Immigration Notes

The Great Migration (1916–1930)

Causes

• Economic Push and Pull Factors
  • The decline of Southern agriculture, especially after the boll weevil infestation and falling cotton prices, pushed workers north, while the labor shortages of World War I created new industrial job opportunities in northern factories.
• Social and Political Factors
  • African Americans fled Jim Crow laws, racial violence, and disenfranchisement in search of safety, dignity, and opportunity.
• Recruitment Efforts
  • Northern industries actively recruited Black workers, offering higher wages and assistance with relocation.

Impact on Northern Cities

• Urban Black populations grew dramatically, forming vibrant neighborhoods such as Harlem in New York and the South Side of Chicago.
• The migration fostered a new sense of community and identity, leading to the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural and intellectual flowering in art, literature, and music.
• However, increased migration also sparked racial tension and competition for jobs and housing, leading to race riots in cities such as Chicago (1919) and Detroit (1925).

Legacy

• The Great Migration permanently altered U.S. demographics, laying the foundation for the modern African American urban middle class.
• It strengthened the civil rights movement by expanding political participation in northern cities where African Americans could vote.
• The movement also transformed American culture through the spread of jazz, literature, and social activismacross the country.

The U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson–Reed Act)

• Background and Context
  • By the early 20th century, the United States had experienced decades of mass immigration, many from southern and eastern Europe (Italy, Poland, Russia).
  • Economic competition, urban overcrowding, and fears of radical ideologies (after World War I and the 1917 Russian Revolution) led to growing nativism and calls to “protect” American identity.
• Main Provisions of the Act
  • The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson–Reed Act, established a strict national origins quota system.
  • It was a deliberate move to favor northern and western Europeans and severely restrict southern and eastern Europeans.
  • The law also completely banned immigration from Asia, enforcing long-standing anti-Asian prejudice and expanding the exclusionary policies of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882).
• Motivations Behind the Law
  • The Act reflected widespread racial and cultural bias, influenced by eugenics and the belief that “old stock” Anglo-Saxon Americans were superior to newer immigrant groups.
  • Political leaders argued that limiting immigration would preserve American jobs and social stability, but the real goal was to maintain the country’s racial hierarchy and “ethnic purity.”
• Immediate Consequences
  • Immigration from Italy, Poland, and Russia plummeted by over 80% within a few years.
  • Families were split apart, as many immigrants already living in the U.S. could not bring relatives from their home countries due to the quotas.
  • The ban on Asian immigration created lasting diplomatic tensions, particularly with Japan, whose citizens were explicitly excluded despite prior cooperation through the Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907).
• Long-Term Impact
  • The Act reshaped the ethnic makeup of the United States, favoring immigrants from northern Europe and freezing demographic diversity for decades.
  • It institutionalized racial quotas that remained in effect until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which replaced the quota system with merit-based and family-reunification principles.
  • The 1924 Act also solidified the idea that immigration policy was a tool of national identity, linking citizenship, race, and belonging in U.S. politics.