Exodusters

Exoduster movement

Refugees on a levee in Mississippi, April 17, 1897
Date	1879
Location	United States
Also known as	Exodus of 1879
Cause	Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era Jim Crow economy Mass racial violence in the United States
Participants	Government of the United States African Americans
Outcome	98,000 sign emigration papers Around 26,000 African Americans arrive in Kansas

Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late 19th century, as part of the Exoduster Movement or Exodus of 1879. It was the first general migration of black people following the Civil War and end of Reconstruction.

The movement received substantial organizational support from prominent figures, such as Benjamin Singleton of Tennessee, Philip D. Armour of Chicago, and Henry Adams of Louisiana. As many as 40,000 Exodusters left the South to settle in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado.