1. Life of An Exoduster: Journey Through Time And the Great Migration

2. What does “Exoduster” mean?
was a name given to African American migrants who fled the American South for Kansas in the North during the years

3. 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

4. Life After the War in Kansas
Many settlers were coming into Kansas

5. Kansas and Missouri = Freedom

6. Advertisement

7. What were some reasons for the migration?
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
Political Participation
Wanting to vote and have a say in the political process

8. Population of African Americans in Kansas
Statistics of the African American Population in Kansas between
Year
Population of African Americans in Kansas
1860
625 free-2 slaves
1870
17,108
1880
43,107
1890
49,710

9. The Great Migration Also known as “The Black Exodus”
After the African Americans went west, they started to migrate North where the “war factories” jobs were located.

10. 1910’s-1950’s
The Great Migration occurred because African Americans sought new opportunities in Northern Urban Centers.
Chicago
Detroit
St. Louis
Cleveland/Cincinnati

11. Impacts of Great Migration
Short Term
Long Term
Factory jobs during WW1 and after
Escape racism in the South
African Americans moved North and West
Urban centers became majority African American over next 50 years
Growth of Black Businesses
Elected African American officials
Better opportunities

12. Was “The Great Migration” a success or failure?
Many that stayed struggled and made a life for themselves in the West
Many went North where they could make more money
Many made an impact in North and became famous
Built ethnic “cities within cities”