What was the Great Migration?

• A. The mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern and Western cities.
• B. The movement of settlers to western territories during westward expansion.
• C. The relocation of Native Americans to reservations in the 19th century.
• D. The migration of immigrants from Europe to the United States during the 1920s.

Answer: (A)

The Great Migration is about a large-scale movement of African Americans from the rural South to urban centers in the North and, later, the West, mainly from about 1916 onward. People sought better job opportunities in factories created by industrial growth during and after World War I, higher wages, and a better chance to escape the oppressive Jim Crow laws of the South. This shift reshaped American cities, fueling the growth of Black urban communities and helping spark cultural and political changes, including the Harlem Renaissance.

Other options describe different migrations in U.S. history: settlers moving west during expansion, Native Americans being moved to reservations in the 19th century, or European immigrants arriving in the U.S. in the 1920s. Those reflect separate movements, not the Great Migration.