Document A: Farming & Work
According to Document A, what type of agricultural worker made up the largest percentage of Black workers in Georgia in 1910?
Wage workers (49.9%).
What was the “furnish” given to sharecroppers?
A monthly stipend or advance to pay for living expenses.
What northern city is mentioned as a destination for migrants?
Chicago.
What important boundary did the train cross in this document?
The Mason-Dixon Line.
What major historical movement do these documents describe?
The Great Migration.
What percentage of white agricultural workers were landowners in 1910?
40.8%.
When were cotton crops typically harvested?
October and November.
Why were many men interested in traveling North?
They heard there were many jobs available.
How did the author feel when he realized he was in the North?
Relieved and hopeful.
What was one economic push factor that encouraged African Americans to leave the South?
Poverty and unfair farming systems like sharecropping.
What does the data suggest about the economic opportunities available to Black workers compared to white workers?
Far fewer Black workers owned land while many more worked as wage laborers, showing limited economic opportunity.
What often happened when sharecroppers went to “settle” with the plantation owner?
They learned they earned little money or even owed money.
What job did the woman from New Orleans say she could do?
Housemaid, dining room worker, or caregiver.
What difference did the author notice about seating on the train?
He did not have to sit in the back because of segregation.
What was one pull factor drawing African Americans to the North?
Better job opportunities.
Which two farming systems mentioned in the document involved renting land?
Tenant farming and sharecropping.
Why might the system described in the document have kept sharecroppers in poverty?
They received advances that were deducted later, often leaving them in debt.
Why did migrants write letters to the Chicago Defender newspaper?
To ask about job opportunities and migration assistance.
Why was the interaction with the white passenger meaningful?
It showed less racial tension than what he experienced in the South.
Which document provides statistical evidence rather than a personal experience?
Document A.
Using evidence from the table, explain why many Black farmers might have struggled to build wealth.
Very few owned land (6.9%), while most were wage workers or renters, meaning they had little control over profits or land ownership.
What evidence from the document suggests sharecroppers had little economic control?
Planters controlled supplies, money, accounting, and crop sales.
What do these letters reveal about why African Americans wanted to leave the South?
They were seeking jobs, better opportunities, and improved living conditions.
What does this document suggest about how migrants expected life to change in the North?
They hoped for greater freedom and less racial discrimination.
Document B shows poverty and debt from sharecropping, while Document E shows migrants seeking better jobs in northern cities.
Using evidence from two documents, explain why African Americans migrated North.