Great Migration

Definition

The Great Migration refers to a period from about 1916-1970 when six million African Americans moved out of rural Southern United States to urban Northeast, Midwest, and West regions. This movement significantly reshaped America’s demographic patterns.

Related terms

Jim Crow Laws: State-level legal codes enacted after Reconstruction ended which enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Harlem Renaissance: A cultural, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York spanning the 1920s. It was considered a rebirth of African American arts and had significant ties to The Great Migration.

Industrialization: The process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to one based on the manufacturing of goods.