Over fourmillion African-Americans were freed from slavery in 1865
Many of the southern states could not accept this and they continued to try and restrict black Americans freedom
Ways the southern states restricted black Americans freedom
The KKKterrorised black Americans throughout the southern states and used intimidation to prevent black Americans form voting
The southern states forced many black Americans into sharecropping
Sharecropping
A system where a landlord gives a tenant some land in return for a proportion of the crops they grow, keeping black farmers working on white plantations for free
Life for black Americans remained difficult in the southern states
Some black Americans decided to move west to filehomesteadclaims
Many began to move to Kansas, which had always been a freestate
Exodusters
BlackAmericans who moved west to Kansas
Much of the goodfarmland was already taken by 1880
Left with difficultfarming land andstruggled to survive
Many had believed the land would be free but struggled to afford the fee to file a homestead claim
Many became ill on the journey to Kansas, as they had travelled through areas infected with yellowfever
BenjaminSingleton
A former slave who pioneered the move of black Americans to Kansas by advertising it to those still living in the south
By 1880, over 43,000 black Americans had settled in Kansas
A rumour spread that the US government was giving away free land for ex-slaves in Kansas
1879
Exodusters
Black Americans who moved west to Kansas
Kansas government's response
Gave Exodusters a smallamount of state funding to help them begin their life in Kansas
White Americans in the southern states were less supportive, believing it was wrong of the government to help the migrants
News of the difficulties of life in Kansas spread back to the south
The amount of new migrants began to decline by the 1880's