Detroit was founded in 1701 with a population of 100 French soldiers, farmers and merchants. The first women arrived the next year. Native American settlements of various tribes around the fort soon far outnumbered the French. Detroit grew into the most important city between Montreal and New Orleans. Its European population was 800 people in 1765, with most or all of the Native Americans having long before left. By 1773, the population of Detroit was 1,400. By 1778, its population was up to 2,144 and the third largest city in the Province of Quebec.
Early Detroit also attracted other populations. JoEllen Vinyard, a history professor at Eastern Michigan University who specializes in U.S. social and immigration history, said major groups such as the Germans, Irish and British immigrated to Detroit in the early 1800s due to factors including cheap land, affordable homes and better opportunities.
Vinyard said there is a general immigration theory that the “pull is stronger than the push,” meaning people often chose to immigrate to Detroit when its economy was strong, rather than because they were forced out by circumstances in their home country.
The first and second Great Migrations of African Americans from the Southern United States between 1910 and 1980 increased Detroit's African American population by over 100 times. From the 1940s to the 1970s a second wave of Blacks moved to Detroit to escape Jim Crow laws in the south and find jobs.[15] However, they soon found themselves excluded from white areas of the city—through violence, laws, and economic discrimination (e.g., redlining). White residents attacked black homes: breaking windows, starting fires, and exploding bombs. The pattern of segregation was later magnified by white migration to the suburbs. The White population of the city peaked in 1950 and then steadily declined due to white flight, net out migration through 2010. The white population has fallen 95% between the 1950 and 2010 censuses. However, in an apparent turn-around, the Detroit News reported in its September 17, 2015 edition that the White population of the city is now actually rising, with a reported nearly 8,000 increase in White residents just from 2013 to 2014—the first measurable increase in Detroit's White population since 1950 when the city was 84%
Vinyard said there is a general immigration theory that the “pull is stronger than the push,” meaning people often chose to immigrate to Detroit when its economy was strong, rather than because they were forced out by circumstances in their home country.
The first and second Great Migrations of African Americans from the Southern United States between 1910 and 1980 increased Detroit's African American population by over 100 times. From the 1940s to the 1970s a second wave of Blacks moved to Detroit to escape Jim Crow laws in the south and find jobs.[15] However, they soon found themselves excluded from white areas of the city—through violence, laws, and economic discrimination (e.g., redlining). White residents attacked black homes: breaking windows, starting fires, and exploding bombs. The pattern of segregation was later magnified by white migration to the suburbs. The White population of the city peaked in 1950 and then steadily declined due to white flight, net out migration through 2010. The white population has fallen 95% between the 1950 and 2010 censuses. However, in an apparent turn-around, the Detroit News reported in its September 17, 2015 edition that the White population of the city is now actually rising, with a reported nearly 8,000 increase in White residents just from 2013 to 2014—the first measurable increase in Detroit's White population since 1950 when the city was 84%