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Difficulty: MediumPan-Africanism and Garveyism

Read the following excerpt from the "Address to the Nations of the World" drafted by W.E.B. Du Bois at the Pan-African Conference in London in 1900:

"In the metropolis of the modern world, in this closing year of the nineteenth century, there has been assembled a congress of men and women of African blood, to deliberate solemnly upon the present situation and outlook of the darker races of mankind. ... The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line—the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea."

Which of the following best explains how the goal of this 1900 Pan-African Conference differed from the subsequent populism of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the 1920s?

  1. The 1900 conference focused on elite-led diplomatic appeals to colonial powers to secure civil rights and reform, while the UNIA built a mass populist movement centered on economic independence and repatriation.Answer
  2. B
    The 1900 conference rejected political cooperation with Western nations to establish a unified global government, whereas the UNIA operated primarily as an elite intellectual forum working within existing League of Nations structures.
  3. C
    The 1900 conference demanded immediate and total emigration of all African Americans to West Africa, while the UNIA rejected repatriation in favor of gaining full domestic civil rights within the United States.
  4. D
    The 1900 conference viewed the entire continent of Africa as having a single, homogenous culture and language, whereas the UNIA recognized the diverse regional and political kingdoms of pre-colonial Africa to establish trade agreements.

Answer

The 1900 conference focused on elite-led diplomatic appeals to colonial powers to secure civil rights and reform, while the UNIA built a mass populist movement centered on economic independence and repatriation.
The correct option correctly contrasts the two movements. The 1900 Pan-African Conference organized by Henry Sylvester Williams and attended by W.E.B. Du Bois was an elite-led intellectual gathering that sought to advocate for human rights and political reforms by lobbying colonial governments. In contrast, Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the 1920s was a populist mass movement that mobilized millions of working-class Black people worldwide, prioritizing economic independence through initiatives like the Black Star Line and advocating for repatriation to Africa.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text to identify the nature of the 1900 Pan-African Conference.
The text shows W.E.B. Du Bois addressing the global situation of the 'darker races' and framing the issue around the 'color line' through an organized congress of delegates.
This establishes that the early Pan-African movement was characterized by intellectual organizing and diplomatic advocacy to challenge systemic global racism.
2
Compare the organizational structure and primary strategies of the Pan-African Congresses with Marcus Garvey's Garveyism.
While the Pan-African Congresses under W.E.B. Du Bois remained elite-led, intellectual, and focused on diplomatic appeals, Garvey's UNIA was a massive, working-class populist movement that promoted economic self-sufficiency (e.g., the Black Star Line) and repatriation to Africa.
This comparison identifies the key distinction between mainstream Pan-African diplomacy and Garveyite Black nationalism.

Key Concept

The ideological and strategic differences between elite-led Pan-Africanism and the populist mass movement of Garveyism.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Pan-Africanism and Garveyism

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