in the nineteen teens and 20s a large
number of african-americans moved from
the South to other parts of the country
why did they move what kind of impact
did this have on the nation in 1900 most
African Americans in the United States
lived in southern states in fact 90% of
the African American population still
lived in the South however many began to
move into northern and Midwestern states
such as Michigan Illinois Pennsylvania
and New York the reasons they were
moving varied from family to family in
some cases they were hoping to find jobs
in steel mills automobile factories
meatpacking plants or working for the
railroad some were searching for better
schools and education opportunities
others were hoping to escape the racism
and violence that African Americans were
experiencing in the south most who left
the south were heading for larger
northern cities Chicago New York City
Detroit Philadelphia Pittsburgh and
Cleveland all experienced significant
surges in population for example in 1910
the african-american population of
Detroit was approximately 6,000 by 1930
this number had increased to 120,000
nationwide only an estimated seven
hundred and forty thousand African
Americans lived outside of the South in
1900
as the 20th century progressed this
number eventually rose to more than 10
million living in other regions of the
country the great migration was one of
the largest and fastest movements ever
by a group of people who were moving
from one part of a nation to another
this is especially true when considering
that the movement was not caused by some
kind of immediate threat or danger this
migration had many different
ramifications for the nation as black
populations rose many northern cities
became increasingly more integrated
African Americans were working alongside
recent European immigrants as well as
other white residents these cities also
became important sinners for African
American culture newspapers churches
businesses and political organizations
were all established by African
Americans as part of a movement to
redefine black culture Harlem became the
center of much of this activity
musicians artists and writers flocked to
the area bringing about the era that
would eventually become known as the
Harlem Renaissance there were also some
negative impacts of the great migration
many African Americans who moved north
did experience racism in their new
cities in some neighborhoods white
residents moved away having no desire to
live with black neighbors this resulted
in some places such as Harlem having an
almost exclusively black population
obviously another significant impact of
the great migration was the changing
demographics of the south every southern
state experienced a loss in
african-american population especially
in the rural regions african-americans
made up with 50% of the populations of
both Mississippi and South Carolina
Texas Louisiana Alabama and Georgia had
populations that were more than 40
percent black within just a few decades
these numbers would be reduced less than
30 percent in nearly every one of those
states