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Pros And Cons Of The Great Migration

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The Great Migration North: An Economic Endeavor For the United States of America, a large portion of the twentieth century, 1910 to 1970, was characterized by African American movement from the rural South to the urban, industrial North. During this time, known as the Great Migration, millions of southern blacks moved to the North in hopes of a better future, away from the Jim Crow South where they were under constant threat by white supremacist values and endured an unequal treatment from whites even after Emancipation. However, the principal motive for the blacks of the rural South to leave their homes, families, and friends for the urban North was economic; regional wage differences, limited job opportunities in the South compared to the …show more content…

The average wage in the South was three-fourths that of the North. Laborers doing agricultural work made 75 cents per day and laborers in non-agricultural work made $1.25 per day. Skilled laborers such as artisans, however, made $3 per day. Meanwhile, black laborers in the North worked the low level jobs in mass production industries, regardless of skill, for three to five dollars per eight hour day. This meant that any person could do the dull and mindless work in meatpacking, steel, or auto industries and still get paid better than the laborers in the …show more content…

Please answer at some spare time.” (pg 294) These letters would often ask about available jobs, passage to the North, and provide a brief description of the writer’s capabilities as a worker. Because they were able to sell 150,000 to 300,000 copies per issue, many people were able to learn about job opportunities in the North. In addition to the work of the labor agents and the black press, an extensive network of family and friends furthered the desire to migrate North. Members of the community would talk in barber shops and grocery stores to learn about transportation, jobs, and housing in the North. Letters, money, and accounts from those who returned to visit the South also gave them an idea of what their future could look like if they choose to migrate to the North. Some formed migration clubs to pool their resources and move in groups to the North while others saved up enough money to send one family member up North, expecting them to make enough money to send the rest of the family up. The dream of moving up North for a better future could not have been so popular, had there not been communication between members of the community and those who had

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