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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ST. LOUIS

ECONOMIC EDUCATION

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17
Lesson Author
Eva Johnston, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Standards and Benchmarks (see page 26)
Lesson Description
Students work in groups to examine excerpts from primary source documents. They
identify social and economic factors affecting specific categories of people when the
Great Migration accelerated in 1916 to 1917: black migrant workers from the South,
southern planters, southern small-farm farmers, northern industrialists, agents, and
white immigrant workers in the North. Each student group creates a “perspectives page”
to post for a gallery walk where students analyze the causes of the Great Migration
and the changes it brought to both the North and South. Students also discuss the
specific economic factors that influenced the Great Migration: scarcity, supply, demand,
surplus, shortage, and opportunity cost. Using the PACED decisionmaking model, they
analyze the alternatives and criteria of potential migrants.

Compelling Question
Why did African Americans migrate to the North in unprecedented numbers in 1916-17?

Grade Level
8-12

Concepts
Demand
Factors of production (natural resources, labor, capital resources)
Human capital
Opportunity cost
Scarcity
Shortage
Supply
Surplus

© 2016, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson in its entirety for educational
purposes, provided the user credits the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, www.stlouisfed.org/education.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Time Required
60-75 minutes

Objectives
Students will be able to
•

identify point of view using primary source documents regarding the Great
Migration,

•

describe how groups differed in their view of the Great Migration,

•

analyze the Great Migration using a PACED decisionmaking model,

•

analyze changes in the North and the South stirred by the Great Migration,

•

recognize economic and social factors that contributed to the Great Migration, and

•

apply economic concepts to the Great Migration.

Materials
•

Visual 1: PACED Decisionmaking Model

•

Visual 2: Economic Terms

•

One of the following group handouts for each assigned group member:

■

■
■

■

•

■

Handout 1: Group 1—Black Migrant Workers from the South
Handout 2: Group 2—Southern Planters
Handout 3: Group 3—Southern Small-Farm Farmers
Handout 4: Group 4—Northern Industrialists
Handout 5: Group 5—Agents
Handout 6: Group 6—White Immigrant Workers in the North

Internet access and computers to access the Group 1-6 PDFs you will upload to
your online class folder (or instruct students to access the PDFs with the URLs
noted on the group handouts). Each PDF includes a copy of the respective handout (as on pages 14 to 19 of this lesson plan), the PACED decisionmaking model
(as on Visual 1), and excerpts from the following two books (NOTE: The book
excerpts are included in the group PDFs only and not included in this lesson
plan.):
Scott, Emmett J. Negro Migration During the War. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1920; https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/5189.
Leavell, R.H.; Snavely, T.R.; Woofter, T.J. Jr.; Williams, W.T.B.; Tyson, Francis D. and
Dillard, J.H. Negro Migration in 1916-17. U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the
Secretary Division of Negro Economics, 1919;
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/5184.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

The excerpts from Negro Migration During the War are the same for all groups.
The excerpts from Negro Migration in 1916-17 vary for each group, both in length
and content, with some overlap between groups.
For scaffolding, the group files rank in the following order, from most to least
reading: Group 2, Group 1, Group 3 Groups 4 and 5, and Group 6.

■

■
■
■
■
■

Group 1_Black Migrants; https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group1_BlackMigrants.pdf
Group 2_Southern Planters; https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group2_SouthernPlanters.pdf
Group 3_Southern Small-Farm Farmers; https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/
Education/Lessons/pdf/maps/Group3_SouthernSmallFarmFarmers.pdf
Group 4_Northern Industrialists; https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/
Education/Lessons/pdf/maps/Group4_NorthernIndustrialists.pdf
Group 5_Agents; https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/Lessons/
pdf/maps/Group5_Agents.pdf
Group 6_White Immigrant Workers; https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Ed
ucation/Lessons/pdf/maps/Group6_WhiteImmigrantWorkers.pdf

•

Six large sheets of sticky-note paper or butcher paper and tape

•

Six markers

Procedure
1.

Introduce the lesson by discussing the following:
•

What does the term migration mean? (Students will likely say movement from
one location to another.)

•

Why do some birds migrate from the North to the South each winter? (Answers
will vary but may include to find food and get away from the cold winter.)

•

What comes to mind when you think of the Great Migration? (Students will likely
mention African Americans moving from the South to the North in the past
century.)

•

What would make you want to move to a different part of the country? (Answers
will vary but may include better work, climate, friends, or family.)

•

What would keep you from wanting to move? (Answers will vary but may include
fear, moving away from friends and family, and the expense of moving.)

•

What does scarcity mean? (Answers will vary but may include a shortage or not
enough of something.)

•

What is human capital and how is it connected to human resources? (Students
may or may not know that human capital is the knowledge and skills that people

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

obtain through education experience, and training. The connection is that human
resources are the people who do the mental and/or physical work to produce
goods and services. Their human capital increases as they become better educated
and have more experience and training that help them produce goods and services.)
2.

Display Visual 1: PACED Decisionmaking Model. Explain that moving hundreds of miles
is not something generally taken lightly or done on a whim. After learning more about
the Great Migration from different viewpoints, students will work through the PACED
decisionmaking model from the viewpoint of blacks in the South regarding whether to
move to the North. Decisionmaking with the PACED model allows you to devise criteria
and evaluate alternatives to arrive at the best decision. Ask students if they are familiar
with the PACED model and have those familiar with the model help you explain it as
follows:
•

Step 1: Define the Problem

•

Step 2: List the Alternatives

•

Step 3: Choose Criteria

•

Step 4: Evaluate the Alternatives

•

Step 5: Make a Decision

•

Criteria go across the top and alternatives go down the side of the model.

•

As you evaluate each alternative based on the criteria, you place a plus sign (+) if
the criterion is met and a minus sign (–) if it is not.

Display Visual 2: Economic Terms. Explain that the students will learn how each of the
economic terms applies to the Great Migration. Review the definitions.
•

Factors of production
■

■

Natural resources—Things that occur naturally in and on the earth that
are used to produce goods and services.
Labor—The quantity and quality of human effort directed toward producing
goods and services. Also known as human resources.
Capital resources—Goods that have been produced and are used to produce
other goods and services. They are used over and over again in the production
process. Also called capital goods and physical capital.
Scarcity—The condition that exists because there are not enough resources
to produce everyone’s wants.
Supply—The quantity of a good or service that producers are willing and
able to sell at all possible prices during a certain time period.
Demand—The quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and
able to buy at all possible prices during a certain time period.

Lesson Plan
■

■

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17
Shortage—When the quantity demanded of a good or service exceeds the
quantity supplied at a particular price.
Surplus—When the quantity supplied of a good or service exceeds the
quantity demanded at a particular price.
Human capital—The knowledge and skills that people obtain through
education, experience, and training.
Opportunity cost—The value of the next-best alternative when a decision
is made; it’s what is given up.

Explain that these terms will help them understand the Great Migration. They are to
keep the PACED decisionmaking grid in mind and look for alternatives and criteria and
the economics vocabulary as they work in groups.

Explain that the Great Migration occurred from 1910 to 1960 but that the greatest
movement occurred in 1916 and 1917. African Americans voluntarily moved from
the South to the North more from 1916 to 1917 than at any other time. Students will
explore the reasons in small groups by viewing the Great Migration from the perspectives of specific categories of people.

Divide the class into six groups and provide each group with a large sheet of sticky-note
paper, a marker, and one copy per student of the assigned handout. Announce to the
class the category of people assigned to each student group: Handout 1: Black Migrant
Workers from the South; Handout 2: Southern Planters; Handout 3: Southern SmallFarm Farmers; Handout 4: Northern Industrialists; Handout 5: Agents; and Handout 6:
White Immigrant Workers in the North. Explain the following:
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are the people designated on your handout.

•

Three groups are from the South (migrant workers, planters, and farmers), and
three groups are from the North (industrialists, agents, and white immigrant
workers).

•

Southern small-farm farmers generally provided their own labor but sometimes
hired help if they could afford it. Southern planters owned far more farmland than
the small-farm farmers and primarily hired workers to work the land and did little
physical labor themselves. Agents were hired by industrialists to find workers.

•

Primary source documents will be viewed online, and the links to them are provided
in the handouts.

•

The handouts include questions, which vary from group to group, and the PACED
decisionmaking model.

•

Review the questions on the handout with your group before reading the excerpts
from the primary source documents and answering the questions.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned group and answer the
questions from that perspective.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

Explain that the excerpts are from two primary source documents: Negro Migration In
1916-17 and Negro Migration During the War. Explain each of the documents as follows:
Negro Migration In 1916-17
•

This book was published by the government in 1919 and written at the request
of the U.S. Department of Labor under the leadership of Secretary of Labor
William B. Wilson.

•

“Negro” was an acceptable term during this era just as African American and black
are today. The term “colored people” is also used in the documents. Both terms
may be used in the lesson as they relate to references of such in the documents.

•

The Division of Negro Economics was created to study the large demographic shift
of blacks from the South to the North from 1916 to 1917. Employees of that division wrote the book.

•

In the introduction to the book, Secretary of Labor W.B. Wilson noted fears
prompted by the migration: In the North, workers feared potential competition and
reduced wages. In the South, employers feared lost crops due to fewer workers.

•

All of the surveys for the book (which were primarily one-on-one interviews) were
conducted by college-educated “competent Federal employees of the Negro race.”
Race relations were such at the time that blacks were more likely to speak openly
with black interviewers than white interviewers.

Negro Migration During the War
•

The book was written by Emmett J. Scott. Scott was a journalist and close adviser
to Booker T. Washington. Scott served as Special Assistant for Negro Affairs to the
Secretary of War during Woodrow Wilson’s administration. His book is referenced
in Isabel Wilkerson’s book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s
Great Migration.
Teacher note: The excerpts are copied from the original text, including original
errors. Also, some spelling, grammar, and punctuation may differ from what is
generally accepted today.

Review the questions each group will be answering. Remind the students to review their
questions again before they begin reading the primary source documents. Note that
answers to the first questions will differ for each group: Those assigned a northern
group will be looking for evidence of a labor shortage and those assigned a southern
group will be looking for evidence of a labor surplus.

Lesson Plan
9.

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Explain that all group members are responsible for supplying answers from the perspective of the assigned category of people. The completed perspective pages will be posted
for a gallery walk. Each group will need to decide who will do each of the following jobs:
•

Record agreed-upon answers: Number the questions on the sticky-note paper
and write the group’s answers.

•

Find PACED-model alternatives: List alternatives for black workers in the South
considering migration to the North.

•

Find PACED-model criteria: List criteria for black workers in the South considering
migration to the North.

•

Apply the economic terms: Identify how the given economic terms apply to
the acceleration of the Great Migration.

•

Check sources: Locate the answers in the specific documents.

10. Allow time for the groups to work and then post the completed perspective pages
around the room for a gallery walk. Instruct the students to move around the room
and view the pages.
11. After the gallery walk, discuss the following:
•

As the Great Migration accelerated, how did the perspectives vary from group to
group? (Answers will vary but may include the following:
■

■

■
■

■
•

Black migrants saw the opportunity for higher wages, better schools for
children, better treatment in the courts and cars (trains), and better housing.
Southern planters were concerned about the loss of workers and distrusting
of those who lured workers away.
Southern small-farm farmers were glad to see competition for jobs go away
and wages for themselves improve in the South.
Northern industrialists needed a source of steady cheap labor because of the
lack of immigrant workers and to weaken the labor demands of immigrant
workers trying to unionize.
Agents welcomed the opportunity to make money by connecting workers
with jobs.
White immigrant workers in the North viewed blacks as union breakers who
kept wages low.)

What can be gained by looking at a historical event from different points of view?
(Answers will vary but may include a greater understanding of why people made
the choices they did, new insights into behavior, and historical context of presentday issues.)

Lesson Plan
•

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

How difficult was it for you to assume the perspective of your group in the 1917
time period? (Answers will vary but for some it may be very difficult and for others
it may feel very natural.)
Teacher note: Reflections on how the past influences present-day perspectives
are likely.

12. Redisplay Visual 2. Ask the students how each of the following economic concepts related to the acceleration of the Great Migration:
•

Supply (The quantity of workers willing and able to work [produce their labor] at
all possible wages during that time was the main reason African Americans chose
to migrate from the South to the North. There was a greater supply of work in the
North than in the South and a greater supply of workers in the South than in the
North. Also the quantity of housing and food were in greater supply in the North
than in the South.)

•

Demand (The quantity of employers willing and able to employ (hire) workers at
all possible prices during that time was greater in the North than in the South.
Industrialists in the North were willing and able to pay higher prices for labor than
landowners in the South. Also, the quantity of houses and food consumers were
greater in the North than in the South.)

•

Factors of production (Land: farmland in the South and gifts of nature—iron ore,
coal, etc.; labor: workers toiling; capital goods: factory machines, plows, railway
cars, etc.)

•

Shortage (The quantity of workers demanded in the North exceeded the quantity
supplied—that is, there was a shortage of workers in the North. There was also a
shortage of schools and housing for blacks in the South.)

•

Surplus (The quantity of workers supplied in the South exceeded the quantity
demanded—that is, there was a surplus of workers in the South. There were not
enough jobs for people who wanted them in the South.)

•

Human capital (By moving to the North, black migrant workers were able to
increase their human capital by training for new jobs and gaining experience in
those jobs, and their children were building human capital by getting an education.)

•

Opportunity cost (For migrants, their opportunity costs were the values of their
next-best alternatives when they moved; it’s what they gave up. For most migrants,
their next-best alternative was to move within the South.)

13. Discuss the following:
•

How did competition for jobs influence race relations? (Tension arose in the South
between white farmers and African Americans who were competing for land and
job opportunities. In the North, white immigrants considered migrants “strikebreaking scabs.” Sectional wounds were reopened as Southern planters contended that

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Northern industrialists were stealing their labor force by enticing African Americans
to move north to work.)
•

How did shortages of labor influence race relations in the South? (There is evidence
that conditions for blacks improved in some cases because of the need to keep
them in the South to work.)

•

How did labor surpluses and labor shortages play a part in the Great Migration?
(In the North, due to the decline in immigration, there was a shortage of labor. In
the South, due to boll weevils, storms, and poor crops, there was a shortage of
capital [money] needed to employ labor, so there was a surplus of labor.)

14. Explain that the class will now apply the PACED decisionmaking model to the decision
southern blacks faced about migrating. Review the model:
Step 1: Define the Problem
Step 2: List the Alternatives
Step 3: Choose Criteria
Step 4: Evaluate the Alternatives
Step 5: Make a Decision
15. Draw a grid on the board placing the alternatives on the left and the criteria along the
top. (See the sample below Procedure 16.)
•

What were alternatives for southern blacks? (Don’t move, move to the North, or
move within the South)

•

What were likely criteria southern blacks considered when deciding whether to
move? (Wages, better schools for children, better housing, fairer treatment in the
courts, the likelihood of lynching, weather, treatment in the cars [trains])

16. Ask the students to decide for each alternative which criteria are met for southern blacks
in 1917 at the acceleration of the Great Migration. Place a minus sign if the criterion is
not met and a plus sign if it is. Total the pluses for each alternative. Discuss the following:
•

Which alternative has the most pluses? (Move to the North)

•

Which alternative is the next best? (Move within the South)

•

What is the definition of opportunity cost? (The value of the next-best alternative
when a decision is made; it’s what is given up)

•

What was the opportunity cost for blacks who decided to move north? (Giving up
moving to another place in the South)

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

PACED Decisionmaking Model
Alternatives

Criteria
Higher
wages

Better
schools

Better
housing

Fairer
treatment

Good
weather

Totals

Don’t move

–

Move North

–

Move within
the South

–

Closure
17. Discuss the perspectives of people from the southern and northern groups regarding
evidence of changes that took place as a result of the acceleration of the Great
Migration:
•

Southern perspectives (Blacks who stayed in the South: Some received remittances [money] from family members who had migrated to the North. Some
enjoyed better wages, better treatment as tenants, improved schools for children,
and improved housing. Southern small-farm farmers: They had to pay workers
more, use more machinery, and switch to raising livestock and grass because they
required less labor. There was less competition for scarce farmland. Southern
planters: Those who successfully kept their labor provided better housing, gardens,
assurance of financing, and more contact with tenants.)

•

Northern perspectives (Blacks who migrated to the North: They earned higher
wages, obtained better housing, had access to better schools, access to the ballot
[voting], and were treated better on the cars [trains]. Northern industrialists:
Migrants allowed them to stave off organized labor and the eight-hour work
day. Some, however, were disappointed by the high turnover of workers. White
immigrant workers in the North: Negro workers often broke their strikes and
took their jobs because they were willing to work for less.)

•

How did the labor shortage in the North and the labor surplus in the South contribute to the Great Migration? (Job availability in the North and lack of jobs in the
South prompted the acceleration of the Great Migration in 1916-17.)

•

How can the PACED decisionmaking model be applied to the Great Migration?
(The PACED model is a systematic approach to problem solving. Applying the
model to evidence about the acceleration of the Great Migration shows why so
many people chose to move to the North.)

•

How did labor opportunities differ for blacks who migrated from the South to
the North? (Many blacks moved from manual labor agricultural jobs in the South

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

to manufacturing jobs in the North. Factories had more physical capital [large
machines, conveyors, etc.]. This access to more physical capital increased productivity. In the South, as manual labor was in shorter supply, more labor-saving physical capital was used on farms and plantations, allowing them to produce goods
with fewer workers.)
•

Why was there less material for some perspectives? (Negro Migration in 1916-17
focused on migrants, so there was less contact with northern immigrants and
southern small-farm farmers. Also, the men who conducted the surveys were
black. Poor, white, southern small-farm farmers were not likely to talk with them,
nor were white northern immigrants. Also, no agent was likely to want to go on
record for fear of jail time for violation of licensing laws in the South.)

•

How did the Great Migration connect with the Underground Railroad? (Negroes
from rural districts moved first to the nearest village or town. It was more secure
to meet a labor agent in a city. Free transportation from Florida and Georgia on
railroad cars hastened the departure.)

•

What does the map on page 71 of Negro Migration During the War show about
the Great Migration? (Answers may include that few migrants went West and
Northwest, while most went to the Northeast and Upper Midwest and settled in
cities.)

•

Why did the opportunity for blacks to migrate increase in 1916-17? (The cessation
of immigrant labor from Europe due to WWI created a labor shortage that opened
the window of opportunity for blacks from the South to migrate. Agents were
employed to actively recruit black workers in the South to fill job openings in the
North.)

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Alternatives

Criteria

PACED Decisionmaking Model

Totals

Visual 1: PACED Decisionmaking Model

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Visual 2: Economic Terms

Factors of production
•

Natural resources—Things that occur naturally in and on the
earth that are used to produce goods and services.

•

Labor—The quantity and quality of human effort directed toward
producing goods and services. Also known as human resources.

•

Capital resources—Goods that have been produced and are
used to produce other goods and services. They are used over
and over again in the production process. Also called capital
goods and physical capital.

Scarcity—The condition that exists because there are not enough
resources to produce everyone’s wants.
Supply—The quantity of a good or service that producers are willing and
able to sell at all possible prices during a certain time period.
Demand—The quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing
and able to buy at all possible prices during a certain time period.
Shortage—When the quantity demanded of a good or service exceeds
the quantity supplied at a particular price.
Surplus—When the quantity supplied of a good or service exceeds the
quantity demanded at a particular price.
Human capital—The knowledge and skills that people obtain through
education, experience, and training.
Opportunity cost—The value of the next-best alternative when a
decision is made; it’s what is given up.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 1: Group 1—Black Migrant Workers from the South
Directions
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are black migrants from the South now working in the
North.

•

Review the questions with your group.

•

Read excerpts from primary source documents in the “Group 1” file in the online folder
for this class (or access the file at https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group1_BlackMigrants.pdf).

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned category and answer the
questions from the perspective of those people.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

•

Decide who will do each of the following jobs:
■

■

Record agreed-upon answers: Number the questions on the sticky-note paper
and write the group’s answers.
Find PACED-model alternatives: List alternatives for black southern workers
considering migration to the North.
Find PACED-model criteria: List criteria for black southern workers considering
migration to the North.
Apply the economic terms: Identify how the given economic terms apply to the
acceleration of the Great Migration.
Check sources: Locate the answers in the specific documents.

What factors caused a labor surplus in the South?

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?

What changes in conditions were evident for migrants in the North after the
acceleration of the Great Migration?

What changes in conditions were evident in the South for those who stayed
behind after the acceleration of the Great Migration?
Economic Concepts
Factors of production
• Natural resources
• Labor
• Capital resources

Scarcity
Supply
Demand
Shortage

Surplus
Human capital
Opportunity cost

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 2: Group 2—Southern Planters
Directions
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are southern planters in the South.

•

Review the questions with your group.

•

Read excerpts from primary source documents in the “Group 2” file in the online
folder for this class (or access the file at https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group2_SouthernPlanters.pdf).

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned category and answer the
questions from the perspective of those people.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

•

Decide who will do each of the following jobs:
■

■

What factors caused a labor surplus in the South?

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?

What changes were evident in the South after the acceleration of the Great
Migration?

Economic Concepts
Factors of production
• Natural resources
• Labor
• Capital resources

Scarcity
Supply
Demand
Shortage

Surplus
Human capital
Opportunity cost

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 3: Group 3—Southern Small-Farm Farmers
Directions
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are southern small-farm farmers in the South.

•

Review the questions with your group.

•

Read excerpts from primary source documents in the “Group 3” file in the online
folder for this class (or access the file at https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group3_SouthernSmallFarmFarmers.pdf).

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned category and answer the
questions from the perspective of those people.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

•

Decide who will do each of the following jobs:
■
■

■

What factors caused a labor surplus in the South?

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?

What changes were evident in the South after the acceleration of the Great
Migration?

Economic Concepts
Factors of production
• Natural resources
• Labor
• Capital resources

Scarcity
Supply
Demand
Shortage

Surplus
Human capital
Opportunity cost

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 4: Group 4—Northern Industrialists
Directions
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are northern industrialists.

•

Review the questions with your group.

•

Read excerpts from primary source documents in the “Group 4” file in the online
folder for this class (or access the file at https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group4_NorthernIndustrialists.pdf).

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned category and answer the
questions from the perspective of those people.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

•

Decide who will do each of the following jobs:
■

■

What factors caused a labor shortage in the North?

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?

What impact did the acceleration of the Great Migration have on the supply
of workers in the North?

Economic Concepts
Factors of production
• Natural resources
• Labor
• Capital resources

Scarcity
Supply
Demand
Shortage

Surplus
Human capital
Opportunity cost

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 5: Group 5—Agents
Directions
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are agents encouraging workers to move to the North
to work.

•

Review the questions with your group.

•

Read excerpts from primary source documents in the “Group 5” file in the online
folder for this class (or access the file at https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group5_Agents.pdf).

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned category and answer the
questions from the perspective of those people.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

•

Decide who will do each of the following jobs:
■

■

What factors caused a labor shortage in the North?

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North? Also, what hindrances were there
to efforts to balance the labor supply?

What impact did the acceleration of the Great Migration have on the imbalance
between the supply of workers in the North and South?

Economic Concepts
Factors of production
• Natural resources
• Labor
• Capital resources

Scarcity
Supply
Demand
Shortage

Surplus
Human capital
Opportunity cost

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 6: Group 6—White Immigrant Workers in the North
Directions
•

Pretend that it is 1917 and you are white immigrant workers in the North.

•

Review the questions with your group.

•

Read excerpts from primary source documents in the “Group 6” file in the online
folder for this class (or access the file at https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Education/
Lessons/pdf/maps/Group6_WhiteImmigrantWorkers.pdf).

•

Consider the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of your assigned category and answer the
questions from the perspective of those people.

•

Combine your answers to create a perspectives page for your assigned category.

•

Decide who will do each of the following jobs:
■
■

■

What factors caused a labor shortage in the North?

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?

What impact did the acceleration of the Great Migration have on working
conditions in the North?

Economic Concepts
Factors of production
• Natural resources
• Labor
• Capital resources

Scarcity
Supply
Demand
Shortage

Surplus
Human capital
Opportunity cost

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 1: Group 1—Black Migrant Workers from the South—
Teacher Answer Key
Teacher note: Unless otherwise noted, answers are from Negro Migration in 1916-17.
1.

What factors caused a labor surplus in the South?
Pages 11-12: Ravages of boll weevils, floods, and changes in crop systems led to excess
labor.
Pages 21-22: Reorganization of agriculture required fewer workers.
Page 51: The boll weevil caused a surplus of labor since so many cotton crops were
destroyed.
Pages 60-61: The old system of cotton planting was replaced with stock raising and
diversification of crops, which required fewer workers. Flooding destroyed crops.

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?
Pages 21-22: Hunger wages in Mississippi and the attractions of northern and industrial
centers—higher wages, better living conditions, better schools, and better treatment
on the cars (trains)
Pages 28-29: Blacks sent letters home telling of better conditions and sent money as well.
Page 88: Lynching parties, mob violence, false accusations, and overzealous jailing for
minor offenses
Page 101: Blacks believed God had opened a way to leave the oppression of the South
and felt poorly treated by whites.

What changes in conditions were evident for migrants in the North after the
acceleration of the Great Migration?
Pages 10-12: Better wages, paying the same rent for a better house, and better
schooling for children
Page 38: Living conditions improved: “A country Negro may not use the bathtub in
the house he rents in Chicago, but it’s there and he writes home about it.”

What changes in conditions were evident in the South for those who stayed
behind after the acceleration of the Great Migration?
Pages 28-29: Money was sent to family in the South.
Negro Migration During the War
Pages 83-84: In Mississippi, $25,000 was designated for a negro agricultural high
school and a race relations committee was formed.
Page 86: Common labor wages in Thomasville, Georgia, increased 100 percent and in
Brunswick and Savannah increased 50 percent.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 2: Group 2—Southern Planters—Teacher Answer Key
Answers are from Negro Migration in 1916-17.
1.

What factors caused a labor surplus in the South?
Page 60: Destroyed crops forced planters to let tenants go. Planters couldn’t feed
workers and released them from contracts and did not charge them rents.
Pages 21-22: There was lack of capital due to the boll weevil, storms, and poor crops,
and thus no money to share with sharecroppers. Fewer laborers were needed for cattle
ranching and food crops.

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?
Page 12: Labor agents, the negro press, letters from workers in the North, and railroads

What changes were evident in the South after the acceleration of the Great
Migration?
Page 44: Successful planters fed and clothed tenants, planted fruit trees, kept houses
and yards in repair, rewarded the “good croppers,” built churches and schools, assisted
in finding preachers and teachers, adhered to state laws, approved motherhood, attended
to sanitation, paid for two months of school, introduced three- and five-year leases,
rotated crops, provided a garden and truck patch, and shared rents.
Page 70: “[T]he exodus of Negroes has not stopped with the removal of the surplus,
but has continued until there is a serious shortage.”
Page 87: Planters who were able to keep their labor gave them extra benefits—for
example, one planter had clothing mended for single men, provided for food preparation, improved housing, and provided pork throughout the winter.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 3: Group 3—Southern Small-Farm Farmers—Teacher Answer Key
Answers are from Negro Migration in 1916-17.
1.

What factors caused a labor surplus in the South?
Pages 21-22: Lack of capital (no money) due to crop failure from boll weevils and
storms and the switch from producing cotton to raising beef cattle reduced the need
for workers.

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?
Page 74: Labor agents from the North solicited negroes to move north. The railroads
added extra cars to accommodate the number of people moving.

What changes were evident in the South after the acceleration of the Great
Migration?
Pages 40-42: Because there was “barely enough” land to go around, white farmers
felt the negro and his child were “taking the place in the sun needed by the white
farmer for his own children.” Some wanted negroes to leave the state; others wanted
enough negroes to leave so that they would no longer be a majority in the state and
become a minority is certain locations.
Page 67: Farmers increased wages on average 10 to 20 percent and even more when
they had to complete with lumber mills and mines for workers.
Pages 73-74: There were fewer workers available, especially for cotton picking. Farmers
moved to sowing grass and raising livestock as a result. More farm machinery was used
to make up for fewer workers.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 4: Group 4—Northern Industrialists—Teacher Answer Key
Answers are from Negro Migration in 1916-17.
1.

What factors caused a labor shortage in the North?
Pages 10-11: Immigration from Europe ceased.

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North?
Pages 21-22: Hunger wages in Mississippi and the attractions of northern and industrial
centers—higher wages, better living conditions, better schools, and better treatment
on the cars (trains)
Page 151: Industrialists provided “housing quarters on a family basis,” for which they
received “some of the steadiest and most dependable men” they employed.

What impact did the acceleration of the Great Migration have on the supply
of workers in the North?
Pages 11-12: Numerical estimates indicate between 150,000 and 350,000 migrants
moved from the South to the North during this period.
Page 119: Pittsburgh still didn’t have enough laborers even though labor agents had
been hired. There was an extremely high turnover rate for negro workers.
Page 123: There was an extremely high turnover rate for negro workers. The railroads
couldn’t get enough workers because they paid the least.
Page 137: Southern migrants staved off or prevented the movement toward organization (unions) and an eight-hour work day, which foreign workers had wanted. They
also allowed industrialists to “mix it up” and secure “a balance the power” among
the labor force.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 5: Group 5—Agents—Teacher Answer Key
Answers are from Negro Migration in 1916-17.
1.

What factors caused a labor shortage in the North?
Page 11: Immigration from Europe ceased.
Teacher note: The United States did not enter World War I until April 6, 1917, which
was after the surveys were conducted for Negro Migration in 1916-17; thus the need
to replace workers who had become soldiers was not yet an issue.

What factors contributed to balancing the labor supply between the surplus
in the South and the shortage in the North? Also, what hindrances were there
to efforts to balance the labor supply?
Page 28: Labor agents “acquainted negroes with the superior wages of the North,
and with the greater degree of equality of treatment in the courts, in the schools, in
the cars, at the polls, and elsewhere.” Agents also helped secure free transportation
and jobs but had to be secretive while in the South because Southerners did not want
to lose their labor supply.
Page 62: Agents were the middlemen in the exodus, furnishing transportation and
making leaving easy for migrants.
Page 65: Some states required agents to become licensed and charged a huge amount
for the license. Circulars (advertisements) recruited negro miners and steelworkers.
Subagents “disguised as salesmen and insurance agents” also solicited workers.
Page 86: Low wages in the South and high wages in the North contributed to workers
moving to the North. Georgia charged labor agents a $500 license fee, and some were
arrested in the South for trying to help negroes move north to work. The Pennsylvania
and Erie railroads hired labor agents to recruit workers from the South.

What impact did the acceleration of the Great Migration have on the imbalance
between the supply of workers in the North and South?
Pages 27-28: Surplus labor from the South moved to the North where there was a
shortage of workers.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Handout 6: Group 6—White Immigrant Workers in the North— Teacher
Answer Key
Answers are from Negro Migration in 1916-17.
1.

What factors caused a labor shortage in the North?
Pages 11-12: Immigration from Europe ceased.

What impact did the acceleration of the Great Migration have on working
conditions in the North?
Pages 129-130: There was more competition for jobs. Negro workers were strikebreakers
and some white men lost their positions.

Lesson Plan

The Acceleration of the Great Migration, 1916-17

Standard and Benchmarks
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards
Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tool
•

History: Perspectives
D2.His.4.6-8: Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people
during different historical eras.
D2.His.6.6-8: Analyze how people’s perspectives influenced what information is
available in the historical sources they created.
D2.His.4.9-12: Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the
perspectives of people during different historical eras.
D2.His.8.9-12: Analyze how current interpretations of the past are limited by the
extent to which available historical sources represent perspectives of people at
the time.
D2.His.6.9-12: Analyze the ways in which the perspectives of those writing history
shaped the history that they produced.
D2.His.7.9-12: Explain how the perspectives of people in the present shape
interpretations of the past.

•

Historical Sources and Evidence
D2.His.9.9-12: Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the
secondary interpretations made from them.

Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics
Standard 1: Scarcity. Productive resources are limited. Therefore, people cannot have all the
goods and services they want; as a result, they must choose some things and give up others.
•

•

Benchmarks: Grade 8
2.

Making good choices should involve trading off the expected value of one
opportunity against the expected value of its best alternative.

The choices people make have both present and future consequences.

The evaluation of choices and opportunity costs is subjective; such evaluations
differ across individuals and societies.

Benchmarks: Grade 12
1.

Choices made by individuals, firms, or government officials are constrained
by the resources to which they have access.

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