & Bros., 1940. Print.