The Black Man Who Sparked the Largest Migration in U.S. History… Then Vanished from the Books скачать в хорошем качестве

The Black Man Who Sparked the Largest Migration in U.S. History… Then Vanished from the Books

This video uncovers the forgotten story of Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, the man who organized one of the most powerful mass movements in American history long before it was ever taught in schools. Born into slavery and shaped by repeated attempts to escape it, Singleton became a visionary who understood that freedom without land, safety, and economic control was only an illusion. As Reconstruction collapsed and white supremacist violence tightened its grip on the South, he refused to accept suffering as destiny. Instead, he helped tens of thousands of formerly enslaved Black families leave the South altogether, guiding them toward Kansas in what became known as the Exoduster Movement. This film traces how Singleton turned migration into resistance, land ownership into liberation, and community into power. It explores the hardships these families faced, the fear they inspired in white America, and the lasting impact of Black self-determination that history tried to erase. This is not just a story about moving west. It is a story about choosing dignity over terror, ownership over dependency, and vision over despair. References Painter, Nell Irvin. Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans Berlin, Ira. Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves Kansas Historical Society archival records on Benjamin “Pap” Singleton and the Exoduster Movement United States Congressional testimony and reports on the Exoduster migration, 1879–1881