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Great Migration

The period when African-Americans moved from the rural South to the urban North, marking a fundamental shift in their social and political consciousness.

Jim Crow laws

A set of local and state statutes that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Booker T. Washington

Head of the Tuskegee Institute who advocated for African-American economic self-sufficiency and accepted racial segregation in the hope of eventual equality.

W.E.B. Du Bois

A prominent African-American intellectual who argued for immediate civil rights and opposed Washington's accommodationist strategies.

Atlanta Cotton States Exposition

A 1895 event where Booker T. Washington made his famous speech advocating for economic opportunities for African-Americans.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Redemption

The period following Reconstruction when white Southerners regained political control and aimed to reverse the gains of African-Americans.

East St. Louis riots

A 1917 event where racial violence erupted, leading to the deaths of nearly 50 African-Americans and significant homelessness.

Chicago Defender

A major black newspaper that played a critical role in informing Southern blacks about job opportunities in the North.

UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association)

An organization founded by Marcus Garvey that advocated for black nationalism and a return to Africa.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem during the 1920s, characterized by a new exploration of African-American culture.

lynch law

A form of violence used to enforce social control, often resulting in the extrajudicial killings of African-Americans in the South.

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

A civil rights organization founded in 1909, focused on fighting for civil rights through legal means and public protests.

Boll weevil

An agricultural pest that devastated the cotton economy in the South, contributing to the Great Migration.

scab labor

Workers who remain employed during a strike, often used in labor disputes to break unions.

The Birth of a Nation

A 1915 film that portrayed African-Americans negatively and glorified the Ku Klux Klan, influencing racial attitudes in America.

Marcus Garvey

The founder of the UNIA who promoted black nationalism and self-help economics for African-Americans.