The Great Migration: why Black families moved north and what they found

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Counting the Great Migration (cards A to F). Card A, US Census Bureau estimates of net out-migration of Black people from the South, in thousands, for the decade that begins in each year: 1870, 60; 1880, 70; 1890, 168; 1900, 170; 1910, 454; 1920, 749; 1930, 347; 1940, 1,599; 1950, 1,473; 1960, 1,380. The Census Bureau writes that the large movement north began during World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and gained momentum after the war. Card B, what a net figure means, in our words: net out-migration is the number of Black people who left the South in a decade minus the number who moved into it. The Bureau worked out the figures from births, deaths and census counts, not by counting each mover. Card C, counting the movers, in our words: the National Park Service says about 1.5 million Black Americans left the South from 1910 to 1940. The National Archives says about 2 million left between the two world wars, and about six million in the whole migration, from the 1910s to the 1970s. Card D, Black population by region, US Census Bureau, 1910 and 1970: South, 8,749,427 and 11,969,961; Northeast, 484,176 and 4,344,153; Midwest, 543,498 and 4,571,550; West, 50,662 and 1,694,625. Card E, housing in Chicago, in our words: the Chicago Commission on Race Relations reported in 1922 that in a single day in the summer of 1917 the Chicago Urban League counted 664 Black applicants for houses and only fifty houses available, and that rents rose by 5 to 30 percent and sometimes as much as 50 percent. Card F, Emmett J. Scott, 1920 (excerpt): "Wages offered in the North were double and treble those received in the South. Women who received $2.50 a week in domestic service could earn from $2.10 to $2.50 a day and men receiving $1.10 and $1.25 a day could earn from $2.50 to $3.75 a day in the various industries in the North."

2. 1.

   Card C gives three counts for the first wave. Card A's decades for 1910, 1920 and 1930 add to what, and what follows, Ari asks?

   • About 1.55 million, which settles the Park Service count as right and the Archives count as wrong
   • About 2 million, so the Census and the Archives agree and the Park Service undercounts
   • About 155,000, so the Census counts a tenth of what the other two do
   • About 1.55 million, near the Park Service count and below the Archives count
3. 2.

   Card B says 454,000 is a net figure for 1910 to 1920. What can a reader say about the number who actually left, Bo asks?

   • Fewer than 454,000 left, since a net figure is a ceiling on departures
   • Exactly 454,000 left, since the Bureau counted departures and arrivals each decade
   • Nothing, since an estimate from births, deaths and counts says nothing about departures
   • More than 454,000 may have left, since movers the other way are subtracted
4. 3.

   Card D shows the Black population outside the South grew about ten times from 1910 to 1970. A student says ten times as many left the South. Which reply is best, Esme asks?

   • No: the growth includes births outside the South and exceeds the 6.0 million
   • Yes: those regions grew just by arrivals, so ten times as many left
   • No: the growth is smaller than the number who left, since some returned
   • Yes: about ten times as many left, though the South's count fell by 3.2 million
5. 4.

   A student says the dip from 749 thousand in the 1920s to 347 thousand in the 1930s shows the Depression ended the migration. Which reply is best, Kira asks?

   • Right: the migration ended in the 1930s and the 1940s was a new movement
   • A real fall of about 54 percent, but no cause is given and it rose again
   • Partly: the fall is about 46 percent, so movement fell by less than half
   • Right: movement fell as jobs vanished, so the Depression cut the movement
6. 5.

   Card E reports 664 applicants for fifty houses on one summer day in 1917. What does it show, and what does it not, Milo asks?

   • About 13 applicants a house in Chicago that day, not other cities or days
   • About 7.5 percent of applicants housed, which shows rents rose because of the shortage
   • About 13 applicants a house in the large northern cities in general that year
   • About 13 applicants a house in Chicago, which shows migrants were shut out of its housing
7. 6.

   How does card E bear on the story that the North offered a better life, Noah asks?

   • A shortage and rents show the migration failed to improve lives
   • A shortage of housing shows the North offered fewer jobs than the South
   • Nothing, since a report written in 1922 cannot speak to 1917
   • A housing shortage and rising rents show the move brought costs too
8. 7.

   A student says wartime factory demand alone explains the Great Migration. Which pattern in card A challenges that, Pia asks?

   • Net movement fell in the 1930s, after the war's effects ran out
   • Net movement was larger in the 1920s (749) than in the 1910s (454)
   • Net movement began in the 1910s, so the war must have started it
   • Net movement before 1910 was under 200 thousand, so the war must be the single cause
9. 8.

   Scott says northern wages were "double and treble" southern wages. Using card F, do the figures for men fit, Ren asks?

   • No: $1.10 to $2.50 is about 1.4 times, and $1.25 to $3.75 is about 2 times
   • Yes, and the same holds for women, whose pay also rose two to three times
   • Yes: the men's figures are about 2.3 times and 3 times, between double and treble
   • Yes for the top figure alone: $1.25 to $3.75 is treble, but $1.10 to $2.50 is under double
10. 9.

    Assume a six-day week. Card F says women earned $2.50 a week in southern domestic service, and $2.10 to $2.50 a day in northern industry. How does that compare with "double and treble", Tala asks?

    • About 5 to 6 times, more than "double and treble" suggests
    • About the same pay, since $2.50 appears in both of the figures given
    • About 2 to 3 times, the same as the men's range
    • About 5 to 6 times, so Scott's phrase is wrong for women and men alike
11. 10.

    Which conclusion do cards A to F support best, Zee asks?

    • A movement caused by wartime factory work alone, since card A begins to rise then
    • A small movement, since the South's count still rose by 3.2 million
    • A large, long movement with differing estimates, pulled by pay and met by costs
    • A movement that peaked in the 1920s, since net movement was largest then