great migration/red summer/harlem renaissance

what were some of the "crimes" stated as reasons for the lynchings that rose dramatically in 1919?

- "social offenses" - writing an insulting note to a white woman - walking on the sidewalk - protecting young black girls from drunk white men

jazz

- a style of music popular in the 1920s - flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos - no two performances were the same

private william little

- african american soldier - stepped out of train in uniform following war - told to strip immediately - refused - found beaten to death days later

what is the connection to the red scare and the treatment of african americans during this time?

- after wwi, america began to openly fear communism and labor unions - believed the communists were stirring african americans to revolt - thought blacks believed in communism - this caused blacks to be viewed as traitors/potential enemies of the state

jim crow provisions during wwi

- army rejected most blacks who sought to enlist/volunteer - banned from joining marines - not allowed in combat units - navy only allowed them to serve as stewards

how did the french people and government treat black soldiers?

- awarded them hundreds of decorations - greeted warmly by french citizens - this treatment changed after the american military instructed french not to talk to, eat with, or shake hands with black soldiers outside of military requirement

wilson's compromise regarding jim crow provisions

- blacks would be drafted and placed in segregated army units - most were assigned to labor battalions - 10% of black soldiers would be trained for combat, creating the 92nd and 93rd army divisions

red summer

- bloody race riots that occurred during april-november 1919 - within 25 cities - several americans, predominantly black, were killed for unimportant felonies

why did african americans move to harlem?

- close to the city - affordable - black communities already settled there - allowed for cultural renaissance

what was harlem like?

- crowded - hot - friendly - church very important - some residents were wealthy

what range of skills and education did the southern african americans present?

- farming - high literacy - operating machinery - operating trucks/trains - cooking - molding

why were african americans eager to participate in the war despite the unfair treatment granted to them by the US military?

- figured they'd be owed a debt of service for fighting > earned their rights - racial differences aside, they believed when a foreign enemy approaches everyone should fight it together - roosevelt promised the war would gain them juster and fairer treatment

what did literature, art, and music have in common?

- gave them a way to touch upon black experience in america

how did american people and government treat black soldiers?

- given inferior clothing and substandard food - constantly called racial slurs - arrested them for speaking to french women - given no medals of honor - didn't allow black soldiers to wear military uniforms outside of war

why did mississippi give an official stamp of approval on the practice of lynching?

- john hartfield, a black man, was said to have assaulted a white woman - advertised his burning alive as an event

why are african americans leaving the south? (pushes/pulls)

- new opportunities in northern factories mills, and other industries - reports of good wages / living conditions - higher wages - less repressive racial conditions (jim crow) - get away from manipulative labor contracts (ex. sharecropping) - disenfranchisement

harlem renaissance

- period in 1920s when african american achievements in art, music, and literature flourished - explosion of cultural pride in northern black communities, specifically harlem, ny - glorification and creation of african american traditions

why did southern blacks migrate north during the war + how did their treatment change after the war ended?

- so many white men had been drafted so they found job opportunities in factories - many of these were weapon-making factories for war - after war, government cancelled these job contracts leaving many in unemployment or low-paying jobs

when did the great migration occur

- when african americans fled the south in great numbers for the north and west - began in the year preceding america's involvement in wwi - ended as the great depression began

369th infantry

a regiment of more than 2,000 african american soldiers, an all-volunteer unit from nyc in wwi

what is meant by the phrase the "new negro"?

black americans who had grown a greater sense of defiance, resistant against injustice inflicted by whites

renaissance authors

langston hughes - wrote with rhythmic meter of blues and jazz claude mckay - urged african-americans to stand up for their rights zora neale hurston - used the music and stories that she collected as a folklorist to inform her novels, plays and other books, the first african-american to chronicle african-american folklore and voodoo

kimberly wilson

location: drakes branch, virginia victim: richard walker story: wilson is his descendant, scared because seeing racist sentiment similar to 1880s. walker wrote in newspaper about lynchings, got a noose sent to him in mail with a threat

fostenia baker

location: lake city, south carolina victim: lavinia baker story: appointed postmaster, him and his baby killed during white mob attack at his house/post office, burned down

andre johnson

location: memphis tennessee victim: ell persons story: lynched/burned alive in front of 5,000 people after being accused of raping white woman, at a spot in michigan with a "clear view" black boy brought to front of crowd to watch

hattie lawson

location: monroe, georgia victim: george and mae murray + roger and dorothy malcom story: sharecroppers, got in a fight on a road with farmers, crowd watched

thelma dangerfield

location: paris, texas victim: henry smith story: mentally ill, fled to arkansas but was convinced to come back, was lynched on gallows with word "justice" on it

mcarthur "sonny" gray

location: shubuta, mississippi victim: ernest green and charlie lang story: hanging bridge, people lynched there, bridge is no longer accessible/allowed vegetation to grow over it

renaissance activists

marcus garvey - early civil rights leader of back to africa movement web dubois - civil rights activist, editor of the crisis, father figure to young writers of the renaissance

events that occured during red summer

mid atlantic - whites vs blacks mob in DC, two days of mayhem, 6 dead and hundreds wounded midwest - black boy went for swim in lake michigan over imaginary like into white beach, whites threw stones at him and he drowned south - south carolinian sailors went on rampage, by the end 2 blacks dead, 17 blacks and 8 whites injured

what was the great migration?

movement of over 300,000 african americans from the rural south into northern cities between 1914 and 1920

cotton club

nightspot in harlem ny featuring prominent black entertainers, such as jazz musicians and singers like duke ellington, performed for audiences of thousands of whites

renaissance singers/actors

paul robeson - actor and singer, an impassioned advocate of political causes whose performance tours and activism took him around the world eubie blake - prolific composer, one of the creators of "shuffle along."

how had the war created the "new negro" in america?

they had helped in war to gain democracy and wanted to/felt they deserved to be rewarded for it