AP African American Studies Practice Quiz: The Great Migration
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 16 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 16
All Questions (16)
A) One million
B) Three million
C) Six million
D) Ten million
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly states, 'Six million African Americans relocated in waves from the South to the North, Midwest, and western United States from the 1910s to 1970s.'
A) The availability of agricultural land in the West
B) Labor shortages in northern industrial cities during world wars
C) The decline of the Jim Crow system in the South
D) High wages offered by Southern employers to retain workers
Correct Answer: B
The text identifies a key pull factor: 'Labor shortages in the North during the First World War and Second World War increased job opportunities in northern industrial cities, appealing to African Americans in search of economic opportunities.'
A) The establishment of the Urban League in the North and the development of the railway system
B) The transformation into an urban population and the infusion of Southern culture in the North
C) Environmental disasters like floods and the pervasive threat of racial violence
D) Increased job opportunities in industrial cities and encouragement from the Black press
Correct Answer: C
The text identifies environmental factors (floods, boll weevils) and the dangers of the Jim Crow South (lynching, racial violence) as key reasons, or push factors, for leaving. The other options describe enabling factors, pull factors, or effects of the migration.
A) The automobile and the national highway system
B) The railway system and the Black press
C) The telegraph and steamships
D) The National Urban League and Southern employers
Correct Answer: B
The text explicitly states, 'A new railway system and the Black press made the Great Migration possible. Trains offered a means to travel, and the Black press provided encouragement and instructions...'
A) A decrease in the overall urban population
B) The complete assimilation of Black Southerners into existing northern cultures
C) The infusion of Black Southern culture, which helped create a shared national African American culture
D) An increase in racial tensions that ultimately ended the migration
Correct Answer: C
The text notes that the migration 'infused American cities such as New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles with Black Southern culture, creating a shared culture among African American communities across the country.'
A) urban people to a primarily rural people.
B) northern people to a primarily southern people.
C) rural people to a primarily urban dwellers.
D) laboring class to a primarily leisure class.
Correct Answer: C
The text states, 'The Great Migration transformed African Americans from primarily rural people to primarily urban dwellers.'
A) They offered competitive wages and improved working conditions to entice them to stay.
B) They actively encouraged the migration to reduce labor surplus and unemployment.
C) They supported the National Urban League's efforts to resettle workers in the North.
D) They resisted the flight and sometimes had migrants unjustly arrested.
Correct Answer: D
The text explains the negative reaction from some in the South: 'Employers often resisted the flight of African Americans and at times had them unjustly arrested.'
A) To organize protests against Jim Crow laws in the South
B) To provide train tickets for migrants traveling north
C) To assist migrants in securing housing, jobs, and acclimating to northern city life
D) To publish newspapers that encouraged African Americans to leave the South
Correct Answer: C
The text states the Urban League 'assisted African Americans migrating from the rural South during the Great Migration, helping them acclimate to northern urban life and secure housing and jobs.'
A) The desire to escape the dangers of lynching and Jim Crow
B) Economic hardships caused by crop failures and boll weevils
C) The direct involvement of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in organizing the move
D) Increased job opportunities in northern industries during wartime
Correct Answer: C
The text mentions the Urban League worked with the SCLC later during the Civil Rights movement, but does not list the SCLC's involvement as a cause of the Great Migration, which began decades before the SCLC was founded. The other options are all explicitly mentioned as causes.
A) They began to work primarily in agricultural jobs in the North.
B) They lost all connection to the natural environment.
C) They started to engage with nature for leisure rather than for labor.
D) They led movements to create national parks in northern cities.
Correct Answer: C
The text specifies a change in this relationship: 'Black Southerners forged new connections to their northern environment, such as engaging with nature for leisure rather than livelihood/labor.'
A) Southern industries were not dependent on Black labor.
B) Southern employers were concerned for the safety of the migrants.
C) the Southern economy was heavily reliant on an underpaid Black labor force.
D) there was a surplus of available labor in the South.
Correct Answer: C
The text describes the departing workers as 'underpaid and disempowered Black laborers.' The fact that employers actively and unjustly resisted their departure implies that this labor was crucial to the Southern economy and that employers benefited from the exploitative system.
A) A Southern-based organization focused on agricultural reform
B) A Black nationalist organization advocating for separatism
C) An interracial organization that helped migrants adjust to city life
D) A government agency created to manage internal migration
Correct Answer: C
The text identifies the National Urban League as 'an interracial organization' founded in New York City that 'assisted African Americans migrating from the rural South.'
A) funding the construction of new railway lines to the North.
B) organizing labor unions in Southern states.
C) providing encouragement and practical information to potential migrants.
D) documenting the cultural fusion that resulted from the migration.
Correct Answer: C
The text states that 'the Black press provided encouragement and instructions for African Americans leaving the South.' This was its primary role in facilitating the migration itself.
A) The North, Midwest, and West
B) The Northeast and the Pacific Northwest only
C) Exclusively to industrial cities in the Midwest
D) To newly established rural communities in the North
Correct Answer: A
The text specifies the destinations: 'African Americans relocated in waves from the South to the North, Midwest, and western United States.'
A) The Civil War and Reconstruction
B) The Great Depression and the New Deal
C) The First World War and the Second World War
D) The Spanish-American War and the Progressive Era
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly links the increased job opportunities to 'Labor shortages in the North during the First World War and Second World War.'
A) It led to the decline of Black cultural movements as communities were dispersed.
B) It primarily benefited Southern employers by reducing labor competition.
C) It was a major demographic shift that also transformed American cities and created a shared national Black culture.
D) It resulted in the complete and peaceful integration of African Americans into northern society.
Correct Answer: C
This answer synthesizes multiple points from the text: the demographic shift from rural to urban, the transformation of cities, and the creation of a shared national culture. The other options are contradicted by the text's information on cultural infusion, Southern resistance, and racial tensions.