The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

The Exoduster Movement and Kansas (1879)

In 1879, the Exoduster movement, led by Benjamin Singleton & Henry Adams, saw tens of thousands of black Americans move from the South to Kansas.

Equality rights after abolition

In theory, black Americans now had equal rights to white Americans and Abraham Lincoln had abolished slavery in 1865.

The Exoduster Movement, 1879

The state of Kansas was famous in America for its favourable and equal treatment of slaves and former slaves.
A 'Colonisation Committee' of former slaves met in New Orleans to explore where they could move to live. They were deciding between Kansas and Liberia.
Liberia, on the west coast of Africa, was a long way away.
Although slavery had ended, the Southern states who had fought the American Civil War in favour of slavery did not treat former slaves as equal to white Americans. They were discriminated against and would be for many decades.

The events of the Exoduster Movement

The Exodusters moved to Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Kansas City and St Louis were 2 major recipient cities.
Although the Exodusters were eligible under the 1862 Homestead Act, many Exodusters, descended from slave families did not have enough money to start their farms.
And conditions on the Great Plains were difficult for farming anyway.

Problems

The Exoduster movement caused the problems of most major mass migrations, such as the refugee crisis in Syria in the 2010s. On arrival in these new locations, Exodusters were sometimes met with hostility by the locals. Those already in the area often felt like these new migrants to the area were affecting their access to the services and resources. Alternatively, some people may have had racist prejudices.
Some white Americans in Kansas didn't want the Exodusters. The governor of Kansas, John St John, gave the migrants some financial support.
In the 1870s, 26,000 black Americans moved to Kansas.

The Oklahoma Land Rush, 1889 and 1893

Whites were banned from settling on reservation territory by the Indian Appropriations Act of 1851.

Background to the land rush

Some land in reservations between different Indian tribes was left vacant. Before 1889, white Americans had been banned from settling in these areas.
However, in 1889, the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 allowed white Americans to settle on this land. This freed up 2 million acres of land for white settlers.

The Land Rush of 1889

On 22 April 1889, white settlers stormed to Oklahoma and claimed all 2 million acres of land within 1 day.
They claimed plots of 160 acres under the 1862 Homestead Act.
Whites were now settling between Indian tribes.

The Land Rush of 1893

On the 16th of September 1893, the US government fired a cannon to start the biggest land rush ever. 100,000 people tried to claim 42,000 plots of land (each of 160 acres)

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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