The Great Migration was a period of mass migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North and West that occurred between 1916 and 1970. This movement was driven by a combination of factors, including economic opportunities in the North, the desire to escape racial discrimination and violence in the South, and the availability of transportation via trains and buses.
During this time, an estimated six million African Americans left the South, with many settling in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and New York. This migration had a profound impact on American society, contributing to the growth of urban areas, the development of new cultural expressions such as jazz and the blues, and the emergence of civil rights activism.