To what extent were push factors more important than pull factors influencing the changing geography of civil rights issues between 1850 and 2009?

what are the different paragraphs in this essay

1. economic (conclude pull = v important)

2. social (conclude push = v important)

3. political (conclude push = v important)

4. conclusion = push

P1 - economic. What were the push factors?

1. sharecropping

2. overdependence on cotton

3. northern rust belt decline

P1 - economic, push. Sharecropping why push?

During slow drift, BAs were essentially slaves even after 13th A. Exploitative system. Trapped.

P1 - economic, push. Details of overdependence on cotton.

1. 1914 boll weevil crisis - collapse of cotton trade, less jobs

2. 1922 S.C. bad harvest - 500,000 BAs left

P1 - economic, push. What was the northern rustbelt (details)?

late 20th C decline in northern rust belt industry so BAs returned to the south

P1 - economic, pull. what are the pulls?

1. jobs better paid

2. more jobs

3. however - some discrimination in northern work places

P1 - economic, pull. details on better paid jobs?

Increased wages following ww1:

1918 - $0.75/day for average southern agricultural worker, $3.25/day for average northern factory worker (but higher cost of living in the south)

P1 - economic, pull. Details of more jobs

• WW1 displaced european immigrants so BAs needed

• 10% of BAs in south moved (a) north to compensate for conscripted workers and (b) west to the aircraft industry

• WW2 2m BAs sought work in defence industries in North and West eg. Oakland, LA

P1 - economic. what is the final point on para1

despite the pull of jobs, in the north BAs experienced discrimination eg. some employers would not employ BAs and trade unions excluded them

P2 - social. What were the push factors?

1. violence

2. discrimination

P2 - social, push. Details on violence in the south?

1. lynching, white supremacy croups. eg. white mob lynching (11 BAs) in Georgia 1918. lynching rose after Reconstruction - 187/year in the 1890s

P2 - social. What are the pull factors? (4)

1. some migrants say less prejudice at work

2. better housing in the north

3. northern black communities welcomed black migrants

4. return to the south - social reasons friends, family, roots

P2 - social, pull. Details on housing?

generally better housing in north but during the slow drift, some white landlords refused to sell/rent in white areas. also, some poor urban housing

P3 - political. What are the pull factors?

1. migration helped to improve race consciousness and activism

2. return to the south - less powerful unions, cheaper land, lighter rules, tax breaks allowed by local and national gov

P3 - political, pull. Details of race consciousness/activism.

• 1941 black trade union leader Phillip Randolph encouraged FDR to promote equality in defence industries

• etc.

P3 - political. What were the push factors?

1. slow drift Jim Crow segregation/end of reconstruction

2. de jure segregation after civil rights cases such as Plessy

3. 1880 Senate Commission on BA migration blames ‘unjust and cruel’ Southerners depriving BAs’ rights

P3 - political. what is the final point on para3

there was still segregation in the north including schools

final conclusion

• push factors are more important in terms of political and social factors especially in the late 19th century and early 20th century

• the most important pull factor for working aged men was employment (more and better paid) particularly as a result of the two world wars

• on balance the push factors are more compelling as life in the south was unbearable

• (more pull after ww1 due to work, more push before ww1 due to sharecropping/jim crow)