Morgan Clelland
HIST 356 – Dr. Reich
Importance of Resources
During the Great Migration
and Great Depression
, In the Chicago Defender, the editor Robert Abbott revealed why African Americans
moved to the North during the Great Migration. He demonstrated how black migrants saw the
North as a promised land that would allow them to escape the racial discrimination and violence
of the South. However, Abbott saw the North not just as a promised land of rights, but more
importantly as a promised land of resources. On the other hand, resources eventually became the
main reason why he used the Chicago Defender to discourage migration. During the Great
Depression, African Americans faced a scarcity of resources in the North, which led Abbott to
no longer see a reason for migration. In the end, promoting migration revealed that resources
were more important than rights and changed to discouragement of migration because the Great
Depression turned the North into a repressive environment that limited access to resources.
The Chicago Defender first encouraged migration in 1917 when the United States entered
World War One. Greater wartime production resulted in a higher need for labor. Unfortunately,
labor demand increased at the same time that the labor supply declined. The labor supply
decreased as European immigrants could not safely cross the Atlantic and the draft inducted
millions of men into the military.1 To solve the problem, companies turned to African
Americans. Many Northern companies sent labor agents into the South to recruit blacks.2 Abbott
took notice of the tight labor market and used the Chicago Defender to encourage blacks to
migrate on their own. He started an advertising campaign for a Great Northern Drive and even
declared May 17, 1917 to be the starting date for this movement.3 To increase support for
migration, Abbott published articles that extolled the North as a promised land where
1
John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans (Boston:
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2000), 376.
2
Michael L. Levine, African Americans and Civil Rights: From 1619 to the Present (Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1996), 144.
3
Felicia G. Jones Ross and Joseph P. McKearns, “Depression in the Promised Land: The Chicago Defender
Discourages Migration, 1929-1940,” American Journalism 21 (2004): 58.
HIST 356 – Dr. Reich
Importance of Resources
During the Great Migration
and Great Depression
, In the Chicago Defender, the editor Robert Abbott revealed why African Americans
moved to the North during the Great Migration. He demonstrated how black migrants saw the
North as a promised land that would allow them to escape the racial discrimination and violence
of the South. However, Abbott saw the North not just as a promised land of rights, but more
importantly as a promised land of resources. On the other hand, resources eventually became the
main reason why he used the Chicago Defender to discourage migration. During the Great
Depression, African Americans faced a scarcity of resources in the North, which led Abbott to
no longer see a reason for migration. In the end, promoting migration revealed that resources
were more important than rights and changed to discouragement of migration because the Great
Depression turned the North into a repressive environment that limited access to resources.
The Chicago Defender first encouraged migration in 1917 when the United States entered
World War One. Greater wartime production resulted in a higher need for labor. Unfortunately,
labor demand increased at the same time that the labor supply declined. The labor supply
decreased as European immigrants could not safely cross the Atlantic and the draft inducted
millions of men into the military.1 To solve the problem, companies turned to African
Americans. Many Northern companies sent labor agents into the South to recruit blacks.2 Abbott
took notice of the tight labor market and used the Chicago Defender to encourage blacks to
migrate on their own. He started an advertising campaign for a Great Northern Drive and even
declared May 17, 1917 to be the starting date for this movement.3 To increase support for
migration, Abbott published articles that extolled the North as a promised land where
1
John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans (Boston:
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2000), 376.
2
Michael L. Levine, African Americans and Civil Rights: From 1619 to the Present (Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1996), 144.
3
Felicia G. Jones Ross and Joseph P. McKearns, “Depression in the Promised Land: The Chicago Defender
Discourages Migration, 1929-1940,” American Journalism 21 (2004): 58.
