There was very little migration out of the South by African Americans in the time right after the abolition of slavery.  Some blacks did try to go to sparsely settled areas like Kansas, but this was not a very large movement.  The vast majority of blacks still lived in the South as of 1900.  When World War I came, however, this changed.  Many blacks left the South in what is now known as the "Great Migration."  In this migration, blacks moved to cities in the North in search of jobs in factories.  Over a million African Americans left the South to go to cities in the North during this time.