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Difficulty: MediumThe Great Migration and Demographic Shifts

Read the excerpt from a letter written by a Florida resident to a Northern employment agency in 1916:

'The white people here are making it very hard for us to live. They pay only 75 cents a day for farm labor, and with the boll weevil having destroyed the cotton, there is little work to be had. But what is worse is the constant fear of violence; a man cannot feel safe. I hear that in your city the factories are hiring colored men at good wages and that there are no laws separating us on the streetcars. I want to come where I can earn a living and feel like a man.'

Based on the letter, which of the following best analyzes the interaction between the factors prompting the writer's desire to relocate?

  1. Southern push factors like agricultural ruin and racial terror operated in tandem with Northern pull factors like industrial employment and fewer legal restrictions.Answer
  2. B
    Northern pull factors like industrial job offers directly caused Southern push factors like the boll weevil infestation and agricultural depression.
  3. C
    Severe agricultural depression and racial violence in the South were the sole drivers of relocation, rendering Northern social and economic conditions irrelevant to the writer's destination choice.
  4. D
    The attraction of higher wages and integrated streetcars in the North was the exclusive cause of the migration, as the writer notes that Southern agricultural conditions remained stable.

Answer

Southern push factors like agricultural ruin and racial terror operated in tandem with Northern pull factors like industrial employment and fewer legal restrictions.
The correct answer accurately identifies how the primary source letter contains both push factors (boll weevil devastation, low wages, and racial terror) and pull factors (industrial jobs, higher wages, and less rigid segregation laws) working together to motivate the writer to move north.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source text for Southern push factors.
Identified low wages (75 cents a day), agricultural destruction by the boll weevil, and the fear of racial violence.
Push factors are negative conditions that compel individuals to leave their home region.
2
Analyze the primary source text for Northern pull factors.
Identified the availability of factory jobs at good wages and the absence of segregation laws on streetcars.
Pull factors are positive conditions that attract migrants to a new destination.
3
Evaluate the interaction between these factors and match them to the options.
The correct analysis shows that both sets of factors worked together to motivate the relocation, rather than one being the sole driver or causing the other.
A comprehensive understanding of the Great Migration requires analyzing the interplay of both push and pull forces.

Key Concept

The Great Migration and Demographic Shifts
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Topics

The Great Migration and Demographic Shifts

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