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Why did African Americans move from the rural South to the metropolitan North? Scholars have shown that African Americans took part in the urbanization of American society between the Civil War and the Great Depression, but the racial dimensions of their migration have remained unclear. A Little More Freedom is the first study to trace African American locational choices during the crucial period when migrants created pathways that would shape mobility through the twentieth century and beyond. This book identifies an “age of the village” for black Midwesterners, when Civil War and postwar migrants distributed themselves evenly across the urban hierarchies of the region. Using four case studies of Washington Court House, Ohio; Springfield, Ohio; Springfield, Illinois; and Muncie, Indiana, Blocker shows what life was like for African Americans in small towns and small cities, thus illuminating the reasons why most blacks ultimately chose to leave such places in favor of metropolitan centers such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and Cleveland. Previous scholars have emphasized the role of racist white violence as the catalyst, but A Little More Freedom takes a more nuanced approach. Emphasis upon racist violence and Jim Crow has inadvertently tended to portray African Americans as victims and their migrations as flight from danger and oppression. While not downplaying white racism, A Little More Freedom tries to recreate the threats and opportunities in urban places of different sizes as seen through the eyes of migrants.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Front Matter
  2. pp. i-v
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  1. Table of Contents
  2. p. vii
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  1. List of Illustrations
  2. pp. ix-x
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  1. List of Tables
  2. pp. xi-xii
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  1. List of Abbreviations
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xv-xvii
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-12
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  1. Part 1. Getting There, 1860-1890
  2. p. 13
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  1. 1. Reconnaissance Parties
  2. pp. 15-35
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  1. Part 2. Black Striving in White Worlds, 1860-1910
  2. p. 37
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  1. 2. Small Town: Washington Court House, 1860-1890
  2. pp. 39-68
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  1. 3. Small Cities: The Springfields
  2. pp. 69-83
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  1. 4. In White Worlds: Politics
  2. pp. 84-103
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  1. 5. Violence: Patterns of Attack and Riposte
  2. pp. 104-134
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  1. Part 3. Moving In and Moving On, 1860-1930
  2. p. 135
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  1. 6. A Taste of Lemon Pie: Urban Experience in the South
  2. pp. 137-149
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  1. 7. The Advance Guard Arrives
  2. pp. 150-182
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  1. 8. New Black Worlds
  2. pp. 183-213
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  1. Conclusion
  2. pp. 214-220
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  1. Appendix A. Tables
  2. pp. 221-242
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  1. Appendix B. Histories of African American Life in Northern Nonmetropolitan Communities, 1860-1930, and Oral History Collections Consulted
  2. pp. 243-246
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  1. Appendix C. Migrant Oral History Interviews
  2. pp. 247-251
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 253-319
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 321-330
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  1. Other Titles in the Series
  2. pp. 331-332
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