Chicago Great Migration

Chicago has become one of the largest cities in the United States, ranking the third largest in 2012. Housing nearly 2.7 million civilians, it has shown exponential growth throughout the century and is now an icon for metropolitan cities (Largest). However, modern day Chicago is drastically different from its past. This topic has been widely researched to discover what molded Chicago into the city is it today. Numerous books, articles, and other publications discuss several possibilities of this question, ranging from religious backgrounds to widespread violence and the “Great Migration.” To understand modern day Chicago, it is essential to know the history of the city and the wide range of influences that helped shape it. Chicago is renowned
Furthermore, with the rapidly expanding population, the high demand for jobs largely led many workers and their families north to bigger cities, including Chicago. This event was called the “Great Migration” and it significantly shaped the city into what it is today. In Isabel Wilkerson’s article “The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration,” she explores the history behind the movement and how “they would reshape the social and political geography of every city they fled to,” (Wilkerson). With the Industrial Revolution occurring, the city of Chicago offered a new life to many freed slaves and their families in a time of social injustice. This movement significantly increased the population of Chicago, and further increased the diversity in the city which can still be seen today. However, this rapid growth of the population in Chicago resulted in a competitive job market and amplified stress level among the working class, resulting in the infamous crime level of
Mark Haller wrote an article discussing this tragedy and the history of its formation. He discusses the original role of the police in Chicago which “were little oriented toward legal norms,” (Haller). Throughout the article, Haller discusses the day-to-day activities of the police, including chatting with civilians, brutally reprimanding adolescents, and heavily engaging in political matters rather than dealing with the legal matters in the city. Haller’s article provides a foundation for the behavior for modern day police not only in the city in Chicago but throughout the nation. Police in Chicago allowed gang formation, barroom violence, and other numerous crimes throughout the city, all of which led to the high crime rate that Chicago experiences today. All five articles display different influences that shaped early Chicago into the city it is