What led to the Harlem Renaissnce?

African Americans, disenfranchised by the Jim Crow South, began the Great Migration to the northern cities. Blacks were subjected to a more subtle but no less restrictive racism in the north, many were forced to settle in urban slums, such as Harlem. A gathering of displaced writers, artists, actors and musicians came together with a shared culture, and created one of America's most creative periods.