15. what did marcus garvey feel was the best course of action for african americans?

by Carolina Brown 10 min read

A persuasive orator and author, Garvey urged American Blacks to be proud of their race and preached their return to their ancestral homeland, Africa. To this end, he founded the Black Star Line in 1919 to provide steamship transportation, and the Negro Factories Corporation to encourage Black economic independence.

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Nov 08, 2009 · Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was a Jamaican-born Black nationalist and leader of the Pan-Africanism movement, which sought to unify …

What did Marcus Garvey do for African Americans?

Garvey was known as the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Formed in Jamaica in July 1914, the UNIA aimed to achieve Black nationalism through the celebration of African history and culture.Sep 15, 2020

What was Marcus Garvey's approach to African American civil rights?

As a black nationalist, Garvey instead argued that African Americans should emigrate to the continent of their ancestors. He formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914 to promote his “Back to Africa” message. In 1920, he and 25,000 UNIA delegates convened to write the following declaration.

What is Marcus Garvey's argument for racial equality?

Ultimately, Garvey argued, all black people in the world should return to their homeland in Africa, which should be free of white colonial rule. Garvey had grand plans for settling black Americans in Liberia, the only country in Africa governed by Africans.

What did Marcus Garvey want to accomplish?

Marcus Garvey was an orator for the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. Garvey advanced a Pan-African philosophy which inspired a global mass movement, known as Garveyism.Jan 19, 2018

Why is Marcus Garvey important?

Marcus Garvey organized the United States’ first Black nationalist movement. In the years following World War I, he urged Black Americans to be pro...

How did Marcus Garvey become influential?

Marcus Garvey left his native Jamaica for the United States in 1916. He established branches of his Universal Negro Improvement Association through...

Why was Marcus Garvey’s ideology controversial?

Marcus Garvey’s style of Black nationalism clashed with that of the 1920s Black establishment, notably with W.E.B. Du Bois, head of the National As...

Why did Marcus Garvey lose influence?

While Marcus Garvey’s views were unorthodox for the time, his influence ultimately declined when he began to engage in questionable business dealin...

What was Garvey's goal?

Among the UNIA's goals were the founding of colleges for general and vocational education, the promotion of business ownership and the encouragement of a sense of brotherhood among the African diaspora .

What did Garvey believe?

Garvey believed in founding a nation to serve as a central homeland, as Palestine was for Jews.

Where was Garvey born?

Early Life. Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887, which was then part of the British West Indies. As a teenager, Garvey moved from his small coastal village to Kingston, where political speakers and preachers entranced him with their public speaking skills. He began studying oratory and practicing on his own.

What did Garvey do in Jamaica?

Returning to Jamaica in 1914, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association or UNIA.

Why did Garvey travel to the United States?

In 1916, Garvey decided to travel to the United States to learn more about America's Black population. He discovered the time was ripe for the UNIA in the United States. As African-American soldiers began serving in World War I, there was widespread belief that being loyal and performing their duty for the United States would result in white Americans addressing the terrible racial inequalities that existed in the nation. In reality, African-American soldiers, after having experienced a more tolerant culture in France, returned home after the war to find racism as deeply entrenched as ever. Garvey's teachings spoke to those who had been so disappointed to discover the status quo still in place after the war.

Who did Garvey clash with?

Garvey clashed with prominent African-American leaders of the day, including W.E.B. Du Bois. Among his criticisms, Du Bois denounced Garvey for meeting with Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members in Atlanta. At this meeting, Garvey told the KKK that their goals were compatible.

What did Garvey say about the KKK?

Like the KKK, Garvey said, he rejected miscegenation and the idea of social equality. Blacks in America needed to forge their own destiny, according to Garvey. Ideas like these horrified Du Bois, who called Garvey "the most dangerous enemy of the Negro Race in America and in the world" in a May 1924 issue of The Crisis .

Who is Marcus Garvey?

Jamaican black nationalist leader. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Marcus Garvey, in full Marcus Moziah Garvey, (born August 17, 1887, St.

Where was Marcus Garvey born?

Born in Jamaica, he had founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association there in 1914. He came to the United States in 1917 and established a branch of the association in the Harlem district of New York City. By 1919 the association had become…. …century was Jamaican-born Black nationalist Marcus Garvey.

Who was the first black nationalist?

Marcus Garvey organized the United States’ first Black nationalist movement. In the years following World War I, he urged Black Americans to be proud of their identity. Garvey enjoyed a period of profound Black cultural and economic success, with the New York City neighbourhood of Harlem as the movement’s mecca.

What did Negro World teach?

He taught that Blacks would be respected only when they were economically strong, and he preached an independent Black economy within the framework of white capitalism.

Who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association?

…United States, organization founded by Marcus Garvey, dedicated to racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and the formation of an independent Black nation in Africa.

Who was Marcus Garvey?

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL, commonly known as UNIA), through which he declared himself ...

What did Garvey do at 14?

Up to the age of 14, Garvey attended a local church school; further education was unaffordable for the family. When not in school, Garvey worked on his maternal uncle's tenant farm. He had friends, with whom he once broke the windows of a church, resulting in his arrest.

Where was Garvey born?

Garvey was born to a moderately prosperous Afro-Jamaican family in Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica, and apprenticed into the print trade as a teenager. Working in Kingston, he became involved in trade unionism before living briefly in Costa Rica, Panama, and England. Returning to Jamaica, he founded UNIA in 1914.

Where did Garvey live in 1905?

In 1905 he moved to Kingston, where he boarded in Smith Village , a working-class neighbourhood. In the city, he secured work with the printing division of the P.A. Benjamin Manufacturing Company. He rose quickly through the company ranks, becoming their first Afro-Jamaican foreman. His sister and mother, by this point estranged from his father, moved to join him in the city. In January 1907, Kingston was hit by an earthquake that reduced much of the city to rubble. He, his mother, and his sister were left to sleep in the open for several months. In March 1908, his mother died. While in Kingston, Garvey converted to Roman Catholicism.

Who tried to kill Garvey?

In October 1919, George Tyler , a part-time vendor of the Negro World, entered the UNIA office and tried to assassinate Garvey. Garvey received two bullets in his legs but survived. Tyler was soon apprehended but died in an escape attempt from jail; it was never revealed why he tried to kill Garvey.

What was Garvey charged with?

In January 1922, Garvey was arrested and charged with mail fraud for having advertised the sale of stocks in a ship, the Orion, which the Black Star Line did not yet own. He was bailed for $2,500. Hoover and the BOI were committed to securing a conviction; they had also received complaints from a small number of the Black Star Line's stock owners, who wanted them to pursue the matter further. Garvey spoke out against the charges he faced, but focused on blaming not the state, but rival African-American groups, for them. As well as accusing disgruntled former members of UNIA, in a Liberty Hall speech, he implied that the NAACP were behind the conspiracy to imprison him. The mainstream press picked up on the charge, largely presenting Garvey as a con artist who had swindled African-American people.

What happened to Garvey in 1925?

In early 1925, the U.S. Court of Appeal upheld the original court decision. Garvey was in Detroit at the time and was arrested while aboard a train back to New York City. In February he was taken to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary and incarcerated there. Imprisoned, he was made to carry out cleaning tasks. On one occasion he was reprimanded for insolence towards the white prison officers. There, he became increasingly ill with chronic bronchitis and lung infections. Two years into his imprisonment he would be hospitalized with influenza.

Early Life

Entrance Into Politics

The Unia

  • Garvey went to London in 1912 where he met a group of Black intellectuals who gathered to discuss ideas like anti-colonialism and African unity. Returning to Jamaica in 1914, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association or UNIA. Among the UNIA's goals were the founding of colleges for general and vocational education, the promotion of business ownershi…
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Garvey's Trip to America

  • Garvey encountered difficulties organizing Jamaicans; the more affluent tended to oppose his teachings as a threat to their position. In 1916, Garvey decided to travel to the United States to learn more about America's Black population. He discovered the time was ripe for the UNIA in the United States. As African-American soldiers began serving in World War I, there was widesprea…
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Garvey's Teachings

  • Garvey established a branch of the UNIA in New York City, where he held meetings, putting into practice the oratorical style he had honed in Jamaica. He preached racial pride, for instance, encouraging parents to give their daughters Black dolls to play with. He told African-Americans they had the same opportunities and potential as any other group...
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Relationship with W.E.B. Du Bois

  • Garvey clashed with prominent African-American leaders of the day, including W.E.B. Du Bois. Among his criticisms, Du Bois denounced Garvey for meeting with Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members in Atlanta. At this meeting, Garvey told the KKK that their goals were compatible. Like the KKK, Garvey said, he rejected miscegenation and the idea of social equality. Blacks in America neede…
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Back to Africa

  • Garvey is sometimes said to have headed a "back-to-Africa" movement. He did not call for a widespread exodus of Blacks out of the Americas and into Africa but did see the continent as a source of heritage, culture, and pride. Garvey believed in founding a nation to serve as a central homeland, as Palestine was for Jews. In 1919, Garvey and the UNIA established the Black Star L…
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The Black Star Line

  • The Black Star Line was poorly managed and fell victim to unscrupulous businessmen who sold damaged ships to the shipping line. Garvey also chose poor associates to go into business with, some of whom apparently stole money from the business. Garvey and the UNIA sold stock in the business by mail, and the inability of the company to deliver on its promises resulted in the feder…
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Exile

  • Though Garvey was only guilty of inexperience and bad choices, he was convicted in 1923. He spent two years in jail; President Calvin Coolidgeended his sentence early, but Garvey was deported in 1927. He continued to work for the UNIA's goals after his exile from the United States, but he was never able to return. The UNIA struggled on but never reached the heights it had und…
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