Transcript The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance
and
The KKK
U.S. History
Unit 1: The 1920’s
February 3, 2011
The Great Migration
• The rapid movement of African
Americans from the south to the
north during and after World War I
changed African American
culture by concentrating it in
urban areas and moving it out of
the repressive South.
The Great Migration
Urban Culture
• The concentration of African Americans
in urban areas directly led to a rise in
African American culture.
• This was seen in the large amounts of
artistic and cultural work being
produced at the time, especially in
Harlem
• This work took the form of visual art,
music, dance, and writing.
Definition of Harlem Renaissance
• Just like the European Renaissance,
people in Harlem did not think at the
time that they were having a
Renaissance
• Instead the Harlem Renaissance was
a time that creativity, inspiration,
and possibility converged to allow a
rapid change in the artistic culture
of this community.
The Century - Harlem
Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance Art
• Many visual artists came out of the
Harlem Renaissance
• They often portrayed the troubled
past or present of the African
American, the exciting life of Jazz in
the 1920’s, and other cultural
themes.
Jacob Lawrence
• Jacob Lawrence
often painted
pictures of life in
Harlem.
• This work is entitled
Builders
• Bold Colors and
modern, expressive
lines often
characterize pieces
from the Harlem
Renaissance
Jacob Lawrence
Dreams
Tombstones
William Johnson
• Here, in Chain
Gang,
Johnson
portrays
problems
facing African
Americans at
this time.
Archibald Motley
• Motley
shows the
excitement
of 1920’s
music and
dance in
Blues
Music - Jazz
• As African Americans moved from
the south to the north, the southern
music of blues traveled with them.
• Blues music met with the cultural
developments of the Harlem
Renaissance and became the first
American music style - Jazz
Jazz Clips
• Intro to Jazz
• Jazz in New York
• Louis Armstrong
Harlem Renaissance Poetry
• Langston Hughes, The Negro Speaks of
Rivers
Nativism and the
Second Wave of the KKK
• While African Americans were
celebrating a time of cultural and
social growth, others in America
were fighting against minorities.
African Americans, Catholics, Jews,
and Immigrants were particularly
hard it by this new wave of racism
and hate.
The Rise of the KKK
• During the wave of nativism that
accompanied the anti-communist activity
in the United States, anti-immigrant
sentiments filled the country. Many nativists
felt that although immigrants were useful to
fill the large quantity of available factory
jobs in the 1800’s, now that factory jobs
were diminishing, the quantity of new
immigrants arriving in America should be
limited.
The Rise of the KKK
• A combination of fear
over diminishing job
openings and racist
attitudes helped further
anti-immigrant
attitudes in America.
This led to the rise of a
variety of racist groups
that sought to injure
those who were not
white, native-born
Americans.
The Rise of the KKK
• The KKK experienced a huge rise in
membership during the 1920’s – by
1924 they had 4.5 million white,
native born, male members. While
they continued to attack African
Americans, during this time they also
focused their attacks on immigrants
and those of Catholic and Jewish
descent.
The Rise of the KKK
• Oregon was one place in America
where the Klan found a stronghold in
the 1920’s – especially southern Oregon.
Much of the Oregon Klan’s activity was
directed against Catholics. In 1922, the
Klan backed a state measure requiring
children to go to public school and
therefore not a religious school. Later
the courts ruled this unconstitutional.
The Rise of the KKK
The Rise of the KKK
Government Response
• The numbers of immigrants entering the
country rose sharply between 1919 and
1921, almost 600%. The government
passed The Emergency Quota Act of
1921 in response to nativist pressures. This
set up a quota system that would limit
the number of immigrants from certain
countries, especially those in Eastern
and Southern Europe.
Government Response
• Amendments to the law in 1924 limited
the immigration from each European
nation to 2% of the number of its
nationals living in the United States in
1890. This discriminated against those
from Southern and Eastern Europe
(mainly Catholics and Jews) as their
populations did not begin immigrating
until 1890.
Government Response
Government Response
• Later, the base year was shifted to
1920, and then in 1927 the law
reduced the total number of
immigrants to 150,000 in any one
year. This law also banned
immigrants from Japan which broke
the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907
and angered Japan.
Government Response
• How did the Emergency Quota Act
affect what would happen around
World War II?