Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 1 The changing geography of civil rights issues — Edexcel A-Level History
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Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 1 The changing geography of civil rights issues explained
Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 1 The changing geography of civil rights issues covers 2 specification points, including Freedom in 1865, the slow drift north, the… and Mass migration into Harlem from 1905; riots in….
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Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
The changing geographical distribution of black Americans, 1850–2009 (key developments: freedom in 1865, the slow drift north, the First Great Migration c1910–30, the Second Great Migration c1940–70 , the migration back to the old south in the late twentieth century).
This topic traces where black Americans lived and why the map shifted. In 1850 most were enslaved in the southern states. Freedom in 1865 did not bring movement: sharecropping, debt and violence tied families to the land, so change was a slow drift north and west. The First Great Migration c1910–30 carried perhaps over a million people to cities such as Chicago, Detroit and New York, pushed by crop failure and Jim Crow and pulled by wartime jobs. The Second Great Migration c1940–70 was larger and more urban, following defence work and the mechanisation of southern farming. From the late twentieth century the flow reversed: the migration back to the old south, as industry, cheaper housing and family ties drew people to cities like Atlanta. Learn each phase as push, pull and consequence.
The changing pattern of settlement and segregation 1850– 2009 (key developments: mass migration into Harlem from 1905; riots in Chicago 1919, Tulsa 1921, Watts 1965 and Newark 1967; developments in de-facto segregation in Levitt estates, white exodus to the suburbs post-1945 in the north; increasing de-segregation in the old south post- 1970).
This topic links where black Americans settled to how they were segregated. Mass migration into Harlem from 1905 made it a centre of black life, yet landlords and covenants confined residents to defined blocks. Racial violence marked resistance to settlement: the Chicago riot of 1919, the Tulsa riot of 1921, Watts in 1965 and Newark in 1967. In the north, de-facto segregation shaped the Levitt estates, where developers refused black buyers, and the white exodus to the suburbs post-1945 left poorer, mainly black inner cities. After 1970 the old south saw increasing de-segregation as civil rights law and court rulings took effect. Learn each place as evidence of a pattern: concentration, resistance, then uneven change.
Your focus
- Describe the main phases of black American internal migration between 1850 and 2009 in correct sequence.
- Explain the push and pull factors behind the slow drift north, the First Great Migration c1910–30 and the Second Great Migration c1940–70.
- Evaluate the extent to which the late twentieth-century migration back to the old south reversed earlier patterns.
Show all 6 objectives
- Describe the growth of Harlem and the pattern of black urban settlement from 1905.
- Explain the causes of the Chicago, Tulsa, Watts and Newark riots and how they differed.
- Assess the extent of de-segregation in the old south after 1970 against continuing de-facto segregation in the north.
Paper 3, Option 39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009 - 1 The changing geography of civil rights issues exam tips
Marking Points
- Places the starting point in 1850: the great majority of black Americans were enslaved in the southern states, so the geographical distribution was largely forced rather than chosen.
- Explains that freedom in 1865 did not produce mass movement: sharecropping, debt peonage, poverty and racial violence kept most freedpeople in the rural south.
- Defines the slow drift north as a gradual, limited movement before c1910, including movement to southern towns and a small northern stream.
- Accounts for the First Great Migration c1910–30 using push factors such as boll weevil damage, floods and Jim Crow, and pull factors such as industrial and wartime labour demand.
- Accounts for the Second Great Migration c1940–70 using defence-industry jobs, agricultural mechanisation and chain migration to northern and western cities.
- Explains the migration back to the old south in the late twentieth century through employment growth, lower living costs, retirement and family links, and notes the resulting urban concentration.
- Uses accurate supporting detail, for example named destination cities, and links each phase to its consequences for black communities.
- Explains mass migration into Harlem from 1905 as the making of a black urban community and a centre of culture, while noting that discrimination confined settlement to particular streets and blocks.
- Uses the Chicago riot of 1919 and the Tulsa riot of 1921 as evidence of violent white resistance to black settlement, housing competition and economic advance.
- Uses Watts in 1965 and Newark in 1967 to show later urban unrest rooted in segregation, policing, unemployment and poor housing rather than in the same causes as 1919 or 1921.
- Explains de-facto segregation in the Levitt estates through developer policy, restrictive practices and buyer discrimination, distinguishing it from legally enforced southern segregation.
- Explains the white exodus to the suburbs post-1945 in the north as a cause of racialised inner cities, falling tax bases and continuing separation of communities.
- Explains increasing de-segregation in the old south post-1970 through civil rights legislation, court decisions and federal enforcement, while noting that de-facto separation often persisted.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Anchor every phase to dates and a named place so the examiner can see chronological and geographical precision.
- 💡For each migration, write a push factor and a pull factor in the same sentence to show causation rather than description.
- 💡Use the final paragraph to judge continuity and change across the whole period, for example contrasting 1850 confinement with late twentieth-century return migration.
- 💡Pair each named place with a date and a specific cause so evidence is precise rather than general.
- 💡Compare de jure and de facto segregation explicitly to show conceptual understanding.
- 💡End with a judgement on how far settlement patterns had changed by 2009, using the old south and the northern suburbs as your contrast.
Common Mistakes
- Treating 1865 as an instant turning point that immediately redistributed the black population; the correction is that emancipation was legal and political, while economic and violent coercion kept most people in the rural south for decades.
- Collapsing the two Great Migrations into one event; the correction is to separate the First c1910–30 from the Second c1940–70 by scale, timing, destinations and causes.
- Assuming migration only ever ran south to north; the correction is to include the late twentieth-century return to the old south and the earlier slow drift within the south.
- Treating de-facto segregation as identical to de jure segregation; the correction is that northern separation often arose from private choices, developer policy and economics rather than statute.
- Listing the riots as one undifferentiated series; the correction is to distinguish the settlement and housing conflicts of 1919 and 1921 from the later urban grievances behind Watts in 1965 and Newark in 1967.
- Assuming de-segregation after 1970 ended segregation everywhere; the correction is that the old south changed most, while northern de-facto patterns often endured.