medium · SAT Reading & Writing

In the early twentieth century, the Great Migration saw millions of African Americans move from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North and Midwest. Historians have traditionally focused on the "push" factors of this movement, such as the oppressive Jim Crow laws and the decline of the cotton economy. Recently, however, scholars have begun to emphasize "pull" factors, noting that the promise of higher wages and the presence of established social networks in northern cities were equally significant in shaping the migration's trajectory. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

1. To argue that Jim Crow laws were the only reason African Americans moved North.
2. To provide a detailed economic analysis of the cotton industry in the early 1900s.
3. To show an evolving scholarly emphasis on the reasons for a major demographic shift.
4. To identify the economic incentives that drew migrants to northern cities.

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