The Great Migration

In today’s mini blog we will take a high level look at one of the largest migrations on american soil. Now that we have explored the transatlantic slave trade and life on the plantation as instrumental events in the formation of African american culture, we must look at the Great Migration.

After the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 the slaves were finally free. However, this newfound
freedom came with its own hardships. In fact, post slavery was not much different than life on the plantation. The ratification of the 13th Amendment prohibited slavery “except as punishment for a crime.” This gaping loophole left the door open for newly freed slaves to be subjugated under a new set of laws. Black Codes were instituted, mainly throughout the south, to limit the freedom of the former slaves. To make a living, African Americans had to turn to sharecropping. Think of sharecropping as the half-sister of slavery. In sharecropping, the workers did get paid but what they earned went to pay for the necessities to work the land. This often left them indebted to the landowners. To pay off these debts they had to work – for free. You see? Half-sister of slavery. After all, Slavery was a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, and the confederate states were not going to let it go that easily. Coupled with the rise of racial brutality and the Ku Klux Klan, you have a recipe for a continued cycle of hardship.

With the start of World War I, in 1914, African Americans sought refuge in the northern and midwestern states of America. Because of the financial prosperity of the wartime economy, African Americans could make three times what they were making in the rural south as sharecroppers. Up until the 20th century, roughly 90% of African Americans lived in the southern United States. After the great migration, in 1970, only 50% of the African American population remained in the south.

Now what do you think happened to all the culture that had been formed on the plantations in the south? All these customs and traditions were moving across the United States and being remixed along the way as African Americans settled in their new homes.

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