The Great Migration, Cause and Effect - Essay Example

The Great Migration, Cause and Effect The first half of the 20th century was marked by a radical shift in thegeographical location of America's African-American population. This massive relocation began its roots at the turn of the 20th century and came to be known as the Great Migration. African Americans migrated not only to escape the hostile conditions of the South, but also to seek higher pay, better conditions, and a new identity. While it served to solve some of the dilemmas facing the blacks in the South during that period, it also presented America with a new set of racial challenges. The Great Migration uprooted an entire culture and increased tensions, not only in the South, but also in the Northern industrial cities as they competed for space, employment, and political power. The first great wave of migration began during the period of World War I. The manufacture of war supplies had demanded increased production while the draft, and disruption of immigration, left the factories short of much needed labor. As the pool of labor dwindled, companies began to look elsewhere for workers to fill the positions. The southern African-American population made up a substantial resource for unskilled workers and northern companies made extraordinary efforts to recruit them. Companies sent agents to the South and offered the African-Americans high paying jobs, transportation north, and housing arrangements upon arrival at their new location (Crew). The economic and social climate in the South during this period made the offers too good to resist and set off the first great wave of migration. The opportunity for greater wealth was a powerful motivation for the migration during the war. Blacks were leaving behind the rural life they knew to seek a new destiny. Many were leaving behind their families, wives, and children with the hope of creating a better future, and the opportunity for more money did not disappoint them. While most laborers in the South were earning little more than $2,00 per week, a letter published in 1919 explains to his friends back home, "Never pay less than $3.00 per day [...] Remember this is the very lowest wages. Piece work men can make from $6 to $8 per day " ("Don[']t Have to Mister"). Spurred by these tales of high pay, people left behind their social ties and the only way of life they knew with the promise of one day sending for those they left behind. If money had been the only factor, their decision to leave might have been more difficult, but there were other considerations in the South. The social and political climate in the South made the African-Americans even more eager to leave their rural way of life. The constitutional amendments passed after the Civil War that were to protect the rights of blacks were largely ignored in the South. Local laws, hostile prejudice, and Jim Crow laws left them vulnerable to violence, imprisonment, and death. The economics of sharecropping had also taken its toll on the farm workers. Bad crops, low prices, and unpredictable weather had left most of them in debt to the white landowners (Crew). By 1910, emancipation had a hollow meaning and the living condition of the former slaves were no better than they had been 50 years earlier. Migrating north offered them an escape from the ever-present oppression and the economic means to finally carve out their own identity. It is estimated that by 1919, the number of Blacks that had migrated north numbered near 1 million. Most settled in the industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh. Many of the new arrivals found the promise of better pay and human dignity a reality and were pleasantly surprised to find that the letters they read from people who had migrated before them had been accurate about the opportunities for work. They also enjoyed a new sense of identity, in a new place with attitudes more sensitive to their condition. In a letter dated 1917, a worker in Philadelphia expresses the simple joy of even the most modest respect when they write, "I don't have to work hard. dont have to mister every little white boy comes along I havent heard a white man call a colored a nigger you no now-since I been in the state of Pa." ("Don[']t Have to Mister"). Letters such as this, with its tale of the good life that could be attained by moving north, continued to fuel the desire for the African-Americans in the South to move and join the Great Migration. A newspaper, The Chicago Defender, made another contribution to the migration north. The Defender was the country's most influential black newspaper during the period of World War I, and was the most aggressive supporter of the migration movement. The Defender openly professed the dangers of living in the overtly oppressive South and praised the benefits of moving north. The Defender published employment listings, travel tips, and transportation schedules to facilitate greater numbers of migrants. The Defender also sensationalized headlines, articles, and editorials to draw attention to the movement. An issue from that period, during the height of the frenzy, declared May 15, 1917 as the date of the Great Northern Drive ("The Chicago Defender"). The Defender, widely distributed in the South, was instrumental in inspiring even greater numbers to join the migration. Estimates are that a record number of 110,000 Blacks came to Chicago during the years 1916-1918, raising Chicago's black population by 300% ("The Chicago Defender"). Yet, even with the newly acquired sense of pride, dignity, and opportunities for the future, not every thing was as pleasant as the Defender wrote. Often, the migrants were herded into geographically specific and isolated locations upon their arrival. They were met with a higher cost of living and increased rents. These increased costs necessitated that the migrant families take in boarders to meet the escalated costs (Crew). While the increase in income helped, it also contributed to an already overcrowded situation. Living conditions, privacy, and health suffered in this environment. Added to this burden was the problem Blacks encountered when faced with higher prices in their neighborhood stores for food, clothing, and the essentials of life (Crew). For many migrants, the move north had become a bittersweet experience and as the time wore on, tensions began to rise. Race relations began to suffer in the North where the newly arrived blacks were not always welcome and seen as intruders upon space and jobs. Yet, as much as their arrival in the northern cities was straining relations, the South was experiencing a similar fate with the Black exodus. White landowners in the South feared the loss of the abundant supply of cheap labor and saw the migration as a threat to their livelihood. According to Grossman, "Dependent not only on black labor, but also on the surplus necessary to pick cotton and to keep men's wages low enough to force black women to work outside the home, white southerners sought to stem the tide of black migration.". In rare cases, workers were offered additional incentives and rewards to stay in the South, but usually the landowners turned to intimidation. The white south clamped down by instituting travel restrictions, failing to honor train tickets, and detaining passengers to make it impossible to board the train. Landowners conspired to keep the families destitute to prevent them from being able to travel. They also instilled fear in the Blacks by spreading rumors of the North. In an interview from 1917, a resident of the South reports, "The white people in general had men going around dissuading Negroes from leaving-saying that the South was the best place for them, among friends: that the Northern man is their enemy: Cold: danger of freezing" ("We Tho[ugh]t State Street"). The obstacles, hardships, and rumors failed to deter the Blacks eager to move away in search of a better life. As World War I came to a close, the soldiers returned home to reclaim their previous jobs. The numbers of Black workers had swollen dramatically and were now faced with unemployment. Unions routinely barred Blacks from membership and threatened to strike any company hiring non-union help. Squalid conditions, unemployment, and the underlying wave of northern prejudice finally brought the pressure to a head. In 1919, race riots broke out in 22 American cities with Chicago and Washington DC experiencing the most severe outbreaks of violence ("Says Lax Conditions"). Scores of people were killed during the spring and summer of that year. The riots of 1919 were the result of tensions that had been fomenting since the Great Migration began. In 1917, Blacks returning from enlistment in the Army demanded the same respect afforded the white troops that were returning. The clashes resulted in major riots in St. Louis and Houston, which left several Black soldiers dead. As the problems escalated, so did the level of violence and for 4 days in July 1919 Chicago was gripped with untold violence. The Chicago Defender, long a champion of freedom and hope, compounded the problem with over zealous and sensational reporting. A Defender article described one scene as, "The homes of blacks isolated in white neighborhoods were burned to the ground and the owners and occupants beaten and thrown unconscious in the smoldering embers." ("Ghastly Deeds"}. The Chicago Tribune held no higher standards and the yellow press continued to fan the flames of hatred. The 1920s ushered in a hopeful decade for America contrasted with growing unrest in the South. The Ku Klux Klan was rising in strength across the country and the intimidation and fear they instilled in the African-American population continued to drive them north. With fewer jobs available, most were met with increasing economic hardships. Black populations were almost exclusively geographically isolated in large urban areas where large numbers lived in abject poverty. The decade of the 1920s was one of the most segregated decades in our nation's history. Blacks were denied access to education, health care, and the basic necessities of life. The dream of a new life in the North was fading as the decade wore on. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 highlighted the final years of the roaring 20s. The floodwaters rose and stayed at flood stage for two months driving hundreds of thousands of people for their homes in the Mississippi delta region of the South ("Fatal Flood"). With no place to go, many of them joined the migration, even in the face of poverty, personal suffering, and resentment from the North. The tidal wave of migrants seeking a new life had finally waned by 1930, but left behind a changed face of America and a new set of challenges facing the country's attitude on race. The migration north originated with individuals seeking a better life, a new sense of dignity, and hope for a better future. From that modest beginning it soon grew into a national movement that ushered in a new era in American society. Spurred on by letters, newspaper accounts, and rumors, The Great Migration had given Blacks an opportunity to escape the bitter life they knew in the South, but the price was high. They were forced into menial positions, unemployment, and poverty that would take decades to begin to correct. The movement also unleashed the African-American identity, and it roared forth with 150 years of rage against slavery. The Migration paved the way for the coming Civil Rights movement and began to empower Black organizations such as the NAACP and the Urban League. America's social and political landscape still bears the scars of the Black man's struggle, and still carries the hope of the Great Migration. Works Cited Crew, Spencer R. "The great migration of Afro-Americans, 1915-40." Monthly Labor Review 110 (1987): 34-36. InfoTrac. 3 Mar. 2006 . "Don[']t Have to Mister Every Little White Boy. . .": Black Migrants Write Home." History Matters. 1987. George Mason University. 3 Mar. 2006 . "Fatal Flood." American Experience. 2000. PBS. 3 Mar. 2006 . "Ghastly Deeds of Race Rioters Told.". The Chicago Defender Reports the Chicago Race Riot, 1919." History Matters. George Mason University. 3 Mar. 2006 . Grossman, James. "Chicago and the Great Migration." Migration. 1996. Northern Illinois University. 3 Mar. 2006 . "Says Lax Conditions Caused Race Riots. Chicago Daily News and Carl Sandburg Report the Chicago Race Riot of 1919." History Matters. George Mason University. 3 Mar. 2006 . "The Chicago Defender." Newspapers. PBS. 3 Mar. 2006 . "We Tho[ugh]t State Street Would Be Heaven Itself." History Matters. George Mason University. 3 Mar. 2006 . Read More