Migration and settlement after 1876 Flashcards
What does the word “Exodus” mean?
A large number of people leaving one place for another
What happened to the lives of African Americans after the abolition of slavery?
They continued to be very poor: discrimination in jobs, education and land ownership, and prevented from voting
Where did African Americans look to migrate to in order to escape inequality and poor conditions?
Kansas
How many African-American “Exodusters” had migrated to Kansas, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana by the end of 1879?
40,000
Why were the Exodusters attracted to Kansas?
Kansas had been a free state (anti-slavery) since 1861, so African-Americans thought they might be more welcome there
Who founded a settlement in Kansas which attracted African-Americans there?
Benjamin Singleton
How did Singleton spread the word encouraging others to join him in Kansas?
Produced thousands of advertising leaflets, plus a false rumour spread that the whole state of Kansas would be given to formerly enslaved people.
Which act offered the promise of free land to the Exodusters?
The Homestead Act
How did religion motivate the Exodusters to move West?
They believed that God would provide for them and help them escape oppression, as in the “Exodus” Bible story
What impact did the increased number of African-Americans in Kansas have?
More houses, churches, shops, businesses and homesteads
Which settlement in Kansas was founded by African-Americans?
Nicodemus
Why did the Exodusters have poor quality farming land?
All the best land had been taken by other settlers and ranchers
Why could many Exodusters not buy the equipment they needed to farm?
They were poor when they left for Kansas
What disease did the Exodusters bring with them to Kansas?
Yellow fever
Why were poor white farmers opposed to the Exodusters in Kansas?
They were competing with them for land and business - and they felt the state government was helping the Exodusters but not them
What happened to the number of African-Americans migrating to Kansas in the 1880s and 1890s?
Reduced steadily
What was the name given to the section of Indian Territory that was not allocated to any particular tribe?
Unassigned Lands
Why were settlers interested in settling on the Unassigned Lands?
It was some of the best land on the Plains
What did the 1885 Indian Appropriations Act make legal for settlers to do?
Buy land owned by Plains Indians, if they were prepared to sell
What happened to the land not given to Plains Indian families in the 1887 Dawes Act?
Put up for general sale
What did the 1889 Indian Appropriations Act do to the Unassigned Lands?
Opened them up to white settlers who could claim a 160-acre homestead
At what exact time did the Unassigned Lands become open for claims?
12 noon on 22 April 1889
What did settlers do once 12 noon on 22 April 1889 passed?
They rushed over the boundary of the Unassigned Lands to claim a section of land as theirs
How many acres of land were distributed in the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush?
2 million acres
How many land rushes were there in Oklahoma in total?
7
In what year was the largest land rush in Oklahoma? How many acres were settled when?
1893
8 million acres
What did the land rushes show about the US Government?
It was prepared to give way to pressure from white Americans to take Indian lands
