The great migration + WW1

Question	Answer
The great migration	1880-1910 500,000 black Americans left the South. 6 million black Americans stayed in the South. So there was a slow drift. 1910 89% of black Americans lived in the South. 1970 it was 53%. 1910-1970 over 6 million black Americans moved North. Dramatic increase led to the label ‘Great Migration’
Push factors	Series of bad harvests/ slump in cotton 1913-15 and 1920- led to debt peonage - white employers forced black farmers to pay inflated prices
Pull factors	More paid jobs in the north- had higher wages- 75 cents for cotton pickers in south- north daily rate was $3.25 cities in north had grown rapidly in north due to industrial revolution- Chicago, NYC, Detroit had 300% rise in population but 2400% rise in black population 1910-1930 WW1 meant less European immigrants travelling to America- labour shortage northern companies sent recruiters to search for workers Migrants from north to people in South saying how good life was there- black communities that had been established eg Harlem provided familiarity
WW1	US government demanded 100% Americanism. Men were conscripted into the army – aged 21 to 30yrs, later 18 to 45yrs Military units were segregated. A small number of Americans opposed the war
Harlem Hellfighters	Harlem Hellfighters was a nickname given to the 369th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army during World War I. The French government decorated the entire unit with the Croix de Guerre, its highest award for bravery, as well as 170 additional individual medals for valor. At the beginning the US wanted all Americans fighting under US generals except black Americans who fought under French regime
Harlem hellfighters Henry Johnson	Fought of Kaisers' best when his gun didn't work-used gun as a club and a knife- French awarded him with Croix de Guerre, yet French received implementation from US- US didn't want black Americans feeling as if they were equal to white Americans for being awarded- refused to give Johnson merit/ gave no support for his injuries during war- Johnson couldn't work- died penniless
Segrigated regiments in France	segregated regiments in France experienced a less racist society Increasingly, black Americans were willing to demand what they were not freely given White soldiers on return did not like the influx of black Americans into their cities and taking their jobs
Why sign up to war	When the USA entered into the First World War in 1917, 2 million African Americans registered for military draft. 367,000 of these served in the armed forces. The memory of the American Civil War, where the enlistment of African Americans had resulted in significant changes to their status in society, offered hope that this war might also bring about change.
why sign up to war- trying to make change	When President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany in April 1917, he had proclaimed that ‘the world must be made safe for democracy’. In July 1917, a silent parade of 15,000 African Americans in New York protested against lynching’s with signs saying ‘Mr President, why not make America safe for democracy?”
Seeking work in the war	The North promised better employment opportunities, this was especially the case during WWI. A factory worker in the North could earn up to $3.25 daily compared to 75 cents for agricultural work in the South.
Seeking work in the war pt 2	The war disrupted travel and transport and caused immigration from Europe to fall, but American industrial expansion proceeded apace. Northern employers were desperate for labour so they actively recruited black workers. Between 1915 and 1925,1.25 million black Americans migrated from the South to the North and settled in cities such as New York, Cleveland and Detroit.
Racism in WW1	Racism was entrenched within the War Department. The majority of African Americans were not assigned to combat units. Most were used in labour units, in support of front-line troops, digging trenches or building roads and bridges.
Racism in WW1 pt 2	The Navy only took African Americans as mess men. The commander of the American army in France, General Pershing, insisted on segregated units. Nevertheless, The Harlem Hellfighters, a segregated African American combat unit, fought longer on thefront line than any other American unit and was one of the most highly decorated African American units.
Impact of WW1 for black Americans	The aftermath of the First World War did not bring the hoped for improvements for African Americans. There was widespread fear among the white community in the USA about competition for jobs and housing in the North, the problems of the post-war economy and the spread of communism. An outbreak of savage race riots in northern cities took place.
Impact of migration- racial hostility	The black population was concentrated in ghettos in the northern cities e.g. Harlem. Conditions were awful: high rates of TB, crime, poor education, sanitation etc. small black communities had not aroused fear, but the influx of so many black migrants led to social tensions. Whites responded by trying to separate the races. Boston passed it first segregation residential law in 1911, other states followed suit.
Impact of migration- African American resistance :)- fighting back :(-many injured/killed	Segregated regiments in WWI raised awareness of the status of black Americans, but their determination to resolve it. White violence was not accepted passively. This was seen in the Chicago riot of 1919, a 15-year-old boy accidentally crossed the dividing line on a segregated beach on Lake Michigan. Whites stoned the boy and he drowned. Two weeks of rioting followed and federal troops had to be called in: 23 African Americans and 15 whites died. Many more were injured. Black Americans had fought back together.
Impact of migration NAACP activism- :)- people banding together, fighting as a group for same cause- stronger	In 1919 there were more than 300 branches of the NAACP with 900,000 members, ten times the number in 1916. They encouraged black Americans to fight back. Black Americans moving from the south brought their stories with them, spreading knowledge.
Impact of migration- UNIA- :)- black Americans fighting back :(- alienated people, wanted segregation for benefit of black Americans- lost support of white Americans who had power-drew support away from NAACP	UNIA (universal Negro improvement association)- set up by Marcus Garvey in Jamaica. Garvey came to US in 1916- brought UNIA with him. Wanted seperate African State, armed resistance and encouraged Africans to return to Africa as white Americans were racists and could not be changed. The UNIA got 4 million members (more than the NAACP). He was jailed and deported for fraud. The UNIA had instilled the idea of self-help, organised armed resistance and racial separatism, very different to the NAACP. The ideas of the UNIA did alienate some black and white Americans.
Impact of migration- cultural impact	Black migrants brought their culture with them, including Jazz music. Black American musicians and performers became national figures; Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. Harlem became a hub for arts, raising the profile of black American culture undermining stereotypes and changing views. Many white Americans listened to the popular Jazz performers.
Impact of migration- political/ social	Some minor changes had occurred. By the 1930s, 60% of black Americans participated in elections. Oscar de Priest became Chicago’s first African American alderman (next in status to a mayor) in 1915 and was the first African American US congressman in the 20 th century. The first African American labour union set up in 1925called the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maid secured pay increases from the Pullman Car Company.
Harlem renaissance	From 1905 mass migration into Harlem Unofficial capital of black America
Significance of Harlem- causes- population growth	There had been black residents of Harlem from the 17 th century and by the 19 th century their numbers had reached tens of thousands. Most were migrants from the South. However, it was after 1905 that mass black migration to the area began. As Harlem’s black population grew, the white population shrank: between 1920 and 1930 nearly 10,000 black migrants arrived in Harlem, but over 10,000 white people left there.
Significance of Harlem- causes- price crash	A price crash made property cheap, so landlords were desperate for tenants of any colour.
Significance of Harlem- causes- race riots	Many black New Yorkers sought new accommodation because of race riots in areas of New York City that had previously favoured, and because some black tenements had been demolished in order to make way for a railroad station.
Significance of Harlem- causes- WW1	WWI further accelerated mass migration to Harlem. Tens of thousands of black migrants travelled to Harlem on the East Coast railroad and sought employment in munition factories.
Significance of Harlem- causes- Harlem community	The fact Harlem was a well- established black community only continued to attract further migration.
Significance of Harlem- causes- real estate	Black real estate entrepreneur Philip Payton Jr brought in Black tenants through his Afro- American Realty Company.
Significance of Harlem for Black America- poverty	There was considerable poverty, most of Harlem’s black population did unskilled work. Harlem’s poverty was exasperated by the Great Depression that followed the Wall Street Crash.
Significance of Harlem for Black America- police problems	Poor relations between the black community and the white police officers led to periodic race riots, most famously in 1935. Cocaine addiction, prostitution and homicides were common.
Significance of Harlem for Black America- poor housing	The city Housing Commission chairman believed ‘the State would not allow cows to live in some of these apartments in Harlem’.
Significance of Harlem for Black America- poor health	Low wages affected morality rates. A black child born in Harlem was twice as likely to die in infancy as a white child born elsewhere in New York City.
Significance of Harlem -Race consciousness pt 1	The concentration of large numbers of black Americans in an urban area generated a sense of togetherness and empowerment, as demonstrated when Harlem developed into a centre for black civil rights advocates.
Significance of Harlem -Race consciousness pt 2	 The Abyssinian Baptist Church provided the location, money and leadership for civic clubs in which politics was discussed  By 1910, the NAACP was active in Harlem.  In 1916 Harlem became the headquarters of Marcus Garvey’s UNIA.  Leading black activists such as A. Phillip Randolph and W.E.B Du Bois lived in Harlem during the 1920’s.
Significance of Harlem -Race consciousness pt 3	During the Harlem Renaissance, black intellectuals, poets and jazz musicians were active and admired within the black community. Black music and dance ensured that Harlem’s theatres and night clubs, and speakeasies attracted fashionable white patrons
Significance of Harlem- Philip Randolph	Randolph was a leading black activist who established the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and used his union power base to exert national influence. He was important in President Roosevelt’s establishment of the Fair Employment Practices Commission, and the 1963 March on Washington.
If negatives why did people still move	Economic opportunities better More racially tolerant Allowed for greatest minds and composers to express themselves -writer Langston Hughes called an “expression of our individual dark-skinned selves,” as well as a new militancy in asserting their civil and political rights. Harlem defined culture and what was seen as cool across US with American owned publishing houses and newspapers, music companies, playhouses, nightclubs, and cabarets. Cut short by Wall Srt Crash
Why did some stay in the South during great migration pt 1	Many did and found that they didn’t like it - Some African Americans migrated from the South and found that they didn’t like it. They often returned after a few months or years. With what money? - Before end of WW1 was financially troublesome for black Americans
Why did some stay in the South during great migration pt 2	The other parts of America aren’t racial paradises by any stretch of the imagination And do what jobs? - Black Americans who migrated from the South had a hard time getting work even with skills and strong work ethics. That news trickled back down South and a lot of people decided to stay where they were.
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