The Changing Geography of Civil Rights Issues

Question 1

Why had life improved for African Americans in the South?

Answer 1

• Black Southerners were given the right to vote.

- The presence of federal troops restrained white supremacism.

Question 2

Why did African Americans refuse to migrate in 1845?

Answer 2

Migration was daunting to most freed slaves, who were illiterate and unskilled.

Question 3

In 1879, how many black Mississippian ‘Exodusters’ migrated from the South to Kansas?

Answer 3

20,000

Question 4

Advantages of life outside the South

Answer 4

• Migration helped generate race consciousness.

- Many had a better life in the North.

Question 5

Disadvantages of life outside the South

Answer 5

• Violence, such as NYC in 1900.

- Gerrymandering (in 1897, Boston’s City Council redrew electoral districts to dilute the impact of the black vote).

Question 6

During the First Great Migration (1910-1930), around 1.6 million black Southerners left the South because:

Answer 6

• Jim Crow laws

- The greater incidence of lynching in the South (e.g. a Georgia mob lynched 11 blacks in May 1918).

Question 7

Black migrants were attracted to the North because:

Answer 7

• Wages were higher (e.g. a Northern factory worker could earn $3.25, compared to $0.75 for agricultural workers).
• When WW1, disrupted immigration of Europe, Northern employers were short of labour.

Question 8

The First Migration had the following disadvantages:

Answer 8

• The cost of living was higher.
• Black migrants exacerbated racial tensions and there were many race riots. For example, there were race riots in 25 cities in 1919.

Question 9

During the Second Great Migration (1940-1970), how many black Southerners migrated North and West?

Answer 9

5 milion.

Question 10

Chicago’s black population rose from what in 1940 to what in 1950?

Answer 10

Chicago’s black population rose from 250,000 in 1940 to 500,000 in 1950.

Question 11

Many black Americans migrated back to the Old South because:

Answer 11

• De facto segregation was less pronounced in the South, e.g. Atlanta.
• More black Americans held office in the South than in any other region, e.g. Houston Mayor Lee Brown.

Question 12

Between 1850 and 1920, how much did NYC’s black population rise?

Answer 12

NYC’s black population rose from 70,000 to 200,000.