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Teacher Name: Lynn Dille School: Hammond Middle School Subject
Area: US History – 1877 to the Present Grade/level: 7th
Lesson Plan Template based on Understanding by Design by Jay
McTighe and Grant Wiggins
Title of Lesson
Exodusters: A New Beginning for Former Slaves
Unit Topic Westward Expansion after the Civil War
Exact title and link to an image from the LOC to be used in the
web publication of your lesson plan
"Negro Exodusters en route to Kansas, fleeing from the yellow
fever. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.html
Enduring Understanding
As a result of this lesson, students will understand: Freedom
brought problems as well as opportunities for ex-slaves after the
Civil War.
Content Knowledge
As a result of this lesson, students will know: Following the
Civil War and the end of slavery, many ex-slaves moved to western
territories to make a new beginning. They moved there because, in
the west they could obtain land and it was an opportunity for a new
beginning. They moved because farming was the skill most ex-slaves
already knew. They were called “Exodusters” The communities they
established were largely in Kansas.
Skills
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to: Draw
conclusions from a primary source photograph or document. Compare
several documents and connect their content to prior historical
knowledge to develop a hypothesis as to meaning.
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http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/exodust.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.html
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SOLs addressed
USII.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how life
changed after the Civil War by a) identifying the reasons for
westward expansion;
Length of Lesson
One 70 Minute Period
Overview of lesson The students will examine pictures from the
“Exoduster” movement to discover what it was, when it took place,
why it took place and how successful it was. Students will take
notes on a graphic organizer and write a letter as an Exoduster to
demonstrate their understanding.
Prior Knowledge
It would be helpful if students have reviewed Reconstruction and
the Rise of Jim Crow, the KKK, and a segregated South after the
Civil War. It would also be useful if students have studied the
opening of the Great Plains to settlement by The Homestead Act, the
completion of the Transcontinental Railroad and other new
technologies and adaptations such as dry farming, the windmill, the
steel plow and barbed wire. This lesson fits well with studying who
moved west in the years following the Civil War, why these people
moved west, where they moved and why they moved. Students have
worked with analyzing primary source prints and photos before and
are familiar with what to look for.
Resources needed
All the images below were found at the following URL: Western
Migration and Homesteading: The African-American Mosaic (Library of
Congress Exhibition);
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.html
1.
The "Exoduster" Movement.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/pap.jpg
2.
Emigrants Traveling to Kansas.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/boat.jpg
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http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/pap.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/boat.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/boat.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/boat.jpg
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3.
"Negro Exodusters en route to Kansas, fleeing from the yellow
fever. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam009.html
4.
Benjamin Singleton, and S.A. McClure, Leaders of the Exodus,
leaving Nashville, Tennessee.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/leaders.jpg
5.
"Ho For Kansas!".
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/hofokan.jpg
Other resources: Kansas State Historical Society/.
http://www.kshs.org/cool3/exoduster.htm National Park Service:
Nicodemus National Historic Park.
http://www.nps.gov/features/nicodemus/intro.htm Merriam Webster
Thesaurus: Definition of "ex"
Process of lesson
Warm-up: Put a list of words such as: exit, ex-husband, ex-wife,
extemporary, exhibit, excel, extra, and exodus on the board. Ask
the students what all these words have in common. When they observe
that all the words start with “EX” ask them what they think the
prefix “EX” means. (From or Without) Tell the students they will be
studying 1 group of western settlers today who were known as
“Exodusters” after the section of the Bible in which the Jews fled
Egypt. This book of the bible is known as “Exodus.” Activities:
1) Display Placard 4 (Nego Exodusters) on the overhead. Review
photo analysis skills by having students form a tableau of the
scene from the placard. (Take volunteers or assign students to
assume the attitude and position of the people in the woodcut in
front of the projection.) Draw attention to detail and emotion by
asking them questions (For example: Teacher: Who are you? Student:
I am about 9 years old and am a little boy) where they are, what
they are feeling
3
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/exodust.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/exodust.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/exodust.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/leaders.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/leaders.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/leaders.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/leaders.jpghttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/hofokan.jpghttp://www.kshs.org/cool3/exoduster.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/features/nicodemus/intro.htmhttp://63.240.197.92/cgi-bin/mwdictaj?ex
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etc. 2) Divide your students into small groups of 4 or 5. Give
each
group a set of the Exoduster Placards: Placard 1, Placard 2,
Placard 3, Placard 4, Placard 5 and a copy the analysis worksheet,
African Americans and the West. (Laminate or put placards inside
report covers. Using an overhead marker, students can circle areas
and features as they examine each photo to draw attention to its
importance in interpreting the photo.) Tell them they are to fill
in as much information on the worksheet as they can, JUST by
looking at the front of the placards. Give students about 10
minutes to examine the placards and make guesses as to what they
are looking at.
3) Discuss the student’s findings as a class. Then ask them to
read the information on the back of the placards and discuss how
the extra information changes what they had originally thought.
4) Discuss what the students read and how it changes their ideas
as a class.
5) Have students use their class atlases or a US map to locate
Kansas and trace the probable route of the Exodusters from the
South by water.
6) Have the students write notes using a new copy of the
worksheet, African Americans and the West and complete it as a
class, emphasizing the lesson content. (The suggested key is:
African Americans and the West Key.)
Wrap-up: Put Placard 5 (Exoduster Leaders) on the overhead. Have
the students again form a tableau. Have students ask the members of
the tableaux questions again. Who are they? Where are they going?
Why are they going? How do they feel about the journey? What
problems are they having? What do they hope to do when they get
there?
Evaluation
Students will write a letter to a friend telling them they are
going to join an Exoduster group. They should say what they are
doing, why they are going, and what they will find on their
journey. A student letter worksheet and instruction rubric may
found at Exoduster Homework. It may be evaluated according to
following rubric: Exoduster Evaluation Teacher Guide
Extension Activities
Have students research what happened to the towns that were
established in the movement. Have students write a poem, a song, or
a letter telling what life in Nicodemus is like. Have the students
draw a map of a fictional exoduster town, labeling
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the major buildings and farms. They should create a name for the
town and a census list for the year 1880. Have the students create
a short play in which they act out the roles of several of the
people in placard 5.
Possibilities for Differentiation
Students may be put in mixed ability groups. Dysgraphic students
may want to copy just the words that are in bold on the key or may
highlight a copy of the key as you help the students fill in their
notes on the overhead. Students with learning difficulty will
really benefit from being members of the tableaux.
5
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Placard 1
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Benjamin "Pap" Singleton (1809-1892), a former slave born in
Nashville, Tennessee, became the leader of the "Exoduster Movement"
of 1879, and in later years he was accorded the title "Father of
the Exodus." In the late 1860s, Singleton and his associates urged
blacks to acquire farmland in Tennessee, but whites would not sell
productive land to them. As an alternative Singleton began scouting
land in Kansas in the early 1870s. Soon several black families
migrated from Nashville. By 1874, Singleton and his associates had
formed the Edgefield Real Estate and Homestead Association in
Tennessee, which steered more than 20,000 black migrants to Kansas
between 1877 and 1879. In 1880 Singleton claimed to be "the whole
cause of the Kansas immigration," in testimony before a U.S.
committee on the "exodus to Kansas."
Nell Irvin Painter Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After
the Reconstruction, p. 100 New York: Knopf, 1977
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Placard 2
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Blacks had obtained information about Kansas by several means:
letters from migrants, who settled in Nicodemus and other
locations; circulars; and mass meetings. Benjamin Singleton printed
handbills in an attempt to attract blacks to visit or settle in
Kansas. One such flier was headed: "Ho For Kansas!"
"Ho For Kansas!" Copyprint of handbill. Historic American
Building Survey Field Records, HABS FN-6, #KS-49-14 Prints and
Photographs Division (109)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/
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Placard 3
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Emigrants Traveling to Kansas
In February of 1880, more than 900 black families from
Mississippi reached St. Louis, en route to Kansas. Some black
migrants sought "conductors" to make travel arrangements for them.
These conductors would often ask for money in advance and not show
up at the appointed departure time, leaving migrants stranded at
docks and train stations.
Refugees on Levee, 1897. Carroll's Art Gallery. Photomural from
gelatin-silver print Prints and Photographs Division (105) Prints
and Photographs Division (105)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/boat.jpg
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Placard 4
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"Negro Exodusters en route to Kansas, fleeing from the yellow
fever, " Photomural from engraving. Harpers Weekly, 1870. Historic
American Building Survey Field Records, HABS FN-6, #KS -49-11
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Placard 5
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Exoduster Leaders
In 1874 Benjamin Singleton and his associates formed the
Edgefield Real Estate and Homestead Association in Tennessee. This
association sought out the best locations for black settlements.
Singleton tried to establish a well-planned and organized movement
to Kansas, but by 1879, the unruly, mass Exodus had overwhelmed his
efforts.
Benjamin Singleton, and S.A. McClure, Leaders of the Exodus,
leaving Nashville, Tennessee. Photomural from montage. Historic
American Building Survey Field Records, HABS FN-6, #KS-49-12
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African Americans and the West
Placard Examine and describe: Who? What? When? Where?
Analyze. Use your historical knowledge.
Why did they go?
Imagine. What problems did they have getting
there?
What did they do when they got there?
.
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African Americans and the West
Placard Examine and describe: Who? What? When? Where?
Analyze. Use your historical knowledge.
Why did they go?
Imagine. What problems did they have getting
there?
What did they do when they got there?
Cheap or free land was available in the west. (Homestead
Act)
Dishonest guides They established communities such as
Nicodemus.
Segregation, Jim Crow Laws, lynchings, poverty, and the KKK in
the South meant there was little opportunity for former slaves in
the South.
Refusals to sell them land
Farmed
They want equality and freedom.
Hunger, disease, exhaustion
Built churches, homes, businesses
. Farming was something the ex-slaves already knew well and
could succeed at
Bad weather, heat, cold, rain, floods
THEY WANT OPPORTUNITY AND A NEW BEGINNING
THEY HAD A NEW BEGINNING
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Exoduster Homework
You are to write a letter to a friend telling them you have
decided to join an Exoduster group and go to Kansas. The letter is
to tell your friend 1) What you are going to do 2) Why you are
going and 3) What you think you will find on your journey. Be
creative. Use your imagination. You may use the other side of this
paper for your letter if you wish. You will be graded as follows:
Content (10 points each up to 80 points) What Leaving for Kansas
Traveling up the Mississippi/Missouri Rivers Leaving from
Mississippi, Alabama, or some other southern state Why No
opportunity here/opportunity there/a new beginning Jim Crow Laws,
KKK, Segregation Know how to farm Cheap land Will find: Long, hard
journey, sickness, bad weather, dishonest guides Good farmland
Equality and more freedom, my rights Opportunity and a new
beginning _____________ Total for content: Mechanics and language
control (5 points each up to 20 points) Paragraph indent, beginning
capitals, ending punctuation Complete sentences Elaboration (must
have for an A) Dialogue and use of dialect Character development
_____________ Total for mechanics: Student Grade: Contents:
________ plus mechanics _________ = ___________
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Yours in hope and faith,
Dear:
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Exoduster Letter Evaluation Teacher’s Guide
Beginning 60
Developing 75
Accomplished 90
Exemplary 100
Content (80%)
Letter clearly from an African American on a journey. Makes an
attempt to tell what the journey means to him or her and why s/he
is going. Demonstrates little knowledge of time period. Several
factual errors.
Describes some details of the journey. Clearly shows knowledge
of where Exodusters went, when they went, who they were and why
they went. No factual errors.
Historically accurate. Describes the journey with vividness and
some detail. Describes specific problems (yellow fever, dishonest
agents, hunger). No errors in knowledge of the movement.
Historically accurate. Vivid and imaginative letter. Develops a
character and incorporates it into a story about the journey. Uses
inference and context to relay important information about hopes,
problems, and goals of the character
Mechanics (20%)
Very short, some fragments, many spelling errors, some ending
punctuation missing, some beginning capitalization errors, no
paragraphing
Longer but still only 1 paragraph. Few spelling errors. Some
sentence syntax errors. Basic punctuation and capitalization
correct.
Several paragraphs long. Few errors in mechanics and syntax.
A page or more long with few errors. Language and vocabulary
used is appropriate to the period and the education of the
exo-duster. May be written so as to look like an artifact from the
period.
OverviewPlacard 1Placard 2Placard 3Placard 4Placard 5African
Americans and the West WorksheetAfrican Americans and the West Key
WorksheetExoduster HomeworkExoduster Letter Evaluation Teacher's
Guide