Excerpt from a letter written by a migrant in Mississippi to the *Chicago Defender*, a Black-owned newspaper, in 1917:
"Dear Sir: I am writing to you to see if you can help me get a job in the North. The treatment we receive here is almost unbearable—no justice in the courts, no protection for our lives, and wages so low we can scarcely buy bread. I see in your paper that labor is needed in the Chicago factories and that they pay three to four dollars a day. We want to come North where we can live like citizens and give our children a chance."
Based on the excerpt, which of the following statements best analyzes how Southern conditions and Northern opportunities interacted to drive the Great Migration?
- Southern racial violence and economic exploitation acted as push factors, while the promise of higher industrial wages and citizenship rights in the North acted as pull factors, communicated through the Black press.Answer
- BThe migration was driven exclusively by Southern push factors such as agricultural failures and disenfranchisement, as Northern cities offered few economic or social advantages to incoming migrants.
- CThe migration was driven solely by Northern pull factors such as industrial labor recruitment, since Southern legal segregation and racial violence had largely ceased by the start of the First World War.
- DThe migration was primarily coordinated by federal relocation programs that forced Southern Black agricultural workers to move to Northern factories during wartime mobilization.
Answer
Southern racial violence and economic exploitation acted as push factors, while the promise of higher industrial wages and citizenship rights in the North acted as pull factors, communicated through the Black press.
The correct option accurately identifies the dual role of push and pull factors. The writer details Southern hardships, such as lack of legal protection and low wages (push factors), and highlights Northern opportunities, such as high-paying factory jobs and the prospect of full citizenship (pull factors). Additionally, the mention of reading about these jobs in the paper highlights the critical role of the Black press, specifically the Chicago Defender, in facilitating the migration.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
The Great Migration was driven by a combination of Southern push factors (such as Jim Crow laws, racial terror, and low sharecropping wages) and Northern pull factors (such as industrial jobs, higher wages, and the hope for voting and civil rights), with the Black press playing a crucial role in spreading information.