The Great Migration is a milestone in United States history. This event was the movement of about two million African Americans from the rural South to the urban North in the first part of the twentieth century. This was not just a change in demographics - it was change in the country's culture.

The painting below is part of a series from artist Jacob Lawrence. His series depicted the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North.

Which major cities does Jacob Lawrence describe as choices for African Americans to migrate?

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The signs for Chicago, New york, and St. Louis are in the painting.

Since the days of slavery, the north has always offered those of African descent hope. After the Civil War ended slavery was illegal in all states, however, racism and lack of opportunity for African Americans continued discrimination and oppression.

Sharecropping was the way that plantation owners kept their farms operating cheaply by taking advantage of former slaves who needed some form of income, and already had farm skills. The land owners would rent small pieces of their plantations to families. The families were responsible for growing crops to sell in order to pay the landlord's rent. This system ensured the families remained unable to profit and therefore they had little opportunity to create a better life.

This is a colorized photo of a sharecropping family at work. Roll your mouse over the photo to find more information.

African American parents usually tried to teach children what they could. Parents often had little education. Many of the laws and customs of the South continued to deny African Americans a quality and equal education. Poverty and lack of opportunity is the reason many people will decide to move away from the south in search of a better life.

In this photo a mother is teaching her young sons their first numbers and letters. Roll your mouse over the photo to find more information.

What other observations can you make from this photo?

Between the years 1910 and 1940, millions of African Americans left the south to move to northern cities where jobs in industry were more plentiful. Racism still existed in the north, but there was more opportunity. The more African Americans who moved the larger their urban communities became.

The Great Migration is a milestone in United States history: the movement of about two million African Americans from the rural South to the urban North in the first part of the twentieth century. This was not just a change in demographics - it was a whole-scale change in the country's culture.

Source: African-American Migration Northward, 1910-1920, Wikispaces

Activity

Answer the following questions from the map above.

Based upon the map, from which states did African Americans migrate from during The Great Migration?

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African Americans migrated from: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Click on each star on the map below to determine which major cities were destinations for African Americans who migrated from the southern states.

As African American communities grew in the major cities of the Midwest and Northeast, a new African American culture developed and influenced everything from food to music to art in some of the U.S.'s most influential cities of the time. African American communities were also influenced by different culture groups in these large cities. Additionally, cultural and ethnic groups of immigrants from Europe, Asia, and migrants from various regions in the south made for a mix of new ideas that greatly affected American cultural development.

Now watch the video and answer the questions that follow in your notes.

Blacks who were migrating north were in search of the American dream. Describe in your own words what the American dream looked like for these migrants. Do you think they were able to live this dream? Explain your answer.