Blacks in America from 1900 to 1920 were more tolerant of their living situation and the near-abolition of their basic human rights than more educated blacks and vowels from the Harlem Renaissance Period in New York from 1920 to 1930. This article will show how and explain why; blacks of the 1900-1920 period were more tolerant of their situation in America than those who launched the Harlem Renaissance revolution in 1920-1930. According to Gordon D. Morgan, “The Harlem Renaissance was essentially an attempt to create a new identity for blacks. One that would not make them apologize for either their color or their former status as slaves” (Morgan, p. 214). This essay will investigate the forces both internal to the communities that influenced the thinking of blacks of these two time periods, and the external factors brought about by the oppressive tactics of governments and other organizations designed to prevent the evolution of blacks in America. These two time periods were both oppressive for blacks, but those who lived in Harlem, New York, from the 1920s to the 1930s found ways to express themselves through the arts on a level previously unseen in the black community, and through their artistic voice they found freedom . The thoughts and attitudes of blacks in the early 1900s differed greatly from those in Harlem, New York, during the Harlem Renaissance. In the early 1900s, most blacks still lived in the rural South, but that was changing. The atmosphere in the post-Reconstruction South had reignited a white movement that sought to subdue any attempts at advancement by blacks. Jim Crow laws in the segregated South prevented blacks from participating in government. The judicial decision of Plessey vs....... middle of paper... from what he experienced in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Black thinking during these two time periods was driven by the surrounding culture in both cases, but the struggles prevalent in the rural South and industrial North during the early 1900s made Blacks in this period more exempt from their environment. During this period, it is true that blacks fled the South in large numbers, but their flight did not free them. In many cases, they found the same kind of hatred they had just escaped. Between 1900 and 1920 this group did not have a strong political voice. America didn't feel like they were in pain, even though they were in immense pain. Blacks in New York during the Harlem Renaissance, however, discovered their voice. They shouted from the boxes and books and paintings look at me! Look what I can do! I'm black and I'm finally free!