forced migration

Examples of forced migration in the following topics:

• The "Nadir of Race Relations" and the Great Migration

  • In what became known as the Great Migration, more than 1.5 million black people left the South, and, while they faced difficulties, their chances overall were better in the North.
  • In the South, white people worried about the loss of their labor force and so frequently tried to block the black migration.
  • The years during and after World War I saw profound social tensions in the United States, not only because of the effects of the Great Migration and European immigration but also due to demobilization and the competition for jobs with returning veterans.

• Dust Bowl Migrants

  • Millions of acres of farmland were damaged, forcing farmers—already suffering from depressed prices and declining incomes—to abandon their operations.
  • Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes.
  • Others attempted to migrate to other regions of the country.
  • The Dust Bowl exodus was the largest migration in American history within a short period of time.
  • With their land barren and homes seized in foreclosure, many farm families were forced to leave.

• The Great Migration and the "Promised Land"

  • People also frequently migrated to cities where they had family.
  • The African-American Great Migration created the first large, urban black communities in the North.
  • As African Americans migrated, they became increasingly integrated into society.
  • This later painting, titled "During World War I there was a great migration north by southern Negroes" by the artist Jacob Lawrence, depicts African-American migration north via abstract images.
  • Many African-Americans migrated North in search of a better life.

• The French and Indian War

  • The primary targets of the British colonists were the royal French forces and the various American Indian forces allied with them.
  • In the 1720s, a number of American Indian groups began to migrate to the Ohio Country.
  • The Delawares were migrating because of the expansion of European colonial settlement in eastern Pennsylvania.
  • A number of Senecas and other Iroquois also migrated to the Ohio Country, moving away from the French and British imperial rivalries south of Lake Ontario.
  • This is a scene from the French and Indian War (1754–1763), depicting the alliance of French and American Indian forces.

• Racial Friction

  • Numerous examples of postwar racial friction sparked by Nativism and the Great Migration reached a peak in the 1919 Red Summer.
  • Northern manufacturers recruited throughout the South, sparking an exodus of African-American workers that became known as the Great Migration.
  • At the height of the tensions came the Red Summer of 1919, when whites carried out open acts of violence against blacks, who were forced to fight back.
  • A letter in late November from the National Equal Rights League appealed to President Woodrow Wilson's international advocacy for human rights: "We appeal to you to have your country undertake for its racial minority that which you forced Poland and Austria to undertake for their racial minorities."
  • One cited the work of the NAACP "urging the colored people to insist upon equality with white people and to resort to force, if necessary."

• Conclusion: Pre-Colonial Development of North America

  • Civilization in America began during the last Ice Age when nomadic Paleo-Indians migrated across Beringia.
  • Some genetic research indicates that secondary waves of migration occurred after the initial Paleo-Indian colonization, but prior to modern Inuit, Inupiat, and Yupik expansions.
  • As the climate changed and megafauna became extinct, Paleo-Indians were forced to employ a mixed-foraging strategy that included smaller terrestrial game, aquatic animals, and a variety of flora.
  • After multiple waves of migration, complex civilizations arose.
  • The Mexica migrated to present-day central Mexico and created a triple alliance with other dominant tribes in the area.

• French-British Rivalry in the Ohio Country

  • In the 1720s, a number of Native American groups began to migrate to the Ohio Country.
  • The Delawares were migrating because of the expansion of European colonial settlement in eastern Pennsylvania.
  • A number of Senecas and other Iroquois also migrated to the Ohio Country, moving away from the French and British imperial rivalries south of Lake Ontario.
  • Meanwhile other British and colonial forces were driving the French from Fort Duquesne and building Fort Pitt, the origin of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

• Revolutionary Women

  • After the war, the American government encouraged Native women to take up spinning and weaving and attempted to force men to farm, reversing gender roles and causing severe social problems that ran contrary to Native cultural mores.
  • There was a massive migration, not unlike the Great Migration, of blacks to urban areas in the North after the close of the war.
  • This migration was largely female.

• Early Lifestyles

  • The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. 
  • Environmental changes and multiple waves of migration also led to the formation of distinct cultures.
  • Although this is generally held to be the result of normal cultural change through time, numerous other reasons have been suggested to be the driving forces for the observed changes in the archaeological record, such as the Younger Dryas' impact event or post-glacial climate change with numerous faunal extinctions.
  • These environmental changes would not only alter hunting and migration patterns, but would also lead to the evolution of diverse civilizations in the Americas.

• African American Migration

  • The Exodus of 1879 was the first general migration of blacks following the Civil War.
  • It was the first general migration of blacks following the Civil War.
  • This sudden wave of migration came as a great surprise to many white Americans, who did not realize that black southerners were free in name only.
  • Summarize the patterns of African American migration in the late nineteenth century