The Second Great Migration was the movement of over five million African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and West between 1940 and 1970, sparked by World War II defense jobs and the chance to escape Jim Crow segregation and violence.
The Second Great Migration was the mass movement of more than five million African Americans out of the rural South and into urban centers in the North and West between roughly 1940 and 1970. World War II kicked it off. Factories building tanks, planes, and ships needed workers fast, and with millions of men drafted, defense industries opened doors that had been slammed shut for decades. Black Southerners moved to cities like Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland chasing those jobs and fleeing sharecropping, segregation, and racial violence at home.
Notice the word "Second." The first Great Migration happened around World War I (roughly 1916-1940). The second wave was bigger, lasted longer, and pushed further. A major new feature was the West Coast, where shipyards and aircraft plants pulled Black workers to California and the Pacific Northwest in large numbers for the first time. The result was a permanent demographic shift. African Americans went from a mostly rural Southern population to a heavily urban, national one, which set the stage for the postwar Civil Rights Movement.
This term lives in Topic 7.12 (World War II: Mobilization) in Unit 7, and it directly supports learning objective APUSH 7.12.A, which asks you to explain how and why U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society. The CED's essential knowledge spells out the connection. Mobilization provided opportunities for minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions, while also sparking debates over racial segregation. The Second Great Migration is the concrete evidence for that claim. It also feeds the Migration and Settlement (MIG) theme, one of APUSH's recurring threads, and it's a continuity-and-change goldmine because it bridges WWI-era migration (Unit 7) and the Civil Rights Movement (Unit 8).
Keep studying APUSH Unit 7
Great Migration (Unit 7)
The first Great Migration (WWI era, roughly 1916-1940) set the pattern. Wartime labor shortages up North plus Jim Crow down South equals mass movement. The Second Great Migration repeated that formula on a larger scale and added the West Coast. Together they're a textbook continuity-and-change pairing for essays.
A. Philip Randolph (Unit 7)
Randolph threatened a march on Washington in 1941 to protest discrimination in defense industries, pushing FDR to issue Executive Order 8802 banning that discrimination. That order is a big reason wartime factory jobs actually opened to the Black migrants arriving in Northern and Western cities.
Civil Rights Movement (Units 8)
Migration concentrated Black Americans in cities where they could vote, organize, and build political and economic power outside the Jim Crow South. The postwar civil rights push didn't come out of nowhere; the Second Great Migration helped build its base.
Bracero Program (Unit 7)
Same cause, different group. The CED pairs these in Topic 7.12 because WWII labor shortages also drew Mexican workers north under the Bracero Program. If an MCQ asks about wartime migration broadly, expect both to show up.
On multiple choice, this term usually appears inside a question about how WWII transformed American society or the economic status of African Americans, exactly the framing of APUSH 7.12.A. You'll need to identify the cause (wartime industrial labor demand plus escaping Southern segregation) and the effect (urbanization of the Black population, new economic opportunities, and rising tensions over segregation in Northern cities). No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it's prime evidence for DBQ and LEQ prompts on WWII's home front, migration patterns, or the origins of the Civil Rights Movement. The strongest move is using it for continuity and change. Compare it to the first Great Migration, or trace how it set up Unit 8.
Both are mass movements of African Americans out of the South, but the timing and scale differ. The (first) Great Migration ran from about 1916 to 1940, was triggered by WWI labor shortages, and headed mostly to Northern industrial cities. The Second Great Migration ran from 1940 to 1970, was triggered by WWII mobilization, moved over five million people (far more than the first), and added the West Coast as a major destination. On the exam, match the migration to its war.
The Second Great Migration moved over five million African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and West between 1940 and 1970.
World War II mobilization was the trigger because defense industries needed workers, opening factory jobs that had long been closed to Black Americans.
Push factors included Jim Crow segregation, sharecropping, and racial violence in the South; pull factors were higher-paying industrial jobs and relatively more freedom.
It was larger than the first Great Migration and added a new destination, the West Coast, where shipyards and aircraft plants drew Black workers to cities like Los Angeles and Oakland.
It transformed African Americans from a mostly rural Southern population into an urban national one, laying the demographic and political groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.
For APUSH, it is core evidence for learning objective APUSH 7.12.A, that WWII mobilization gave minorities chances to improve their socioeconomic position while fueling debates over segregation.
It was the movement of more than five million African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and West between 1940 and 1970, driven by WWII defense jobs and the desire to escape Jim Crow. In APUSH it's tested under Topic 7.12 (World War II) as evidence of how the war transformed American society.
The first Great Migration (roughly 1916-1940) was triggered by WWI and went mostly to Northern cities. The Second (1940-1970) was triggered by WWII, was much larger at over five million people, and added the West Coast as a major destination.
No. Migrants escaped legal Jim Crow segregation but faced housing discrimination, segregated neighborhoods, and job discrimination in Northern and Western cities. The CED frames this as wartime opportunity that also led to debates over racial segregation.
Mass mobilization created a huge labor shortage. Factories producing war materials needed workers while millions of men served overseas, and Executive Order 8802 (won after A. Philip Randolph's march threat in 1941) banned discrimination in defense industries, opening those jobs to Black workers.
Yes. It falls under Topic 7.12 and learning objective APUSH 7.12.A in Unit 7, and it shows up in multiple-choice questions about how WWII changed the economic status of African Americans. It also works as strong DBQ or LEQ evidence for migration and civil rights prompts.