Never had so many Americans read the thoughts of African Americans and accepted the African American community's productions, expressions, and style. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time that publishers and critics took African American literature seriously.
The timing of the Renaissance was perfect. The Renaissance took place between the end of World War 1 and the Great Depression. These were boom times for the United States, and jobs were abundant in cities, especially in the North. Between 1920 and 1930, almost 750,000 African Americans left the South, and many of them migrated to urban areas in the North to take advantage of the prosperity and the more racially tolerant environment. The Harlem section of New York City which covers just 3 sq mi, drew nearly 175,000 African Americans, turning the neighborhood into the largest concentration of black people in the world.
For African Americans, writing was an escape. Authors wrote to escape the trials and tribulations of life, such as poverty and discrimination. In the 1920s, literature blossomed and became a key factor in the Harlem Renaissance. There was no common literary style defined in the writings of t