Quilt Top
This quilt top was passed down by a family of exodusters- a group of black americans who migrated to Kansas after Reconstruction.
After the end of the Civil War was a period of American History called the Reconstruction Era, which spanned from 1863 to 1877. During the era of Presidential Reconstruction, former slaves were seeking ways to get back on their feet. One of the ways freed slaves attempted to move forward was to own property or land. This, however, was difficult for Black Americans due to the lack of aid from the government and President Andrew Johnson’s decision to give back confiscated land to the confederates. Although they were sworn to keep slavery abolished, Southern state governments were given the freedom to rebuild themselves, allowing laws such as the Jim Crow laws to limit the protection for Black Americans, hindering their ability to regain their footing. It gave them the illusion that they received their long awaited freedom.
With the emergence of renewed racism after Reconstruction, a former slave known as Benjamin “Pap” Singleton urged Black Americans that they should settle in the West and own their own land. It gave them hope that they would have power over their own lives once again. Thus, in the 1870s, thousands of African-Americans travelled to Western states after the end of Reconstruction, most notably Kansas. The Homestead Act evolved settlement in Western states. The law allowed any American, including freed slaves, to put a claim of 160 free acres of federal land. This allowed both African-Americans and former slaves the opportunity to escape oppression and become owners of their own private farmland. This act almost revolutionized for the black community. The vast black migration from the Southern states to Kansas became known as the “Great Exodus,” and those migrating to Kansas were called as “exodusters.”
Though racism caused many downfalls for Black Americans, it also called for action. Harlem is a substantial example of one of the many ways the African American people, specifically in New York, found a safe haven for themselves. The drive for Harlem as a place for Black Americans to coincide started with one man’s actions: an African American entrepreneur named Philip Payton. After witnessing the way Black Americans were being forced out of their homes because of racism, Payton believed it was his turn to stand up for to Black Americans living in Harlem. He bought two buildings, evicted the white tenants, and allowed the Black Americans who were evicted from their own homes to live in his properties. Payton’s realty company continued to buy buildings and allowed black tenants to rent them. Henceforth, Harlem’s population increased as Black people from the South and from the Caribbean migrated over, making Harlem the largest black urban community in America by 1920. Moreover, throughout the history of Harlem, there are many ways the community flourished and allowed Black Americans to flourish, as well.
"A Sharecropper Explains Why He Joined the Exodusters · HERB: Resources for Teachers." Herb - Social History for Every Classroom. Accessed November 17, 2018. https://herb.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/967.
"Reconstruction." History.com. October 29, 2009. Accessed November 17, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction.