History Of The South And The Great Migration

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Throughout History, African Americans have faced multiple hardships and tough events in their lives that they did not deserve. After slavery and the civil war was over, many African Americans did not have anywhere to go. They had no money, no property, and no way of living. This introduced many of these newly freed people into a horrible life of sharecropping and other hard jobs just so they could survive. Because they could not leave the South, these African Americans faced many forms of racism and segregation, making their lives a living hell. Around 1916, these African Americans finally decided it was time to leave behind this horrid life that was the South and the Great Migration began. More than 6 million African Americans left everything behind to start a fresh new life in big, industrial cities like New York and Chicago. The history books mostly focus on the African Americans that participated in the …show more content…
African Americans who stayed in the South chose to stay so they could keep their communities together, stay with their roots, and for many, stay away from a hard life in the North as well. In the documentary, African American Lives by Henry Louis Gates Jr., a few well-known African Americans, such as Oprah Winfrey, Chris Tucker, and T.D. Jakes, were brought in to explore the history of their ancestors and how they helped shape their families and who they are today. Henry Louis Gates Jr. met with Chris Tucker to look at Chris’ ancestors and what they found was truly amazing. Chris Tucker’s

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