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

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Letters and a report of 1917 to 1920 (cards A to D). Card A, a letter from a man writing for families in Sanford, Florida, April 27, 1917, to a northern newspaper or aid group (excerpt): "I have seen through the Chicago Defender that you and the people of Chicago are helping newcomers. I am asking you for some information about conditions in some small town near Chicago. There are some families here thinking of moving up, and are desirous of knowing what to expect before leaving. Please state about treatment, work, rent and schools." Card B, a letter from a married man in Natchez, Mississippi, September 22, 1917, to a northern newspaper or aid group (excerpt): "I am a married man having wife and mother to support, (I mention this in order to properly convey my plight) conditions here are not altogether good and living expenses growing while wages are small. My greatest desire is to leave for a better place but am unable to raise the money." Both letters were printed in the Journal of Negro History in 1919. Card C, Emmett J. Scott, who gathered reports and letters on the migration, in a study for the Carnegie Endowment, 1920 (excerpt): "Despite the fact that food prices began to rise with the war, wages advanced very slowly. In 1915, wages of farm laborers in the South averaged around 75 cents a day. In the towns the principal opportunities for employment were in the oil mills, lumber mills, cotton compresses, railroad shops and domestic service. In the mills and shops the average of wages ranged from $1 to $1.50 a day." Card D, Scott, 1920 (excerpt): "The inability to educate their children properly because of the inadequacy of school facilities was another cause which has been universally given for leaving the South."

2. 1.

   Card B's writer says he is "unable to raise the money" to leave. Set beside card C, what does that show about who could move, Bo asks?

   • Labor agents paid the fares of those who wrote, as card B's writer hoped
   • Wanting to leave was not enough; the cost of moving limited who could go
   • Small wages caused the wish to leave, so the same wages let the writer go
   • The poorest families moved last, since wages of 75 cents could not pay a fare
3. 2.

   Card B says wages in Natchez were small. How far does card C support that, Esme asks?

   • It contradicts it, since $1 to $1.50 a day is not small
   • Averages fit small wages, but they are for farms and mills, not Natchez
   • It cannot bear on it, since a study and a letter measure different things
   • It confirms it for Natchez, since the averages are for the South
4. 3.

   Card C gives farm wages of 75 cents a day and mill and shop wages of $1 to $1.50. Which comparison is fair for a farm worker weighing a mill job, Jun asks?

   • 25 to 75 cents more, a gain too small in cents to matter
   • 33 to 100 percent more, which was enough to explain the move
   • 33 to 100 percent more, measured from the 75-cent farm wage
   • 25 to 50 percent more, measured against the mill wage
5. 4.

   Card C says food prices rose with the war while wages advanced slowly. What does that suggest about southern workers' buying power, Kira asks?

   • It held steady, since mill wages of $1.50 offset higher food prices
   • It fell sharply, since food prices and rents rose together
   • It likely fell or barely rose, since prices rose faster than pay
   • It likely rose, since wages advanced during those war years
6. 5.

   Both letters were written to a northern newspaper or aid group and printed in 1919. What does that limit about them, Luz asks?

   • They show conditions in Chicago, since both were sent to a Chicago paper
   • They speak for Black southerners as a group, since both writers asked about moving
   • They are unreliable, since letters sent to a newspaper are written to be printed
   • They come from people who chose to write, not from those who stayed
7. 6.

   Scott writes that school inadequacy was "universally given" as a cause. How do cards A and B bear on that, Milo asks?

   • Both letters raise schools or wages, so together they confirm it
   • Letters cannot test a report, since Scott chose which letters to use
   • Card A asks about schools but card B does not, so it is not confirmed
   • Card B's "living expenses growing" includes school costs, so both confirm it
8. 7.

   Which question can cards A to D answer best, Noah asks?

   • Whether schools or wages mattered more, since Scott's report ranks them
   • What migrants found in Chicago, since card A asks about it
   • What reasons and worries some families gave in 1917 about leaving
   • How many families left in 1917, since letters from two states suggest a wave
9. 8.

   Using cards B, C and D, which statement weighs the causes of leaving best, Ren asks?

   • Prices, since they rose with the war and the letters date to 1917
   • Schools, since Scott says the reason was universally given
   • Wages, since card C gives numbers and card B speaks of wages
   • Wages, prices and schools all appear; the cards do not rank them
10. 9.

    Which added source would best test whether wages were the main reason families left, Tala asks?

    • Letters from many migrants stating their reasons, counted
    • Another summary of the Great Migration written by a historian
    • A list of the train fares from Mississippi to Chicago
    • Scott's own study re-read for how he chose his letters
11. 10.

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

    • Few families wanted to leave, since the letters just ask for information
    • Families weighed pay, prices, schools and cost; some could not go
    • Pay was the sole reason, and those who wanted to leave were able to go
    • Northern employers paid the fares of the families who wrote