Harlem Renaissance and the Emergence of Black Independence
Essential Question: Despite overt racism, how did Negro's improve life in the 1920s for themselves?
The African Americans had a difficult time gaining rights for themselves despite their hard work and persistence in the past. People over the centuries have tried to integrate into society, but were not successful as far as getting total equality. Aside from that, progress had been made, especially the significance of the Civil War, taking out slavery in America. African Americans were still being treated harshly and not seen as people. With not being considered as people, they were still able to aid in wars and fight, but weren't allowed such basic rights as eating in the same restaurant as white people. This opposition led African Americans to migrate North during WWI to get jobs. Eventually the Harlem Renaissance began and it led to the development of racial consciousness and pride among the black people.
The African Americans had a difficult time gaining rights for themselves despite their hard work and persistence in the past. People over the centuries have tried to integrate into society, but were not successful as far as getting total equality. Aside from that, progress had been made, especially the significance of the Civil War, taking out slavery in America. African Americans were still being treated harshly and not seen as people. With not being considered as people, they were still able to aid in wars and fight, but weren't allowed such basic rights as eating in the same restaurant as white people. This opposition led African Americans to migrate North during WWI to get jobs. Eventually the Harlem Renaissance began and it led to the development of racial consciousness and pride among the black people.
Key Points:
-What developments during World War I helped give rise to the Harlem Renaissance?
During WWI, many of the African Americans moved north to find jobs in the cities. The start of WWI not only allowed women to get jobs, but African Americans also did. Since both women and blacks were in the same group of questioning for certain rights for the longest time, it seemed monumental that the move towards the north. Large numbers of the black population left rural southern city and state homes to the urban centers in the north such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington DC were jobs opportunities were prominent to them. This migration combined with trends throughout the 1920s American society and the rise of a group of black artists. In Manhattan, a series of literary discussions began and was first known as the "New Negro Movement", which is now called the Harlem Renaissance. This then brought writing, art, and music.
-How was racial consciousness and racial pride affected by the Harlem Renaissance?
Because of the harsh jobs as tenant farming, sharecropping, and peonage, 1.5 million blacks moved from Southern states to cities up North. During the 10s and 20s Chicago's black population grew by 148%, Cleveland by 307%, and Detroit by 611%. Harlem was a neighborhood that had been virtually all white, but was where 200,000 African Americans moved to. This number contributed to its racial pride and consciousness. It was the first self-conscios literary and artisitic movement in black history. There was a growing spirit of racial pride following introductions of Negro spirtuals to the public and American Negro Academy which promoted literatue, art, music, and the history of the African Americans. Racial consciousness was first during the 1910s with black newspapers and magazines in that decade, and it became apparent there were black intellectuals and artists from across the country.
-What contributions did African Americans make in the fields of music, literature, and the arts?
A lot of the art, literature, and music of the Harlem Renaissance expressed the rebirth of the African American spirit and was born in the minds of its poets and in the hearts of its common people. These emotions were expressed in many of their work like: songs, essays, art, and dance. Jazz drew many things to it and became a better place for American society. The Harlem's rich cultural history was brought back to life because it fit the jazz style, dancing, and the drinks in the poetry and unique art. Many of the areas became speakeasies, restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries, dance schools, and stores.
-How did mass media, the birth and evolution of jazz, and the Harlem Renaissance create a new blend of American culture?
Jazz brought both blacks and whites to dance and lose what had always served to distinguish the civilized from the darker people. New media such as magazines and newspapers helped broadcast and emphasize the art and literature of the Harlem Renaissances. It also helped convey complex human emotions. Music in general helped blur the lines between the poor Negros and elite. It combined brass instruments, symbols of the South, and piano which was an instrument of the wealthy. The popularity of jazz spread throughout the country and was at an all time high. The music was liked by more and more white people, which then both blacks and whites to merge together. Jazz created a new blend of American culture.
-How did Marcus Garvy's UNIA show an emergence of blacks asserting themselves?
Marcus Garvey was the leader of the largest mass movement organized. He supported the ideal, "black is beautiful". Garvey is best remembered as champion of the "back to Africa" movement, and he was hailed as a redeemer, or a "Black Moses" The movement represented a liberation from the psychological bondage of racial inferiority. Garvey had arrived in America at the dawn of the "New Negro" era, or the 1920s during the rise of the Harlem Renaissance. He traveled and lectured and organized a chapter of the UNIA. He combined his Jamaican roots of peasant aspirations for economic and cultureal independence with the new American gospel of success and as a result there was a new gospel of racial pride. "Garveyism" was eventually evolved into a religion of success that inspired millions of black people worldwide added was a great shipping line to foster black trade to transport passengers between American, the Caribbean, and Africa to serve as a symbol of black grandeur and enterprise. By 20's the UNIA hosted elaborate international conventions and published the Negro World, a widely read weekly that was soon banned in many parts of Africa and the Caribbean.The movement began to unravel due to internal dissension, opposition, and government harassment, but while it was active, the movement helped African Americans to assert themselves by preaching accommodation and political protest, and advocation of loyalty to established colonial government. The idea of self-government provided Garvey with his advocations of racial independence.
-What developments during World War I helped give rise to the Harlem Renaissance?
During WWI, many of the African Americans moved north to find jobs in the cities. The start of WWI not only allowed women to get jobs, but African Americans also did. Since both women and blacks were in the same group of questioning for certain rights for the longest time, it seemed monumental that the move towards the north. Large numbers of the black population left rural southern city and state homes to the urban centers in the north such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington DC were jobs opportunities were prominent to them. This migration combined with trends throughout the 1920s American society and the rise of a group of black artists. In Manhattan, a series of literary discussions began and was first known as the "New Negro Movement", which is now called the Harlem Renaissance. This then brought writing, art, and music.
-How was racial consciousness and racial pride affected by the Harlem Renaissance?
Because of the harsh jobs as tenant farming, sharecropping, and peonage, 1.5 million blacks moved from Southern states to cities up North. During the 10s and 20s Chicago's black population grew by 148%, Cleveland by 307%, and Detroit by 611%. Harlem was a neighborhood that had been virtually all white, but was where 200,000 African Americans moved to. This number contributed to its racial pride and consciousness. It was the first self-conscios literary and artisitic movement in black history. There was a growing spirit of racial pride following introductions of Negro spirtuals to the public and American Negro Academy which promoted literatue, art, music, and the history of the African Americans. Racial consciousness was first during the 1910s with black newspapers and magazines in that decade, and it became apparent there were black intellectuals and artists from across the country.
-What contributions did African Americans make in the fields of music, literature, and the arts?
A lot of the art, literature, and music of the Harlem Renaissance expressed the rebirth of the African American spirit and was born in the minds of its poets and in the hearts of its common people. These emotions were expressed in many of their work like: songs, essays, art, and dance. Jazz drew many things to it and became a better place for American society. The Harlem's rich cultural history was brought back to life because it fit the jazz style, dancing, and the drinks in the poetry and unique art. Many of the areas became speakeasies, restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries, dance schools, and stores.
-How did mass media, the birth and evolution of jazz, and the Harlem Renaissance create a new blend of American culture?
Jazz brought both blacks and whites to dance and lose what had always served to distinguish the civilized from the darker people. New media such as magazines and newspapers helped broadcast and emphasize the art and literature of the Harlem Renaissances. It also helped convey complex human emotions. Music in general helped blur the lines between the poor Negros and elite. It combined brass instruments, symbols of the South, and piano which was an instrument of the wealthy. The popularity of jazz spread throughout the country and was at an all time high. The music was liked by more and more white people, which then both blacks and whites to merge together. Jazz created a new blend of American culture.
-How did Marcus Garvy's UNIA show an emergence of blacks asserting themselves?
Marcus Garvey was the leader of the largest mass movement organized. He supported the ideal, "black is beautiful". Garvey is best remembered as champion of the "back to Africa" movement, and he was hailed as a redeemer, or a "Black Moses" The movement represented a liberation from the psychological bondage of racial inferiority. Garvey had arrived in America at the dawn of the "New Negro" era, or the 1920s during the rise of the Harlem Renaissance. He traveled and lectured and organized a chapter of the UNIA. He combined his Jamaican roots of peasant aspirations for economic and cultureal independence with the new American gospel of success and as a result there was a new gospel of racial pride. "Garveyism" was eventually evolved into a religion of success that inspired millions of black people worldwide added was a great shipping line to foster black trade to transport passengers between American, the Caribbean, and Africa to serve as a symbol of black grandeur and enterprise. By 20's the UNIA hosted elaborate international conventions and published the Negro World, a widely read weekly that was soon banned in many parts of Africa and the Caribbean.The movement began to unravel due to internal dissension, opposition, and government harassment, but while it was active, the movement helped African Americans to assert themselves by preaching accommodation and political protest, and advocation of loyalty to established colonial government. The idea of self-government provided Garvey with his advocations of racial independence.
Vocabulary:
Renaissance- the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world
Jazz- music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles.
Renaissance- the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world
Jazz- music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles.
Thinking Like a Historian
Much like the past, the present is the still has some prejudice or superiority over someone else. African Americans, over time, have gotten equal rights as to everyone else. The Roaring Twenties was really a gateway for the equal rights for all African Americans.
Much like the past, the present is the still has some prejudice or superiority over someone else. African Americans, over time, have gotten equal rights as to everyone else. The Roaring Twenties was really a gateway for the equal rights for all African Americans.
APPARTS
Author: The Independent, a magazine that was published during the 1920's.
Place and Time: The Independent was written in 1925, and the time directly affects the article that was written about Igor Stravinsky because during the 20's, the Harlem Renaissance was coming about, and with that came and the 20's in general came the Jazz Age also named the Roaring Twenties. It came from people's carelessness and feelings of freedom post-WWI. Along with this jazz age came the Harlem Renaissance, which included literature, art, and music. Music of the Harlem Renaissance created a new music directly coordinated/associated with the African Americans of Harlem.
Prior Knowledge: The Harlem Renaissance was important to the development of racial consciousness and racial pride that occurred during the Roaring Twenties, and literature, art, and music were built up to the culture of the African Americans, who developed their own sense of literature, art, and music, which included the creation of jazz. Igor Stravinsky was an acclaimed composer who advocated and practiced the composition of mechanical music, not merely piano music by an automatic instrument, but music composed without purpose of performance by hand designed for player-piano solely.
Audience: The audience could have been anyone in the 20's, possibly specifically to African Americans, or musically inclined people that were interested in the development of African American music during the Harlem Renaissance. Igor Stravinsky was a distinguished black man and he once said, "The player-piano resembles the piano, but it also resembles the orchestra. It shares the soul of the automobile. Beside the piano it is practical. It has a future, yes. Men will write for it."
Reason: This source was produced as an information article towards any audience interested during the on goings of the Harlem Renaissance, and any audience that was especially interested in involvement of the development of art, literature, and music.
The Main Idea: The author's key point concerned the distinguished African American man Igor Stravinsky, and his involvement with the player-piano ensemble, which was further built upon the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920's. The main message was that you do not have to search for the good music that comes from the simple player-piano that resembles the piano.
Place and Time: The Independent was written in 1925, and the time directly affects the article that was written about Igor Stravinsky because during the 20's, the Harlem Renaissance was coming about, and with that came and the 20's in general came the Jazz Age also named the Roaring Twenties. It came from people's carelessness and feelings of freedom post-WWI. Along with this jazz age came the Harlem Renaissance, which included literature, art, and music. Music of the Harlem Renaissance created a new music directly coordinated/associated with the African Americans of Harlem.
Prior Knowledge: The Harlem Renaissance was important to the development of racial consciousness and racial pride that occurred during the Roaring Twenties, and literature, art, and music were built up to the culture of the African Americans, who developed their own sense of literature, art, and music, which included the creation of jazz. Igor Stravinsky was an acclaimed composer who advocated and practiced the composition of mechanical music, not merely piano music by an automatic instrument, but music composed without purpose of performance by hand designed for player-piano solely.
Audience: The audience could have been anyone in the 20's, possibly specifically to African Americans, or musically inclined people that were interested in the development of African American music during the Harlem Renaissance. Igor Stravinsky was a distinguished black man and he once said, "The player-piano resembles the piano, but it also resembles the orchestra. It shares the soul of the automobile. Beside the piano it is practical. It has a future, yes. Men will write for it."
Reason: This source was produced as an information article towards any audience interested during the on goings of the Harlem Renaissance, and any audience that was especially interested in involvement of the development of art, literature, and music.
The Main Idea: The author's key point concerned the distinguished African American man Igor Stravinsky, and his involvement with the player-piano ensemble, which was further built upon the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920's. The main message was that you do not have to search for the good music that comes from the simple player-piano that resembles the piano.