[30] Appropriation bills for refugee aid introduced by Kansas Senator John J. Ingalls and Ohio Representative James A. Garfield died in committee. Oliver O. Howard. [5] In contrast to fundraising success in Kansas, “St. Louis officials discouraged the Exodusters whenever possible,”[25] and therefore the burden of providing for stranded Exodusters fell entirely on the St. Louis black community. 1)By 1880 mass migration had stopped, it was too hard and risky for large numbers to settle. Woods, Randall B. They attributed feelings of discontent to a small group of leading black rabble-rousers and outside white meddling. In 1879, a rumour spread that the US government was giving away free land for ex-slaves in Kansas. [17][18] Kansas did not actively encourage the Exodusters, but its equal-opportunity stance was more welcoming than most of the country. These people were known as Exodusters. [16] Council meetings consisted of speechmaking and petition writing and signing, with some 98,000 men, women, and children from Louisiana signed onto emigration lists.[16]. [21] Moreover, much of the poor white population resented the extent of relief efforts aimed at helping immigrant blacks. The movement was led by an ex-slave called Benjamin Singleton and he planned to lead the ex-slaves to Kansas. The Kansas Exodus was an unorganized mass migration which began in 1879, led by several men including Benjamin “Pap” Singleton. That ten-year period had witnessed great changes for blacks both in the South and in Kansas. Lesson 2 – The Exoduster Movement • Students will construct a graph to show the countries from which their families emigrated. Exodusters: African American Migration to the Great Plains When Reconstruction ended in 1877, southern whites used violence, economic exploitation, discriminatory laws called Black Codes, and political disenfranchisement to subjugate African Americans and undo their gains during Reconstruction. By 1880, over 43,000 black Americans had settled in Kansas and this meant that much of the good farmland was taken. In the South these same people who had farmed the cotton plantations as slaves, were now faced with renting farmland to make a living growing cotton. However, the Colored Relief Board estimated that about 20,000 Exodusters reached the city between 1879 and 1880; the St. Louis Globe-Democrat quoted 6,206 arriving between March and April 1879 alone. 3)Exodusters typically stayed poorer than white migrants and had fewer rights - some even moved on. Significance of the Exoduster movement 1. Consequences of the Exoduster Movement: end of the movement. Political and economic oppression was enforced by means both legal and illegal, on the streets and in contracts, at both the local and federal levels. Looks at key points, impact and examples. Part of American West Topic 2 Please see … The large-scale black migration from the South to Kansas came to be known as the "Great Exodus," and those participating in it were called "exodusters." Furthermore, many had believed the rumour that the land would be free and struggled to afford the fee to file a homestead claim. [21], The Exodus of 1879 consisted mostly of refugees fleeing Mississippi and Louisiana between March and May and Texas later in the year. [32], The Exodus was not universally praised by African Americans; indeed, Republican statesman Frederick Douglass, a former slave who escaped captivity, was a critic of the movement. [13], While the roles of community leaders like Singleton and Adams, white facilitators like Thomas W. Conway, formal politicians, and white philanthropists were in some ways crucial to the Exodus, the migration ultimately came about as a result of the collective misery of black southerners and the individual inquiry and initiative taken in response by would-be migrants. A plane is an imaginary flat surface running through the body. [31], Senate investigations debated whether or not black migration fit into a greater conspiratorial political scheme on the part of Republicans, who were thought to be packing swing states to increase their chances of success in the upcoming 1880 presidential election, which Republicans did win. Though local relief agencies, such as the Kansas Freedman’s Relief Association, tried to provide aid, they could never do enough to meet the … Conditions in the Post-War South The post-Civil War era should have been a time of jubilation and progress for the African-Americans of the South. [26] The Kansas Freedman's Aid Society raised some $70,000 in support of Exoduster migration and settlement, $13,000 of which came from England. This "Kansas Exodus," also referred to as the "Exoduster" movement, represents the first major episode in an extensive history of voluntary mass migration among African Americans. West Yorkshire, In solidarity, the Democratic party as a whole “refused to admit to the fact of Southern lawlessness because many of the crimes had been perpetrated by Democrats, usually for their party’s own advancement.”[29] In contrast, the Senate minority opinion, represented in a report by Minnesota Senator William Windom and New Hampshire Senator Henry W. Blair, utilized the direct testimony of prominent black figures and sided with them. Charting Colored Conventions from just after the Civil War in 1865 to the Exoduster Movement in 1879, this exhibit uncovers the patterns and trends of postbellum southern Colored Conventions. Andrew Johnson. [6], Although blacks greatly outnumbered whites in Louisiana, black armed resistance was practically inconceivable. Grassroots black political activism, exemplified by the leadership of Henry Adams in Louisiana, functioned only in total secrecy and at great risk of assassination. That the journey of these refugees was termed an “exodus,” a word taken from the Old Testament in reference to the Jews’ flight from Egypt, indicates that the movement had spiritual motivations. VAT reg no 816865400. Temporary benefits accorded to counties with the highest black labor scarcity included better price terms in leasing contracts and shrinking long-term contract commitments. Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, as part of the Exoduster Movement or Exodus of 1879. [11], In the aftermath of the Compromise of 1877 and the traumatic political campaigns of 1878 in Louisiana, the plight of organized black resistance had reached a point of hopelessness, leading to the Exodus of 1879. Benjamin Singleton was the official leader of the Exoduster Movement. [2] The movement received substantial organizational support from prominent figures, such as Benjamin Singleton of Tennessee and Henry Adams[3] of Louisiana. The movement received substantial organizational support from prominent figures, such as Benjamin Singleton of Tennessee and Henry Adams of Louisiana. For many black Americans, the move west to Kansas was disappointing. The statement also ignores facts. 2)Eventually 43,000 settled in Kansas and 56,000 in Oklahoma. Exoduster Movement - Impact. (1998). Summary and Definition: The Exodusters was the name given to thousands of African Americans, from the southern states along the Mississippi River, who migrated to Kansas. [29] Ultimately, though, the Democratic majority in Congress ensured that no legislation would be passed in support of the Exodus Movement. For example, in 1865 the Mississippi Black Code outlawed the selling or leasing of land to blacks. Black people moved from the south because they were treated very bad. Union general who headed the Freedmen's Bureau. Citation Information Life of An Exoduster: Journey Through Time Kansas History Unit Plan Julie Friesen Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. © 2021 Tutor2u Limited. [33] Douglass did not disagree with the Exodusters in principle, but he felt that the movement was ill-timed and poorly organized.[34]. [37], Reality of life for blacks in the post-Reconstruction South, Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era, Mass racial violence in the United States, Slavery in the colonial history of the United States, Historically black colleges and universities, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, African American settlements in Western Canada, "Seeking the Promised Land: African American Migrations to Kansas". Singleton advertised using posters, meetings and newspaper articles to advertise a movement to Kansas. As the land of John Brown, Kansas had fought bitterly for its Free State status, and took its fair treatment of black immigrants as a point of pride. On the one hand, the exodus did little to alleviate the national propensity for violence towards blacks. A name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, as part of the Exoduster Movement or Exodus of 1879. Definition and Summary of the Exodusters. Such efforts were eventually pushed out of rural communities and into New Orleans, where many organizers including Adams found themselves exiled. [24] Black churches in St. Louis, together with eastern philanthropists, formed the Colored Relief Board and the Kansas Freedmen's Aid Society to help those stranded in St. Louis reach Kansas. Exodus to Kansas: The 1880 Senate Investigation of the Beginnings of the African American Migration from the South. [10] As a result, in large parts of Mississippi, less than 1 in 100 black workers owned land or a house. Exoduster. Given the agricultural challenge of farming these lands, many Exodusters were still destitute a year after their arrival. Louis. The Kansas government attempted to assist the migrants by giving them a small amount of state funding to help them begin their life in Kansas. [27] At the local level, Topeka Mayor Michael C. Case refused to spend municipal funds to aid Exodusters, believing that the money would be better spent to return them to the South. In fact, throughout Reconstruction a majority of the southern white population continued to resent black emancipation, resulting in an oppressive environment perpetuated by all segments of white society. Given the extreme level of discrimination and violent intimidation blacks faced in the rural South, the Exodusters can more accurately be described as refugees. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Although the Exodus of 1879 saw a high volume of black migration during a shorter period of time, most of the black migration to Kansas occurred steadily throughout the decade. While the rumors regarding racial attitudes proved to be exaggerations, the Black farmers who took … This mass movement was called 'The … [35] Historian Nell Painter further asserts that “the sustained migration of some 9,500 Blacks from Tennessee and Kentucky to Kansas during the decade far exceeded the much publicized migration of 1879, which netted no more than about 4,000 people from Louisiana.”[36] During the 1870s and the decade that followed, blacks bought more than 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land in Kansas, and several of the settlements established during this time (e.g., Nicodemus, Kansas, which was founded in 1877) still exist today. News of the difficulties of life in Kansas spread back to the south and by the 1880’s the amount of new migrants began to decline. The depression of the 1870s served to exacerbate the racist policies of white merchants and planters, who sought to offset their agricultural losses by increasing prices and interest rates for blacks. It was the first migration of black people after the American Civil War. From the 1880s through the 1930s, the lynching of African Americans increased, and some 3,000 lynchings took place during that period nationwide. [5] Vigilantes operated with almost total impunity, and no other issue was of more importance to the majority of southern blacks living in the countryside. By the end of 1880, the Exoduster movement had finally slowed dramatically as word spread that Kansas was not the haven that rumors had indicated. In Homestead Act of 1862 …as a part of the Exoduster Movement—the name given to the migration or “exodus” of African Americans from the South to escape Jim Crow oppression. This became known as … Company Reg no: 04489574. The mass migration was organized … The most successful of the Exodusters were those who moved to urban centers and found work as domestic or trade workers. For many black Americans, the move west to Kansas was disappointing. Boston House, The committee interviewed over 150 people, including Benjamin Singleton, who describes his role in the Exoduster Movement and his reasoning for promoting migration away from the South in this excerpt from his testimony. Most notably, Singleton was instrumental in urging Black Americans to leave the South and live on settlements in Kansas. Rumors of better race relations in the West served as an added attraction; more than 25,000 southern Blacks moved to Kansas during the 1870s and 1880s as a part of the Exoduster Movement—the name given to the migration or “exodus” of African Americans from the South to escape Jim Crow oppression. The movement helped the development of the west, by 1880 there were 43,107 black Americans in Kansas 2. The Exodusters. They believed it was wrong of the government to help the migrants. (Kansas State Historical Society, Exoduster Flier), Access documents, photographs, and other primary sources on Kansas Memory, the Kansas State Historical Society's digital portal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Exodusters&oldid=1009284647, African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Around 26,000 African Americans arrive in Kansas, Campney, Brent M. S. (September 6, 2007) ". As many as 40,000 Exodusters left the South to settle in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colo… Write a narrative account analysing the development of the Exoduster movement after the Civil war. Many Exodusters had also become ill on the journey to Kansas, as they had travelled through areas infected with yellow fever. Explain the importance of: Change in ranges for the cowboys way of life Exoduster movement for migration Extermination of the buffalo for the Plains Indians way of life (if you didn't answer this you're an absolute nonce, this is literally what American West is all about) Many Exodusters were left with difficult farming land and struggled to survive. • Students will use a graphic organizer to list important events and people of the “Bleeding Kansas” era. [26] On the other hand, the Exoduster migration seems to have had some impact on labor relations between southern black farm workers and their white employers. They distrusted the intentions of white philanthropy in aiding black migration; in fact, they were convinced of ulterior motives. By 1880, over 43,000 black Americans had settled in Kansas and this meant that much of the good farmland was taken. 214 High Street, Though some African-Americans did continue to head for Kansas, the massive movement known as the exodus basically ended with the decade of the 1870s. Between the late 1870s and into the 1890s, nearly 40,000 African Americans migrated to the Great Plains. Originally encouraging his compatriots to acquire land in It was the first general migration of black people following the Civil War. Future migrants to Kansas, whether black or white, were much more likely to have saved money to invest in land and supplies before they entered the state. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Such accusations, lobbed in particular at Kansas Governor St. John and Thomas Conway, were only seriously considered at the end of 1879, when more attention was being given to the black migrants from North Carolina, who, unable to reach Kansas, were being redirected to Indiana. Tel: +44 0844 800 0085. [28] They denied outright claims of economic hardship and political oppression as motivating factors for black flight. The end of the Civil War brought new hope and opportunities for social and political organizing into the lives of Black southerners. • Students will orally present their graphic organizers to the class. Explain the importance of breeding and training horses to the way of life and means of survival of the Plains Indians. In addition, Singleton was active in several Black nationalist campaigns such as the Back-to-Africa movement. [4], The number one cause of black migration out of the South at this time was to escape racial violence or "bulldozing" by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White League, as well as widespread repression under the Black Codes, discriminatory laws that rendered blacks second-class citizens after Reconstruction ended. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave free land to Americans willing to improve it, regardless of race, sex, or nation of origin. [citation needed] Similarly, in the early 20th century, black migrations to the American West and Southwest would continue, and several additional all-black towns would be established, especially in Indian Territory, which would become the state of Oklahoma. [23], Many steamboat captains refused to carry migrants across the Mississippi River, and thousands of Exodusters found themselves stranded for months in St. All body movements occur in different planes and around different axes. About 40,000 black people moved from the south to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. As many as 40,000 Exodusters left the South to settle in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. Singleton was born in 1809 near Nashville. Other private relief organizations were funded by Quakers and other abolitionists in northern states and England. Cite this item. Boston Spa, For many black Americans, the move west to Kansas was disappointing. [21], The failure of federal and state governments to financially support black migrants can be attributed to both bureaucratic incompetence (as in the case of the mayor of Kansas being denied temporary assistance from the secretary of war due to congressional jurisdiction) and to nineteenth-century preferences for limited government. The exodus began to subside by the early summer of 1879. However, white Americans in the southern states were less supportive. The end of the Civil War didn’t necessarily mean a better life for freed African Americans. [6], Before the Exodus of 1879 to Kansas, southern blacks convened to discuss the option of emigration both formally and informally. [15] Black settlement outside of the South as a result of emigration was termed “colonization,” and the New Orleans committee meeting became a full-fledged organization dubbed, “The Colonization Council.” The Council held its first public meetings in 1877. Jimmie Lewis Franklin states that before the Depression two-thirds of the state’s African Americans lived in rural areas. "This is Not Dixie:" The Imagined South, the Kansas Free State Narrative, and the Rhetoric of Racist Violence. The Exodus of 1879 (also known as the Kansas Exodus and the Exoduster Movement) refers to the mass movement of African Americans from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, and was the first general migration of blacks following the Civil War. [20], The political response of southern white Democrats, and of some conservative “representative” black men, was one of disgust and incomprehension. [19] Almost all of the Exodusters who attempted to homestead in the countryside settled in the Kansas uplands, which presented the most formidable obstacles to small-scale farmers. [7], The Exodusters were not only fleeing extremist groups like the KKK. By the end of the year, over 40,000 had began the journey to Kansas. Billington, Monroe Lee; Hardaway, Roger D., eds. [1] It was the first general migration of black people following the Civil War. By the end of 1879, 40,000 people had travelled to Kansas, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. This page was last edited on 27 February 2021, at 19:20. Exoduster Movement The Exoduster Movement, beginning in 1877, was the first grass-roots movement out of the South, during which, between 40,000 and 70,000 former slaves departed the South, primarily for Kansas. The "Color Line" in Kansas, 1878-1900." Of note, however, western migration of African-Americans was not limited to the Exoduster period, and places like Quindaro, Kansas, thrived for some period before, during, and after the Exoduster movement. [14] Delegates from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and Georgia met at a New Orleans conference in 1875 and discussed black emigration to western territories and Liberia. [12], The Exoduster movement has been characterized as an example of millenarianism, in that many Exodusters created settlements they believed to be their new Promised Land. * They will study the importance of the Exoduster Movement, together with increasing problems in the towns with Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp as well as the subsequent reaction to the gunfight at the OK Corral. For many black Americans, the move west to Kansas was disappointing. Contains information on the causes, events and impact of the Exoduster Movement and also the Oklahoma Land Rush Also contains an Edexcel narrative question. Exodusters. [22] There was considerable uncertainty at the time as to the actual number of Exodusters that arrived in St. Louis. The Exoduster Movement [20] The uplands were the only lands available for purchase after the squatters, railroads, and speculators had taken the best farmland. It was called the Exoduster movement or the Exodus of 1879. Many Exodusters had travelled through different areas and contracted yellow fever so many were dangerously ill. 3. "Integration, Exclusion, or Segregation? LS23 6AD According to William Murrell in testimony given to the United States Senate, “the white people in Louisiana are better armed and equipped now than during the war.”[7] As evidence of the frightening lawlessness, which empowered the terrorist activities of the White League in the mid-1870s, the League “managed to seize a huge cache of arms from the arsenal in New Orleans…worth about $67,000” stolen directly from the United States government. Both statements completely erase not only the historic importance of the original Exoduster movement, but also the contribution of blacks to the history of Oklahoma and the plains. Black political leaders at the time, such as Adams and Singleton at the local level and Frederick Douglass and Mississippi Senator Blanche K. Bruce at the national level, were limited in their ability to influence the southern black populace. Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, as part of the Exoduster Movement or Exodus of 1879. The millenarian aspect of the Exodus was most realized in Tennessee, where Benjamin "Pap" Singleton’s boisterous proselytizing mostly found an enthusiastic black following and a more amenable white audience. [9], Most southern states completely undermined federal Reconstruction efforts to promote landowning as the blacks’ ticket to economic freedom and equality. For this reason, during the post-Reconstruction period, blacks did not enjoy any truly representative national leadership. The achievements of these migrants offers an important corrective to and extension of the historiography of black migration to Kansas, which has primarily focused on the Exoduster migration in 1879 and 1880, when thousands of former slaves from Louisiana and Mississippi made their way to … By 1880, over 43,000 black Americans had settled in Kansas and this meant that much of the good farmland was taken. The testimony documented in the 1880 Senate investigation has a value similar to the interviews recorded in the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) slave narratives. Liberia proved an unrealistic destination for black refugees financially and logistically. The black population of Kansas increased by some 26,000 people during the 1870s. This further encouraged thousands of black Americans to move to Kansas. [8] Most black migration, including the Exodus of 1879, was spurred on by the dire economic prospects of black labor in the rural South. [citation needed], The impact of the Exoduster migration on subsequent white treatment of African Americans was mixed. While the rumors regarding racial attitudes proved to be exaggerations, the Black farmers who took advantage of the Homestead Act found the West more hospitable…
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