THE GREAT MIGRATION 1910-1970

THE GREAT MIGRATION 1910-1970

CHANGE:CITIES

WHAT WAS IT?

WHERE'D THEYGO?

IMPACT: SOCIAL

PUSHFACTORS

IMPACT: MUSIC

QUIZ

PULLFACTORS

LEGACY

What Was the Great Migration? The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in U.S. history. During this time, around 6 million African Americans moved from the rural Southern United States to cities in the North, Midwest, and West. This movement changed American society forever and helped shape our modern cities and culture.

Why Did People Move?

Push Factors (Reasons to Leave the South): * Unfair Jim Crow laws and racial segregation * Lack of good jobs and education opportunities * Threats of violence and discrimination * Poor farming conditions and crop disasters * Limited voting rights

PULL FACTORS

Pull Factors (Reasons to Move North): * Better-paying factory jobs, especially during World Wars I and II * More freedom and less formal segregation * Better schools for children * Voting rights and political participation * Growing African American communities in northern cities

MAJOR CITIES

* Chicago, Illinois - Many people found work in meat-packing and steel mills * Detroit, Michigan - Auto factories provided thousands of jobs * New York City (especially Harlem) - Became a center of African American culture * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Offered industrial and railroad jobs * Cleveland, Ohio - Steel mills and manufacturing drew many migrants

IMPACT: MUSIC

Music and Arts * The Harlem Renaissance brought new forms of art, literature, and music * Blues music traveled from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago * Jazz spread from New Orleans to northern cities * Famous artists like Jacob Lawrence created paintings about the migration

IMPACT: SOCIAL

Society and Communities * New churches and community organizations formed * African American newspapers grew in popularity * New businesses opened to serve growing communities * Strong labor movements developed

CHANGE: CITIES

Changes in American Cities * New neighborhoods developed as communities grew * Cultural centers emerged (like Harlem in New York) * Some cities faced challenges with housing and jobs * Both cooperation and tension between different groups of people

LEGACY

Legacy Today The Great Migration's effects can still be seen in: * Where many African American families live today * The spread of Southern food, music, and culture across America * The development of major U.S. cities * Modern civil rights movements * American art, literature, and music