1 



1 06 NJegro Migration 



, / *> CL ^ ji 



into the section, and,,' in some cases, caused planters « to cut - 



independent farmers/bec^ne discouraged and move^f away. 1 



j-i ridffipfnrlniat fnrmnn brrmrtff di iroura geH g rid m n vH away . - 



This emigration from the boll weevil section, with the 



normal amount of emigration from the Black Belt, gave a 



much greater impetus to the previously slow current moving 



to the North. The first part of this chapter is devoted to a 



closer analysis of the movement from 1900 to 1910, and the 



second part to a description of the movement since 1915 in so 



far as it affects rural districts. 



CAUSES OF MIGRATION BEFORE 1910 



The more critical student will doubtless object that the 

 method used in the previous chapter lacks sufficient defi- 

 niteness in relating migration to farm conditions. Map II 

 indicated the general movements in the geographical belts, 

 but in these belts exceptional counties were noted whose 

 population movement differs from that in the surrounding 

 counties. It cannot be said, therefore, that population move- 

 ment corresponds perfectly with any geographic section or 

 with any grouping of counties based on the percentage which 

 Negroes form of the total population. The next logical step 

 is to search for a third condition whose variations corre- 

 spond to the changes in population more closely than do 



1 In description of this movement it is felt that clearness and 

 brevity demand that the detailed facts be largely based upon 

 a study of Georgia. The States north of Georgia were not af- 

 fected by the boll weevil and hence did not suffer nearly the 

 same loss in Negro population. The States west of Georgia had 

 been previously affected in a similar manner. The slight in- 

 crease in Texas and the actual decrease in Louisiana, noted in 

 Table 1, are, in a measure, due to the fact that these two States 

 were affected by the weevil before 1910. Floods in Alabama, 

 and tariff troubles with sugar in Louisiana, aggravated the con- 

 ditions in these States. A good general idea of how the other 

 States compare with Georgia in respect to the loss of Negroes 

 can be gained from the report of the U. S. Department of 

 Labor, "Negro Migration in 1916-17," Washington, Government 

 Printing Office, 1919. 



