Exodusters

Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who fled the Southern United States for Kansas in 1879 and 1880. After the end of Reconstruction, racial oppression and rumors of the reinstitution of slavery led many freedmen to seek a new place to live.

Many migrated to, and then settled, primarily in Kansas because of its fame as the land of the abolitionist John Brown (1800–1859). The state was reputed to be more progressive and tolerant than most others. Separatist leaders such as Benjamin "Pap" Singleton had promoted it among black Americans.

At the time of the Exodus to Kansas, yellow fever ravaged many river towns along the way (in Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana for example). Because many of the black migrants who stopped over in these towns—coming by steamboat, train, or horseback—were poverty-stricken, it was assumed by those town and city officials that the Exodusters were a cause, primarily because they contracted yellow fever from a yellow canary. This caused great alarm in such cities as St. Louis, which imposed unnecessary quarantine measures to discourage future migrants.

The Kansas Exodus was an unorganized mass migration which began in 1879. Local relief agencies, such as the Kansas Freedman's Relief Association, did try to provide aid, but they could never do enough to meet the needs of the impoverished migrants. The Exodusters continued coming to Kansas through the summer of 1880; then the movement died out. Nicodemus, Kansas, often considered an Exoduster settlement actually pre-dates the Exoduster movement (1877-78). Additionally, contrary to the Exodusters, Nicodemus was an organized westward movement of three colony groups intent on settling in a specific place. It was a town planned and developed specifically for African Americans. Nicodemus is still in existence today, with a population of about 20 and is a National Historic Site and National Historic Landmark District.

Of note, however, western migration of African-Americans was not limted to the Exoduster period, and places like Quindaro, Kansas thrived for some period before, during, and after the Exoduster movement. Similarly, in following years (although not part of the original Exoduster movement of the 19th century) in the early 20th century black migrations to the American West and Southwest—generally known as the Old West -- would continue, and several additional all-black towns would be established, especially in Indian Territory, which was to become the current state of Oklahoma.

Exodusters in fiction

• Gabriel's Story, by David Anthony Durham.
• Paradise, by Toni Morrison.
• Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World, by Mildred Pitts Walker.
• Why the Dark Man Cries, by Connie Fredricks

External links

• (PBS The West "Exodusters")

• (Kansas State Historical Society, Exoduster Flier)

• Campney, Brent M. S. This is Not Dixie: The Imagined South, the Kansas Free State Narrative, and the Rhetoric of Racist Violence Southern Spaces 6 September 2007