The Great Migration Essay

886 Words4 Pages

Introduction You might think that only birds and other animals migrate. Well, if you thought that, you would be wrong. In 1916-1970, about 5 million African-Americans who lived in the south migrated to several other states across the U.S. This event was called the Great Migration. The Great Migration changed life in various places because of many reasons. Causes The main reason they moved from their homeland is because of their conditions in the South. They attempted to leave to somewhere else in order to live better lives. They believed they could have better lives somewhere other than the south because there were higher wages and better education for their children. They also believed there were better jobs and possibly better homes. Another …show more content…

This was called the Red Summer of 1919. Many African-Americans were attacked, injured, and even killed. In Chicago, for 13 days, many African Americans’ homes and businesses were attacked by white rioters. There were an estimate of 1,550 people who were affected by the attacks. However, the states they migrated to weren’t the only places that were affected by the riots. Southern cities such as Sylvester, Georgia had attacks as well. Families who took part in the event had children that affected American pop culture. Many of these children include people like Jackie Robinson. Mallie Robinson, his mother, gathered her 5 children and got on a Jim Crow train. She was plan to travel to California was successful. When they got there, they moved into an all-white neighborhood. Fortunately, her children were able to go to integrated schools and didn’t have to pick cotton for the rest of the lives. Jackie, who was her youngest, went on and was very successful in athletics. When he was 28, he became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. If his mother didn’t have the courage to move, her children would continue to suffer poor treatment. “My mother never lost her composure. As I grew older, I often thought about the courage it took for my mother to break away from the South.” Jackie Robinson once