Northern Black Migration
In 1910, 89% of African-Americans lived in the South of America. When World War One started, it gave them a chance to go work in the North and gave them economic opportunities. People from the North also started searching for African-Americans to work in their factories, or joining the military service. By the end of World War One, about 500,000 black Southerners moved to the North. They used the cheapest ways, which were the railroads that travelled to New York. New York was a great place to live in at the time; so many blacks went and settled there. The railroads were the cheapest because the blacks were still being segregated, and they had to sit in a different carriage, a dirtier one. They had no beds to sleep in, no showers, and no possibility to buy food, so at every train stop they had to hop off the train and hop back in with food. Also, they were located near the locomotive, so if any passenger opened his/her window, they would be greeted with soot. But railroads weren’t the only options. They could travel by sea, or ride on trucks, cars, or buses. They were also often in substandard houses because they couldn’t afford a proper house. Nevertheless, they were treated better in the North than in the South. They didn’t have different water fountains or buses. The whites could still refuse to serve them if they came into a restaurant or a theater, though. After many years of troubles, America finally struggled through and everyone was in peace and harmony.