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 A asks about "treatment, work, rent and schools," and card D names schools as a cause. What do the two cards show together, Ari asks?

   • That schools were the main worry, since both cards name them
   • Families' hopes and worries, with schools in both, but not what they found
   • Little, since a letter that asks questions reports nothing about conditions
   • That work mattered most to families, since work comes second in the list
3. 2.

   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?

   • 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
   • Labor agents paid the fares of those who wrote, as card B's writer hoped
   • The poorest families moved last, since wages of 75 cents could not pay a fare
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?

   • 33 to 100 percent more, which was enough to explain the move
   • 25 to 75 cents more, a gain too small in cents to matter
   • 25 to 50 percent more, measured against the mill wage
   • 33 to 100 percent more, measured from the 75-cent farm 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 likely rose, since wages advanced during those war years
   • It fell sharply, since food prices and rents rose together
   • It likely fell or barely rose, since prices rose faster than pay
   • It held steady, since mill wages of $1.50 offset higher food prices
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 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
   • They speak for Black southerners as a group, since both writers asked about moving
7. 6.

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

   • What reasons and worries some families gave in 1917 about leaving
   • What migrants found in Chicago, since card A asks about it
   • How many families left in 1917, since letters from two states suggest a wave
   • Whether schools or wages mattered more, since Scott's report ranks them
8. 7.

   Scott's study came in 1920, and the Natchez letter in September 1917. Why does the gap matter when using Scott to explain that letter, Pia asks?

   • Scott drew on these letters, so his study adds nothing independent of them
   • Scott came later, so his study shows what the writer did next
   • Scott came three years later and drew on many people: a pattern
   • A study three years later cannot describe conditions in 1917
9. 8.

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

   • Wages, since card C gives numbers and card B speaks of wages
   • Prices, since they rose with the war and the letters date to 1917
   • Wages, prices and schools all appear; the cards do not rank them
   • Schools, since Scott says the reason was universally given
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
    • A list of the train fares from Mississippi to Chicago
    • Scott's own study re-read for how he chose his letters
    • Another summary of the Great Migration written by a historian
11. 10.

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

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