Question

How did agricultural problems contribute to migration within the United States?

Answer 1

In 1898, the bowl weevil infected the cotton crops of the South leaving acres and acres of cotton devastated. Finally, the hold of King Cotton in the South was finished. In 1914, foreign immigration stopped with WW I which left industries in the North short of workers. Some people migrated to the North to get factory jobs. Big businesses decided to help with the war effort and because they needed a good supply of workers, decided to built factories in the south. At this point the South was behind in education, labor skills, etc. because the idea of the South was the better of the two regions still lay in the minds of many Southerners. However, some had left farms years ago and were just waiting for a chance to see what the North had to offer. When the coal mines opened up, many ex-farmers headed North to see what kind of jobs could be found. As more people quit working the land and headed North, some would stop off at different places and some would continue onward. If the big crop of cotton had not failed, many would have been stuck in the Southern way of life and racism from the end of the Civil War.