Final answer:
African Americans moved North due to push factors like segregation and job scarcity and pull factors such as higher wages and less segregation. They were recruited for industrial jobs during World War I and II, leading to the Great Migration. This movement significantly impacted the African American community, offering better employment but still facing racial challenges.
Step-by-step explanation:
Reasons for the Great Migration
African Americans moved from the rural South to the urban North for several reasons, primarily during and after World War I. This movement is known as the Great Migration. The push factors included rampant racial segregation, discrimination, and the mechanization of agricultural jobs, leading to job scarcity in the South. Conversely, the pull factors were the industrial jobs in Northern factories that offered higher wages and the attraction of a more equitable society with less legally enforced segregation. The opportunity for better employment, as well as escaping the oppressive Jim Crow laws of the South, were significant motivators.
During World War I and World War II, the war effort created jobs in sectors such as steel, mining, shipbuilding, and automotive industries, which attracted African Americans to Northern cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York. Additionally, African American soldiers who returned from the wars engaged in more militant politics, aiding in the fight against inequality and segregation.
The Great Migration had both short-term and long-term impacts on the African American community, with many finding higher wages and better living conditions in the North, although discrimination and racial challenges persisted.