Exodusters

Exodusters

Why didn't freedmen leave the south?

• There were many reasons why people did not leave: a lack of money for the travel and costs of starting a new life, the difficulties of learning how to navigate a new economy and culture, fear of leaving behind their family and friends, etc. 

• In addition, racism existed in the North and West too

Open Ended

Why did many freedmen stay in the south?

Some freedmen did leave

• Despite the challenges of moving, there were people who did leave the south in search of a better life. 

• After Reconstruction the number of African Americans that remained in the south decreased. In the 1900s even more African Americans left the south

Exodusters

• The earliest waves of migration out of the south were to the west, in particular to Kansas. In Kansas, African Americans took advantage of the Homestead Act, and bought cheap plots of land 

• Benjamin “Pap” Singleton organized several black settlements in the state and assisted hundreds of families in relocation. 

Exodusters

• African Americans who left the south for Kansas in the 1870s were called “Exodusters” because they believed their struggle mirrored the Hebrews’ trek through the desert from slavery to freedom in the Bible’s Book of Exodus. 

Multiple Choice

Why did people who moved west call themselves Exodusters?

• They felt their experience was similar to this Bible's story of Exodus

• It described how they had left out of the dust of the south

• Their migration was unique and they came up with their own name for their migration

Video: Exodusters

Click the link on the next slide to watch the video. Then return back to quizizz for your last question.

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Multiple Choice

Who were the Exodusters?

• African Americans who left the south for Kansas in the late 1800s

• African Americans who traveled north after Reconstruction

• White settlers who moved into Kansas and forced African Americans out

• African Americans who remained in the south after Reconstruction