1. THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
CHAPTER 11
SECTION 5
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

2. The Harlem Renaissance
WORLD WAR I AND THE GREAT MIGRATION LED
MILLIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS RELOCATED FROM
RURAL SOUTH TO THE URBAN NORTH
– CONTRIBUTED TO A FLOWERING OF MUSIC AND
LITERATURE
– JAZZ AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE MADE A
LASTING IMPACT ON THE CULTURE OF ALL AMERICANS

3. AFRICAN AMERICANS LEFT THE SOUTH FOR A BETTER
FUTURE
– ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT AND
GREATER POLITICAL RIGHTS
MOST FOUND A BETTER LIFE THAN IN THE SOUTH
– HOWEVER DID NOT EXCAPE RACISM AND OPPRESSION
– FORCED TO LIVE IN THE WORST HOUSING AND
WORKED IN THE LOWEST PAYING JOBS
– SOME WERE THREATENED WITH VIOLENCE
AFTER WWI AFRICAN AMERICANS INCREASED THEIR
DEMAND FOR SOLUTIONS TO THE COUNTRY’S RACIAL
PROBLEMS

4. HARLEM BECAME THE FOCAL POINT FOR THE
ASPIRATION OF THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
– 200,000 AFRICAN AMERICANS SETTLED IN HARLEM
MIGRANTS FROM THE SOUTH MIXED WITH IMMIGRANTS
FROM CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
– CREATED A BLED OF DIFFERENT CULTURES AND
TRADITIONS

5. Marcus Garvey MOST PROMINENT AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADER TO EMERGE
IN THE 1920S
– BELIEVED THAT BLACKS WERE
EXPLOITED EVERYWHERE
HE PROMOTED THE IDEA OF
UNIVERSAL BLACK NATIONALISM
AND ORGANIZED A “BACK TO
AFRICA’ MOVEMENT
DID NOT CALL FOR BLACKS TO
WORK TOGETHER TO IMPROVE
AMERICA
– INSTEAD ADVOCATED THE
SEPARATION OF RACES

6. Marcus Garvey FOUNDED THE UNIVERSAL NEGRO IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
- HAD 2.5 MEMBERS AND
SYMPATHIZERS
GARVEY’S MOVEMENT
FELL APART IN THE
SECOND HALF OF THE
DECADE
– THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT SENT
GARVEY TO PRISON
FOR MAIL FRAUD AND
DEPORTED HIM TO
JAMAICA
Marcus Garvey

7. Marcus Garvey THE NATIONALIST AND SEPARATIST ASPECTS OF THE
NATION OF ISLAM AND THE
BLACK POWER MOVEMENT IN
THE 1960’S WERE INFLUENCED
BY GARVEY
– SO DID APPEALS TO BLACK
PRIDE, SELF RELIANCE AND
CULTURAL TIES TO AFRICA

8. The Jazz Age NAME CAME FROM F. SCOTT FITZGERALD JAZZ IS A MUSICAL FORM
BASED ON IMPROVISATION
– RECOMBINE DIFFERENT
FORMS OF MUSIC,
INCLUDING AFRICAN
AMERICAN BLUES AND
RAGTIME AND EUROPEAN
BASED POPULAR MUSIC

9. The Jazz Age JAZZ EMERGED IN THE SOUTHAND MIDWEST – PARTICULARLY NEW
ORLEANS
– WHERE DIFFERENT
CULTURES AND
TRADITIONS CAME
TOGETHER AND
INFLUENCED EACH OTHER
– SPREAD NORTH WITH THE
GREAT MIGRATION
JAZZ WAS ALSO A SYMBOL
OF THE ROARING TWENTIES
– PLAYED IN SPEAKEASIES
AND NIGHTSPOTS IN BIG
CITIES
The Jazz Age

10. The Jazz Age LOUIS ARMSTRONG “IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD” BESSIE SMITH
MOST POPULAR JAZZ ENTERTAINERS OF THE 1920S

11. The Jazz Age PLAYED IN THE COTTON CLUB – HARLEMS MOST POPULAR
NIGHTSPOT
– BLACK MUSICIANS PLAYED
TO WHITE AUDIENCES
BY THE END OF THE 1920S
JAZZ HAD SPREAD TO EUROPE
– WITH THE HELP OF
JOSEPHINE BAKER

12. The Jazz Age JAZZ BRIDGED THE RACES – INFLUENCED WHITE SONGWRITERS AND
COMPOSERS SUCH AS
COLE PORTER, IRVING BERLIN
AND GEORGE GERSHWIN

13. The Harlem Renaissance
IN THE 1920S NOVELISTS, POETS AND ARTISTS
CELEBRATED THEIR CULTURE AND EXPLORED
QUESTIONS OF RACE IN AMERICA
– THIS FLOWERING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN
CULTURE BECAME KNOW KNOWN AS THE
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
– IT HELPED GIVE A NEW VOCABULARY AND
DYNAMIC TO RACE RELATIONS IN THE U.S.

14. The Harlem Renaissance
IN THE 1920’S THE TERM “NEW NEGRO”
ENTERED THE AMNERICAN VOCABULARY
– SUGGESTED A RADICAL BREAK WITH THE
PAST
– NO LONGER WOULD AFRICAN AMERICANS
ENDURE THE OLD WAYS OF EXPLOITATION
AND DISCRIMINATION

15. The Harlem Renaissance
THIS WAS MOST VIVIDLY
EXPRESSED IN HARLEM, WHICH
ATTRACTED AFRICAN
AMERICAN NOVELISTS,
ESSAYISTS, POETS AND
JOURNALISTS FROM ALL OVER
THE COUNTRY
– THESE WRITERS EXPLORED
THE PAINS AND JOYS OF BEING
BLACK IN AMERICA

16. The Harlem Renaissance
CLAUDE MCKAY
– NOVELIST AND POET WHO SHOWED ORDINARY
AFRICAN AMERICANS STRUGGLING FOR DIGNITY
AND ADVANCEMENT IN THE FACE OF
DISCRIMINATION AND ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS
MCKAY REPRESENTED THE POLITICAL AND
IDEOLOGICAL LEFT WING OF THE HARLEM
RENAISSANCE
– MORE TO THE CENTER WAS LANGSTON HUGHES
– PROBABLY THE MOST POWERFUL AFRICAN
AMERICAN LITERARY VOICE OF HIS TIME

17. The Harlem Renaissance
HUGHES BELIEVED THE
FORCE OF THE MOVEMENT
WAS NOT POLITICS BUT A
CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN
AMERICAN CULTURE AND
LIFE
HUGHES CAPTURED THE
DIVERSITY OF EVERYDAY
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE

18. The Harlem Renaissance
ZORA HURSTON
– WROTE FOLK TALES AND
ALSO WROTE THEIR EYES
WERE WATCHING GOD
– ABOUT THE NEW LONGING
FOR INDEPENDENCE FELT
BY MANY WOMEN, BLACK
OR WHITE

19. Impact of the Harlem Renaissance
ALTERED THE WAY MANY WHITE AMERIANS VIEWED
AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND EVEN THE WAY
AFRICAN AMERICANS VIEWED THEMSELVES
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE ENDED WITH THE
NATIONAL FINANCIAL COLLAPSE THAT ALSO ENDED
THE NATION’S DECADE OF PROSPERITY
THE SENSE OF GROUP IDENTITY AND AFRICAN
AMERICAN SOLIDARITY THAT IT CREATED WOULD
INFLUENCE LATER CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS