Life of An Exoduster: Journey Through Time

Kansas History Unit Plan

Julie Friesen

Essential Questions• How did life change after the Civil War?• Why was there a need for westward

expansion?• What was the “Exoduster Movement”?• When and why did it take place?• How successful was it?• What was an “exoduster”?• What establishments were made in

Kansas from the “movement”?• Who were some important people

involved in the “movement”?

What does “Exoduster” mean?Exit Ex-husband/Ex-wife

extemporary exhibit

extra exodus

What does the prefix “EX” mean?

•From or without

Define in your own words what Exoduster means.•was a name given to African American migrants who fled the American South for Kansas in the North during the years 1879-1880.

Who are these people? What are they doing? Analyze the pictures and write your thoughts.

1. 2.

3. 4.

Life After the War in the South

• Resentment from the whites about the Emanicipation Proclamation

• African Americans enjoyed freedom until Federal Troops were removed

• African Americans were wanting to claim their own land, but white landowners were not willing to give up land-sharecropping en-slaved them again

• African Americans formed solidarity groups or organizations-Whites reaction to these groups were to form their own groups-Ku Klux Klan-lynchings

• Whites felt that the Emanicipation and the 13th amendment wouldn’t hold up

Life After the War in Kansas

• Many settlers were coming into Kansas

• “Bleeding Kansas”

Kansas = Freedom

Advertisement

(Strictly Private)Attention Colored Men!Office of the Colored Colonization SocietyTopeka, KS

Your brethren and friends throughout the North have observed with painful solicitude the outrages heaped upon you by your rebel Masters, and are doing all they can to alleviate your miseries and provide for your future happiness and prosperity. President Hayes, by his iniquitous Southern policy, has deserted you, while the Democrats who now have control of Congress, will seek to enslave you if you remain in the South, and to protect you from their designs, the Colonization Society has been organized by the Government to provide land by each of a family, which will be given in bodies of one hundred and sixty acres gratuitiously. This land is located in the best portion of Kansas, in close proximity to Topeka and is very productive. Here there are no class distinctions in society; all are on equality. Leave the land of oppression and come to free Kansas.

Lycurgus P. Jones President

Daily Picayune (New Orleans), April 19, 1879; New York Times, May 3, 1879.

Benjamin “Pap” Singleton• Born a slave in 1809 in Tennessee• Escaped slavery after 37 years and went to Detroit

and and a boarding house for escaped slaves• Went back Tennessee

“He considered Kansas the state of new Cannaan, and he, like a “Black Moses,” would lead his people to the promised land.”

• Land promoter• Organized groups to form colonies in Kansas• 1873 formed Cherokee Colony in Baxter Springs, Ks• Advised his people to have money• The Exodus movement gave away in between 1879-

1881• Many African Americans came unprepared but for

the most part contributed to the state• Died in 1892 and known as the “Father of the

Exodus”Kansas Historical Society

How did the “Exodusters get to Kansas?

Forms of Transportation Railroad

Advertisements were placed in public that were circulated to black men blamed later for the movement

River Steamer/Water Many made their way to St. Louis to ride to Kansas City down the Missouri

River Most lived in Eastern, KS near the Missouri River tilling small farms or

congregating in towns $4 to buy deck space-many did not have the money

By foot Many ran out of money and walked or settled along towns along the river Most lived in Eastern, KS near the Missouri River tilling small farms or

congregating in towns

What were some reasons for the migration?

1. Land ownership• Homestead Act of 1862 signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, encouraged

Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land.

• Promised land, hundreds of $, a mule, plow and a railroad pass Later to find out that they were only fooled by the ads

2. Political Participation• Wanting to vote and have a say in the political

process

Was the migration planned?

• This migration was:1. Sudden

2. Unplanned

3. Disorganized

4. Leaderless

Opinions in Kansas and Outside about the Exodusters

Opinion in Kansas By and large, Kansas had no objections

to the arrival of black colonists, provided they paid for their land in the manner of other settlers or took government homesteads without asking their neighbors for financial assistance.

Farmers did not want to hire black labor for the following reasons:1. Farming practices were different in the South2. Farmers couldn’t afford labor3. Black labor couldn’t run machinery4. Drought/Grasshopper invasion

Opinion outside Kansas

Kansas was the home of freedom.

Many that came and went back accounted that the soil was different and the climate was harsh.

Statistics of the African American Population in Kansas

between 1860-1890

Year Population of African Americans in Kansas

1860 625 free-2 slaves

1870 17,108

1880 43,107

1890 49,710

Colonies formed in Kansas

1. Cherokee Colony-founded in 1875– Baxter Springs, KS-Southeast Kansas

2. Dunlap Colony– Morris County– Education center for Kansas blacks– Literary and Business Academy-sponsored by the Kansas Freedman’s Relief

Association– 2 primary schools– Quaker Industrial school

3. Kinsley Colony-founded in 1878– Hodgeman County-25 miles north of Dodge City, KS– 107 members all from Kentucky

4. Wabaunsee Colony-founded in 1879– 31 families founded and settled

5. Little Coney Colony-founded in 1881– Chautaugua County– 56 families founded and settled– Last to be funded by the Kansas Freedman’s Relief Association

•Map the following colonies on your Kansas map.

Was the migration a success or failure?

•Many that stayed struggled and made a life for themselves

•Many went back to the South where they could make more money but suffer the intimidation of the attitudes

•Many made an impact in Kansas and became famous Kansans