holt african american history chapter 8. holt african american history chapter 8 section 1 section 1...

Holt African American HistoryHolt African American History Chapter 8Chapter 8


Section 1Section 1 The World War I Years

Section 2Section 2 Changes in Black Society

SectionSection 33 The Harlem Renaissance

A New Century and New OpportunitiesA New Century and New Opportunities


Reading Focus• How did people of African descent react to European

imperialism in Africa in the late 1800s?

• How did World War I begin?

• What roles did African Americans play in World War I?

Main Idea In the early 1900s imperialism in Africa and World War I affected people of African descent worldwide.

Section 1:Section 1: The World War I Years


Building Background

As Americans were busy settling new territories in the

West in the late 1800s, powerful European countries were

expanding as well. Many countries rushed to establish

colonies around the globe. This race for colonies would

eventually play a part in the outbreak of one of the most

devastating wars in history—World War I.


Imperialism in Africa

• For centuries Western nations controlled colonies around the world; practice of imperialism gave powerful nations control of weaker nations

• Ruling countries benefited economically– Colonies supplied valuable raw materials—such as metals,

cotton, and timber—for European factories – Colonies served as a market for European goods

• Late 1800s and early 1900s saw new wave of imperialism– Western nations sought out more colonies with Africa a chief

target; European nations raced to gain access to natural resources


Belgium and the Congo• Belgium’s King Leopold II—the

Congo Free State in Central Africa

• Companies allowed to exploit region’s people; forced them to collect resources for export

• Other nations colonized Africa as well

Other Western Nations• France controlled French West

Africa

• British held colonies in Egypt, Nigeria, and southern Africa

• Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain also held African colonies

Responses to Takeover• 1914 only two African nations still

independent

• Black leaders held the first Pan-African Conference in 1900; people of African descent gathered to address issues facing blacks, including racism and imperialism

Pan-Africanism• W. E. B. Du Bois, a conference

organizer, took up the idea of Pan-Africanism; people of African heritage should work together to achieve freedom and equality

• Idea powerful influence for future black activists


Identify Cause and Effect

What conditions led to the creation of the Pan-African movement?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

imperialism in Africa and racism against people of African descent


In 1914 tensions between imperialist powers exploded into a war that came to involve all of the world’s Western powers.

World War I Begins

The United States Enters the War

• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia; within weeks a network of treaties and alliances pulled almost every country in Europe into the fighting

– On one side Allied Powers of France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia

– Opposing them were the Central Powers of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire

• The U.S. remained neutral, or chose not to take sides for three years; most Americans did not want a bloody overseas war

• After German attacks on U.S. merchant ships and the deaths of American civilians, the United States joined the war on the Allied side


The Call for Troops • Thousands of men volunteered for military service; as with the Civil

War black men eager to serve their country were turned away

• African Americans themselves were divided over the issue of serving– Some black leaders wondered why those denied full rights at home

should defend freedom for others

– Other black leaders, such as Robert S. Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender, and W. E. B. Du Bois, supported the war effort; urged African Americans to volunteer in spite of the discrimination faced at home

• In May 1917 Congress passed the Selective Service Act– African American men allowed to serve their country in “the war to end

all wars”

• Black troops would face discrimination in the armed forces much like the discrimination they faced in civilian life


Analyze

How did African American attitudes toward serving in World War I differ?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

Some believed that blacks should not defend a home country in which they were denied full rights. Others thought that blacks should fight for democracy.


As Du Bois argued, “Out of the war will rise…an American Negro, with the right to vote, and the right to work, and the right to live without insult.”

African Americans in World War I

Blacks Serve in the War• Once U.S. entered the war, the

African American troops already in the armed forces called to duty

• 20,000 black troops in the U.S. Army and National Guard units; by war’s end 370,000 had served

• All-black divisions commanded by white officers; received little or no training with weapons

• Worry that African Americans who could use guns posed a threat

Combat Roles• Only 40,000 blacks saw action on

the battlefield

• Eugene Jacques Bullard, the world’s first black fighter pilot

• Joined the French Foreign Legion in 1914; flew on 20 missions with French air force

• U.S. Army Air Service rejected him when he sought to fly for his native country—black pilots were not welcome


Black Army Officers• When U.S. entered World War I in

1917, only three African American commissioned officers in the entire U.S. military

• As black troops joined the military, black leaders protested discrimination against black officers

• Black leaders argued that the government should not deny “the right of our best [Negro] men to lead troops of their race into battle”

• May 1917 the U.S. Army finally established a training camp in Iowa for black officers

• By war’s end, this camp commissioned more than 600 black officers; most assigned to black labor battalions behind the front


Two Combat Units• Only two African American units

saw overseas combat—the 92nd and the 93rd infantry divisions

• The 92nd arrived on the front lines in France in August 1918; saw heavy fighting against Germans

• The 93rd’s most famous unit, the 369th Infantry, also known as the Harlem Hell Fighters

• Spring of 1918, the unit assigned to serve with the French army; accustomed to fighting with black soldiers from France’s African colonies, French troops did not object to integrating their forces

Opportunity• The 369th fought bravely; became

the first Allied unit to reach the Rhine River in Germany

• Service came at a high cost—almost 1,500 Harlem Hell Fighters died in combat; 171 members of the 369th received the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award

• Most highly honored African American soldiers in World War I were both members of the 369th—Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts

• Both honored with the Croix de Guerre for their bravery

Black Troops in Combat


Black Nurses• Before World War I, a group of black women organized the National

Association of Colored Nurses; determined that African American nurses gain proper recognition and be accepted as professionals

• In September 1918, a devastating worldwide flu epidemic broke out; needing nurses, the army sent 18 black nurses to hospitals in Ohio and Illinois

• Nurses tended both black and white patients; earned high praise from those they worked with

After the War • Returning African American veterans received little recognition for their

wartime sacrifices; the 369th Infantry honored in a war veterans parade, other areas largely ignored blacks’ contributions

• Veterans refused to accept these insults quietly

• After helping to fight for freedom overseas, many believed that earned the right for greater freedoms at home


Summarize

What roles did African Americans play in the course of World War I?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

African American soldiers fought in combat, served as officers, and provided manual labor; black nurses served in the 1918 flu outbreak.


Reading Focus• What led thousands of southern blacks to migrate to the

North?

• What events led up to the Red Summer of 1919?

• How did black nationalism and social gains lead to changes in the United States?

Main Idea The migration of African Americans to the North and the birth of black nationalism resulted in changes for black society.

Section 2:Section 2: Changes in Black Society


Building Background

As the United States entered World War I in Europe,

changes were taking place at home. Tired of years of

discrimination and poverty in the South, thousands of

African Americans began moving to the North in record

numbers. This migration of people led to many changes

in the United States.


The Great Migration• Demand for war equipment and supplies surged with war; northern

factories booming, but work force fighting overseas

• Many northern businesses looked to the South for workers; African Americans from the South moved north in search of better lives

• Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Detroit held the promise of steady jobs

• African American newspapers such as the Chicago Defender played key role in encouraging black southerners to move north

• Black southerners hoped to escape the segregation, poverty, and racial violence they often faced in the South, where many had little choice but to work as sharecroppers or in low-paying jobs

• Economic troubles—during the war, farmers and laborers suffered from damaged crops, poor harvests, and a sharp drop in wages


Effects of the Great Migration• Economic and social factors

resulted in 330,000 black southerners moving north

• This enormous movement of people from 1910 to 1920 became known as the Great Migration

Changes to Northern Cities• Key result rapid growth of many

northern cities

• Black Americans moved in record numbers to industrial cities in the North

• St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit experienced tremendous growth

Influence on Culture• Massive movement of people

influenced northern culture

• African Americans brought southern customs with them

• Black musicians from the South introduced the blues to many northern cities

The Blues• Born in the Mississippi Delta and

nurtured in New Orleans, the blues combines instrumental rhythms and expressive vocals to convey deep emotions, especially sadness or love

• Blues musician W.C. Handy


Summarize

How did the Great Migration lead to changes in the North?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

The arrival of African Americans in the North led to the growth of cities and the introduction of elements of southern culture.


Racial tension in the United States grew more severe after the end of World War I, reaching a peak in 1919 when race riots broke out across the country. James Weldon Johnson named the bloody racial violence the Red Summer.

Red Summer of 1919

Racial Tensions Rise• Reasons—factory jobs war-related

• Demand for products fell suddenly after war; workers lost their jobs

• Little work available for returning American soldiers; competed with African Americans for scarce factory jobs

• Resulting competition between black and white workers led to a sharp increase in tensions in many cities

Expectations• African American expectations

changing

• Many blacks felt they had earned greater freedom at home after helping fight for freedom overseas during the war

• Some whites determined to resist any changes to the status quo

• African Americans grew increasingly frustrated and angry


Violence Breaks Out

• In the South, some whites began to punish anyone who encouraged black people to move north or otherwise assert their independence; some cities levied heavy fees against recruiting agents

• In other places, laws made it illegal to sell or distribute black publications such as the Chicago Defender or the NAACP’s magazine The Crisis, both of which encouraged black southerners to seek better lives in the North

• A number of race riots broke out in the summer of 1919; 25 such riots were recorded


Race Riots• Riots in Charleston, SC; Washington, D.C.; Knoxville, TN;

Longview, TX; Elaine, AR; Omaha, NE; and Chicago, IL• Most of these race riots triggered by what could have

been harmless events • Other riots had more intentional beginnings; Knoxville and

Omaha riots both began when mobs tried to protect blacks accused of attacking white citizens

• The Longview riot begun by white men who went to the black section of town to punish a schoolteacher who had written condemnation of recent lynchings for the Chicago Defender


Identify

What led to the outbreak of race riots in 1919?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

an increase in racial tension caused by competition for jobs and resistance to change


Violence during the Red Summer did little to deter black Americans, who increased their efforts to end discrimination and win equal rights.

Black Nationalism and Social Gains

Marcus Garvey • Founder of the black nationalism movement

• Black nationalism was the belief that black people around the world should create their own societies, separate and distinct from white societies

• Direct contrast to Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and the NAACP, who believed in breaking down barriers between blacks and whites

• Garvey feared that this goal threatened the racial purity of African Americans and that it discouraged the feelings of unity and strength he tried to foster in black communities worldwide

• In 1914, Garvey founded an organization known as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) with a goal of encouraging a return to Africa to build a new nation there

• Its slogan was “Back to Africa”


Independent Black Economy • Believing that respect and self-reliance would come from economic strength,

Garvey wanted to build an independent black economy in the United States

• Felt blacks should take pride in their African heritage; his newspaper, The Negro World, boasted of the accomplishments of people of African descent and of the glories of African culture

• Message of self-reliance and black pride proved enormously popular, and the UNIA soon claimed some 2 million members

• Garvey made many enemies; 1922 Garvey and other members of the UNIA indicted for mail fraud

• Supporters felt charges politically motivated but Garvey convicted and imprisoned in 1925

• Released from jail in 1927; forced to leave the country

• Without his leadership the UNIA soon declined


New Labor Unions• 1910s—Benjamin Fletcher organized unions under the Industrial Workers of

the World (IWW); included most of Philadelphia’s black dockworkers

• In 1925—A. Philip Randolph lead the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; the country’s first truly successful black labor union

• Unionizing dangerous; Fletcher spent 10 years in jail for his unionizing efforts; a 1919 race riot started when whites attacked black farmers discussing plans to join a union

Victories Against Lynching • NAACP leaders believed in the need for a federal anti-lynching law

• From 1901 to 1920, 16 anti-lynching bills had been introduced; in 1922 the House passed the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill

• Despite support from the NAACP and President Warren G. Harding, the bill was again blocked in the Senate; reintroduced in 1923—no action taken

• Debate over the Dyer Bill raised public outrage over lynchings


Analyze

What were three ways in which African Americans worked to improve their lives in the 1910s and 1920s?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

black nationalism, the creation of labor unions, and the fight against lynching


Reading Focus• Why was Harlem home to an outpouring of African American

cultural expression?

• Who were some key writers and poets of the Harlem Renaissance?

• What roles did black performers and musicians play in the Harlem Renaissance?

Main Idea Expressions of black culture, including literature, music, and art, reached new heights during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s.

Section 3:Section 3: The Harlem Renaissance


Building Background

During the Great Migration, New York City was a primary

destination for many black migrants to the North. There,

thousands of African Americans hoped to build better

lives for themselves. In one New York neighborhood,

black artists and intellectuals would begin a vibrant artistic

and literary movement that would shape American

culture.


Roots of the Harlem Renaissance• Thousands of African Americans flocked to New York City during the Great

Migration

• Many migrants to New York settled in the neighborhood known as Harlem; located in the northern portion of Manhattan Island, Harlem a popular neighborhood for African Americans since end of 1800s

• After World War I, Harlem center of black social and cultural life and activism

• African Americans living in Harlem felt a strong sense of racial pride and identity

– Attracted talented African American artists, writers, thinkers, and musicians

– Community shared their experiences; encouraged greater creative heights

• Common theme resistance to white prejudice and a pride in African American culture and heritage

– Harlem home to the first branch of the NAACP and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association


W.E.B. Du Bois• Served as editor of NAACP’s The

Crisis; magazine published in Harlem

• Featured African American writing and poetry;

• Helped promote racial pride and identity

National Urban League• Also helping promote racial pride

National Urban League

• Like the NAACP, the Urban League published a magazine

• The magazine Opportunity highlighted black culture

Alain Locke• Notable figure in the development

of African American culture in the early 1900s

• Howard University philosophy professor; Locke encouraged black artists to connect to their African heritage

Harlem Renaissance• Locke pushed black authors to

write about African American life

• By 1917, emphasis on black culture led to the artistic and literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance


Draw Conclusions

Why do you think that Harlem was home to an African American cultural movement?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

because many African Americans lived in the area, including artists and intellectuals


The Harlem Renaissance dominated African American cultural life for two decades. Writers and poets expressed new ideas about life and culture.

Black Writers and Poets

A Burst of Creativity • Works of white writers focusing on the black experience in the

U.S. served to inspire African American writers and poets who burst onto the U.S. cultural scene during the Harlem Renaissance

• Works of talented black writers promoted through leading African American magazines, such as The Crisis and Opportunity

– National Urban League hosting an annual literary contest– The contest helped propel black writers into the mainstream

of American literature.• Common themes among these writers were racial pride and

resistance to prejudice


Langston Hughes• Poet, essayist, and playwright Langston Hughes—one of the

best-known writers of the Harlem Renaissance – Came to national attention in 1921 at the age of 19 when his

poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” appeared in The Crisis– In 1925 he won a poetry prize from Opportunity magazine– One of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance

• Produced poems, plays, and novels focusing on black life and culture; believed that black writers should express their “individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame.”

• Works used African American slang and musical rhythms and expressed the joy, suffering, and pride of being a black American

• Hughes wrote until his death in 1967; celebrated as leading writer in American literature


Other Writers and Poets• Another gifted Harlem writer James Weldon Johnson

• Co-wrote the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which became the official NAACP anthem

• A political activist, Johnson helped organize anti-lynching activities for the NAACP and pushed for the passage of the Dyer Bill

• Some consider his God’s Trombones, a collection of African American sermons written in verse, among the finest Harlem Renaissance works

Claude McKay• Claude McKay considered the spokesperson for the more militant group of

young black writers during this period

• One most famous poems, “If We Must Die,” deals with violence of the Red Summer of 1919; one of the first Renaissance writers to gain widespread success

• 1928 best-selling novel, Home to Harlem, most successful novel by an African American writer up to that time


Zora Neale Hurston• Major contributor to the new literary movement in Harlem

• Hurston’s writing influenced by folklore, or traditional stories, sayings, and other art forms

• 1935 of Mules and Men, a collection gathered during FL study

Novelist• Hurston wrote plays, novels, and

short stories; most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, about a young black woman in the early 1900s still feeling the legacy of slavery and discrimination

• Other female writers emerged

Other Writers• As literary editor for The Crisis,

Jessie Redmon Fauset helped promote the careers of writers and was a successful novelist herself

• Another celebrated Harlem writer Nella Larsen often focused on the lives of African American women

Literary Movement• Spread beyond New York

• Black writers were inspired to publish their own works, contributing to the revitalization of black culture

• Writers outside the United States were influenced


Summarize

What topics did writers of the Harlem Renaissance address?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

They often addressed black life and culture, including politics, folklore, and society.


Literature was not the only focus of the Harlem Renaissance. African American musicians, artists, and performers also took center stage in Harlem in the early 1900s.

Musicians, Artists, and Performers

The Jazz Age• Late 1920s, Harlem was the

hotspot for a new form of music called jazz

• Birth traced back to turn-of-the-century New Orleans

• African American musicians blended several musical styles, including spirituals, blues, ragtime, marching band music, hillbilly music, and various European traditions

New Music• New, different, and wholly original

American form of music

• Jazz traveled to northern cities like Chicago and New York

• A jazz song might start with a known melody or theme, but much of the music was composed on the spot

• Jazz could be fast to slow, and it was easy to dance to


Louis Armstrong• Jazz was by its spirit and creativity; “Man, if you have to ask what it is,”

legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong once stated, “you’ll never know”

• A leading performer on the Harlem jazz scene, Louis Armstrong was played at the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club

• Jazz fans invented new dance steps as the music inspired them, including the jitterbug and the Lindy Hop (named after Charles Lindbergh)

• Jazz fans also came to Harlem to see Bessie Smith, “the Empress of the Blues”

• As a teenager, Smith sang her own “down-home” version of the blues in small cafes throughout the South; by 1923, she signed with Columbia Records; her first release, “Down-Hearted Blues,” sold over 2 million copies

• Smith would record with all of the top Jazz Age musicians and earn an incredible $2,000 a week for her performances; together with Louis Armstrong, she is credited with developing the tradition of jazz singing


Black Artists• Black painters, sculptors, photographers, and filmmakers contributed to the

creative energy in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s

• Artists united by a desire to create art that expressed the history and experiences of African Americans

• Painter Aaron Douglas was among the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance

• Often called the “father of African American art,” Douglas first black artist to experiment with modernism and to use symbols from African art in his paintings, murals, and illustrations

• By contrast, sculptor and art educator Augusta Savage crafted stunningly realistic symbols of black pride and aspirations

• Harlem Renaissance artists—Loïs Mailou Jones, James VanDerZee, and William H. Johnson to name a few—captured the black experience


Black Performers • African American performers took part in theatrical productions in

Harlem• 1917 an all-black group of actors gained praise for their

performances in a series of one-act plays • 1921 production of Shuffle Along; written, performed, and produced

by blacks• Musical brought African American theater to popularity• African American performers got their start in New York theater• Tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson starred in vaudeville—a sort

of early variety show that combined acting, music, and comedy • Actor Paul Robeson also drew critical acclaim for his dramatic

performances


The Harlem Renaissance Comes to a Close • A time of great cultural achievement; went beyond New York City• Black writers, musicians, and artists had national, world-wide appeal• Jazz styles popular in Chicago, Paris, and other cities• Writers and poets imitated the styles of Harlem writers

– Black and white Americans alike were captivated by the new styles that originated in Harlem

• Historians have noted the spread of the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance to other parts of the United States

• The Harlem Renaissance popular through the 1920s; by the 1930s period drawing to a close

• Leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson moved away from Harlem

• Movement lost some of its steam


Influence Continues• Another key factor in decline

—1929 economic depression in the U.S.

• In the struggled to earn a living, the artistic movement slowly declined

• Influence remained with writer Langston Hughes and artist Aaron Douglas

• Many participants from Harlem still influence the arts today

• The Harlem Renaissance created a unique cultural movement


Draw Conclusions

Why might the styles of the Harlem Renaissance have been so widely popular?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

They were very diverse and attracted a large number of people.

holt african american history chapter 8. holt african american history chapter 8 section 1 section 1...

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