Writing Question
Assignment Description. The overall goal of this assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of the mass migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North during and after World War 1 using your assigned textbook and primary sources. Specifically, this assignment requires you to use Chapters 19 and 20 in Give Me Liberty! and to use resources from the Goin’ North website that describes the migration of African Americans to Philadelphia. Choose primary sources from the “Oral Histories” and “Archive” tabs at the top of the screen. If you use primary sources from other parts of the website, please keep in mind that primary sources are accounts left by participants or contemporary observers of historical events, not later commentary about them by those who did not participate or directly observe these events. The website is at: https://goinnorth.org/.
1. Describe the Great Migration. Why did African Americans move from the South to Philadelphia in such large numbers during World War I and the 1920s? How did they find work and places to live in their new homes? What kinds of freedom were they seeking? How did white Philadelphians respond to the Great Migration?
2. Use primary evidence. Use evidence from the Goin’ North website to evaluate how the Great Migration changed the lives of black southerners who moved to Philadelphia. Choose 3 to 5 primary documents. These documents must be different types of sources—for example, newspaper articles, photos, letters, oral history interviews, etc. For each document, explain how the document enhances your understanding of the Great Migration, such as why African Americans decided to move north, what opportunities they found in Philadelphia, what hardships or challenges they faced, and how they adapted to life in a Northern city. Be specific and use well-chosen evidence. Do your chosen primary sources confirm, contradict, or complicate Foner’s account of the Great Migration in chapters 19 and 20 of Give Me Liberty?
