Exodusters
Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction of the south proved to
be unsuccessful for the Freedmen. A series of laws known as Black Codes were
legislated against the Freedmen. Although technically not slavery which was
against the Constitution, the laws forbade Blacks from getting education,
self-improvement or owning property. The lure of free land in Kansas attracted
interest in the South especially in those areas terrorized by a new
organization calling itself the Ku Klux Klan.
Led by the Freedman, Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, nearly 40,000 Freedmen
followed his call to come to Kansas. Like the Biblical story about Moses
leading the Israelites out of Egypt, they were known as Exodusters and settled
throughout the state.
To find out more about these families who moved west, the following
sites might be useful.
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