Chicago Renaissance
Chicago Renaissance refers to the urban culture that consisted of visual and performance arts, literature and music initiated into the American city by African Americans from the south (Davidson, 2010). The pieces of literature were produced between 1910 and the mid-1920s. On the other hand, the Harlem Renaissance was initiated by a group of skilled African-American writers and consisted of large volumes of poetry, fiction, drama and essay (Davidson, 2010). HR body of literature was produced from the end of the First World War through the mid-1930s during the Great Depression.
Chicago Renaissance and the Harlem Renaissance differed in-terms of theme presentation where each movement offer a personal perspective. That is, Harlem Renaissance represented common American themes such as alienation, marginality, use of folk and other problems related to writing for the educated (Davidson, 2010). However, the Chicago Renaissance focused on propagating black inclusion, progress, and creativity. For instance, Chicago Renaissance literature highlighted the spirit of the city, widespread conflict among American races and the need for dignity (Davidson, 2010).
Moreover, Harlem Renaissance movement was very particular about race. As such, it initiated and propagated aspects such as racial incorporation and black related music “jazz” to eliminate instances of racial segregation (Davidson, 2010). However, Chicago Renaissance placed the idea of traditional culture at the forefront; through which it founded the present American vernacular and language.
What Caused the Great Depression of the 1930s?
The Great Depression of the 1930s resulted from both domestic and certain conditions in the world. First in the list is the stock market crash of 1929 (Davidson, 2010). The crash of the stock market was characterized by loss of $40 billion dollars. Although the stock market tried to recover the loss, the regained stakeholders’ stock were not sufficient thereby leading to the Great Depression by the end of 1930 (Davidson, 2010). Secondly, more than 9, 000 banks failures in 1930s triggered the Great Depression of 1930s. That is, that failure of the banks caused loss in savings since bank deposits were uninsured. The Great Depression was also caused by reduction in purchasing across the board due to reduced purchase ability as a result of failure in the stock market, economic despair, and loss of jobs. Davidson (2010) cites that the Great Depression of 1930 also resulted from the reduction in trade between the United States and other foreign countries; this was a consequence of higher taxes on import products, a move that was initiated by the US government to protect American companies from the failure.
Why Did African Americans Shift Their Political Allegiance To The Democratic Party?
African Americans political shift to the Democratic Party in 1936 was to identify with President Franklin D. Roosevelt who had good policies and administration style. Prior to the shift, the African Americans had had no right to take part on various activities. As such they wanted a party that could fight for their political, social and economic rights. According to Davidson (2010), some of the rights that President Roosevelt offered included the New Deal policy that offered opportunities to the African Americans thereby justifying President Roosevelt’s commitment to reduce racial segregation. Besides the rights, African Americans had been influenced by the black newspaper editor to join the Democratic Party that they had rejected before. From the editorial persuasion, black African Americans found it plausible to pledge their allegiance to the Democratic Party because of the perceived benefit that was to come with its leadership (Davidson, 2010). True to the African American expectation, when President Roosevelt entered office, he established the Black Cabinet that consisted of African American that offered African Americans jobs in government sectors and recognized the African American views in government.
How Did Black Protest During the Great Depression Influence the New Deal?
The Africans Americans engaged in various protests such as the Black Newspaper. Through these protests, President Roosevelt realized the Black’s grievances thereby prompting him to revise the guidelines that underlined the New Deal. According (2010) it also initiated a new enquiry in the programs that was characterized by discrimination and prejudices. This particularly enabled the New Deal to allow every American to participate in the programs without focusing on race, nation, or other factors as it had been outlined earlier in the Executive Order 8802 (Davidson, 2010). Similarly, the protests initiated the revision on the New Deal to allow the Blacks to ascend to special positions where they were not allowed to be in before.
