Geography of Expansion, Migration & Urban Growth
Aligned to C3.D2.Geo.1 — C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.
What this lesson teaches
As the United States expanded across the continent, waves of immigration and internal migration reshaped where and how Americans lived. Rural populations moved toward growing cities, immigrants clustered in ethnic neighborhoods, and millions of Black Southerners moved north and west in search of jobs and safety.
Worked example
During the Great Migration (roughly 1916 to 1970), about six million African Americans left the rural South for cities like Chicago and Detroit, transforming neighborhoods such as Chicago's South Side into centers of Black culture and enterprise.
Practice questions
- What was the Great Migration?
- Explain why immigrants and migrants often settled in cities rather than the countryside.
- Analyze how migration patterns changed the culture and economy of American cities.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Geografía de la expansión, la migración y el crecimiento urbano
A medida que Estados Unidos se expandía por el continente, oleadas de inmigración y migración interna transformaron dónde y cómo vivían los estadounidenses. La población rural se trasladó hacia las ciudades en crecimiento, los inmigrantes se agruparon en barrios étnicos y millones de sureños negros se mudaron al norte y al oeste en busca de empleo y seguridad.
Ejemplo: Durante la Gran Migración (aproximadamente de 1916 a 1970), unos seis millones de afroamericanos dejaron el Sur rural por ciudades como Chicago y Detroit, transformando barrios como el South Side de Chicago en centros de cultura y empresa negra.
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